Raich Wins Slalom Despite Fog and Snow

Benjamin Raich overcame fog and snow to win a World Cup slalom Sunday at Wengen, Switzerland, and move into first place in the overall point standings.

Raich was timed in 1 minute 40.50 seconds for his two runs. Rainer Schoenfelder was second in 1:40.97 and world slalom champion Ivica Kostelic was third in 1:41.54

The top American was Tom Rothrock of Cashmere, Wash., who finished 22nd.

Raich moved past Lasse Kjus into first place in the overall standings with 680 points, followed by Kjus with 595 and Hermann Maier with 555.

The top three skiers in the slalom standings -- World Cup leader Giorgio Rocca, Manfred Pranger and Kalle Palander -- all careened off course on the opening leg, as did Bode Miller of Bretton Woods, N.H.

“The conditions were really tough. Not a lot of us were going fast,” Miller said.

“After I went out, I watched a bit from the side of the hill. The skiing that was being put down was pretty depressing.

“It’s disappointing, obviously because I feel like my slalom is ready to be good but I’m pretty patient. I go out and I have a good plan and I try to execute it and if it doesn’t work then I go on to the next one.”

The most spectacular performance came from Thomas Grandi, who was 26th after the first run. He turned in the fastest second run, rallying for a season-best fifth-place finish in 1:41.61. He was the only skier under 48 seconds in the second run -- 0.67 faster than the rest of the field.

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Carole Montillet won another World Cup downhill, and Lindsey Kildow of Burnsville, Minn., finished third at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, for the best result of her career.

Montillet, the Olympic downhill champion, finished in 1:16.27 seconds for her third downhill victory this season.

Renate Goetschl, who won a super-giant slalom Friday, was 0.23 seconds behind. Kildow was 0.24 seconds back.

Goetschl increased her overall standings lead. Anja Paerson, who started the day one point behind Goetschl, finished 21st.

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Olympic champion Sylke Otto won a World Cup singles race at Winterberg, Germany, the 80th consecutive victory by a German woman in the luge.

Otto led a German sweep of the top three spots with a two-run time of 1:29.643.

Silke Kraushaar was second in 1:29.758, and Barbara Niedernhuber finished third in 1:30.234.

Otto has won six of eight races this season and leads the overall standings with 555 points. Kraushaar is second with 512.

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Martin Hoellwarth edged Adam Malysz to win a World Cup ski jump event at Zakopane, Poland. Hoellwarth had jumps of 127 meters and 122.5 meters for 252.6 points. Malysz totaled 252.3 points from two jumps of 125.5.

Janne Ahonen, who leads the overall standings with 720 points, was 12th. Sigurd Pettersen (609) is second and Hoellwarth is third (591).

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Pro Football

The NFL is looking into All-American receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s eligibility for April’s draft.

Fitzgerald has played only two seasons at Pittsburgh, and NFL rules require that a player’s graduating class must be three years removed from high school.

But Fitzgerald spent a year at a prep school before entering Pittsburgh.

“We received a letter from a lawyer representing Mr. Fitzgerald last week,” NFL Vice President Joe Browne said. “We have asked for additional info to clarify his draft status.”

ESPN.com, citing unnamed league sources, reported Sunday that Fitzgerald applied for the draft before Thursday’s deadline and would be ruled eligible in the next week.

Former Chicago Bear coach Dick Jauron was hired as defensive coordinator by the Detroit Lions.

Jauron was fired Dec. 29 after four losing seasons in five years.

The NFL coach of the year two seasons ago, he had a 35-46 overall record.

Jauron’s only winning season was 2001, when the Bears went 13-3 and won a division title. This season, the Bears finished 7-9.

Louisiana State defensive end Marquise Hill withdrew his name from the list of players making themselves available for the NFL draft.

Hill had 40 tackles and six sacks, helping the Tigers rank first in the nation in scoring defense and total defense.

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Passings

Harry “the Cat” Brecheen, a pitcher who won three games for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1946 World Series, died Saturday in a nursing facility at Bethany, Okla. He was 89. Story in Section B.

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Chris Dufresne has the day off.