The Slovenia Times

Tina Maze is a Golden Fox!

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Maze led from start to finish in front of the home crowd on the slopes of Pohorje, defeating the nearest challenger, Frida Hansdotter of Sweden, by 0.86 seconds.

Kathrin Zettel of Austria finished third, 1.17 seconds behind the Slovenian.

The Slovenian put Saturday's disappointment of failing to hold a first-run lead behind her, to dominate the second run today and send the near 20,000-strong crowd into raptures as she crossed the finish line.

"We've written a fairytale. Thank you," Maze said as she greeted her fans in the finishing arena.

"It is wonderful to win in front of the home crowd. I had a lot of fun, but also had to fight for this victory," the 29-year-old Slovenian told public broadcaster RTV Slovenija after the run.

"I was going crazy there at the start, finding it hard to focus. There was such a big crowd out there supporting me, which did not make it easy. I'm really proud of myself."

The win, the 18th of Maze's World Cup career, secured her the Golden Fox trophy for the best combined time of Saturday's giant slalom and today's slalom runs in Maribor, only the third time a Slovenia has won the trophy after Mateja Svet in 1988 and Urška Hrovat in 1997.

Moreover, it lifted the Slovenian to 1,654 points in the overall standings, making the 2,000-point mark within reach at the upcoming World Championships in Schladming.

Second-placed in the standings Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the first run, elevating Maze's lead over the German to nearly 850 points.

Finishing eighth in today's slalom, Mikaela Shiffrin of the US (+1.93) retained her lead in the World Cup slalom standings (368 points), although Maze has closed the gap to only 13 points.
 

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