On Saturday, November 15, in Levi, Finland, at the first Special Slalom race in the Alpine Skiing World Cup, our own Maria Riesch, the leader of the German national Alpine Skiing team, finished among the top three slalom racers on the very same slope where she had achieved her only success in the specialty in 2004. Marie Riesch has won another 8 medals junior world championships, a European Cup in 2002, a World Cup in the Super-G category, and a combined specialty cup in 2008. This 3rd place finish demonstrates her currently fine form and raises hopes for the next races to be run at the end of the month in the United States and Canada. Unfortunately in the men’s race the next day, Svindal, another Dainese flag-bearer, failed to qualify for the second heat. Slalom is definitely this athlete’s least favorite category.