By HELEN TUNNAH
New Zealand's Claudia Riegler has reignited her World Cup slalom career with her first podium finish in five years, setting her up to chase her New Year goals of again being ranked with the best in the world.
The former world No 2 scorched down the slopes at
Lenzerheide, Switzerland, recording two slick times to finish third - an incredible 25 places ahead of her low starting position.
She joined triple Olympic champion Janica Kostelic, of Croatia, and Finn Tanja Poutiainen on the winners' podium in Switzerland, her combined time of 1m 44.44s just 1.47s behind world No 1 Kostelic.
A past winner of four World Cup races, Riegler last enjoyed a coveted podium finish in 1998. Since then she has struggled to overcome a form slump and technique difficulties, and a year ago admitted she crashed out of a race in tears, determined to quit the circuit.
But an 11th at the winter Olympics in February inspired her to give the World Cup circuit one last chance.
"Not a lot of people can do what I can do, and sometimes you forget about that.
"I guess I love skiing and I have the ability to be really fast.
"I want to establish myself in the top 10, the top five in the world again," she told the Herald.
Three finishes in four World Cup outings have already helped her to lift her world ranking from 38 at the end of last season to 15 now, which means she will enjoy better starting positions in the New Year's racing.
At Lenzerheide, Riegler decided it was time to get past her recent disappointments.
"I haven't been having that much fun recently, so I decided before the race to just ski loose and strong.
"This is the first time in two years that I've enjoyed skiing in a race."
