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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kostelic makes full return with combined win


Janica Kostelic negotiates a gate. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press

SANTA CATERINA VALFURVA, Italy – Janica Kostelic was a champion again Friday, a little more than a year after she was beset by fatigue, hair loss, poor vision and a bad knee.

The Croatian star successfully defended her title in the combined at the world championships with a victory over Anja Paerson.

Kostelic, who missed all of last season after thyroid surgery and several knee operations, completed the grueling program of a morning downhill leg and two afternoon slalom runs in a combined time of 2 minutes, 53.70 seconds.

Paerson, who trailed Kostelic closely the entire day, took the silver in 2:55.15 and Marlies Schild of Austria won the bronze in 2:56.40. For the United States, Lindsey Kildow was fourth and Julia Mancuso ninth.

Paerson, who won Sunday’s super giant slalom, was 0.66 behind Kostelic after the downhill run, then narrowed the gap to 0.37 after posting the fastest opening slalom leg. She was no match for Kostelic in the second slalom run.

Schild was 19th after the downhill but climbed to fourth after the opening slalom run. She then moved into third for a medal after Kildow was unable to maintain her position.

Kostelic has been plagued by physical problems. Despite tearing knee ligaments in 1999, she won her first World Cup overall title less than two years later and became the first Alpine skier to win four medals in one Olympics, taking home three golds and a silver at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. A sore knee in the 2002-03 season didn’t hurt her results – she won her second World Cup overall title.

This time, though, Kostelic missed 18 months. She had knee surgery four times in five months after the 2003 finals, each time finding something else wrong as she tried to come back.

Finally clear of knee trouble, she confronted fatigue and poor vision. She was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and for months, doctors tried various medications and dosages. After nearly six months of problems, her thyroid was removed in January.