Skiing: Aamodt's good form continues

KJETIL ANDRE AAMODT, of Norway, yesterday continued the form he has displayed this season by easily winning a men's World Cup super giant slalom at Aspen, Colorado on a course that showed none of the problems encountered in Saturday's downhill.

Aamodt, winner of two gold medals and a silver at the World Championships, completed the Aspen course in 1min 17.48sec to beat the Austrian, Stefan Eberharter, who was a surprising second in 1:18.01. Daniel Mahrer, the experienced Swiss skier, finished third in 1:18.15. The overall World Cup leader, Marc Girardelli, of Luxembourg, was sixth.

In contrast to the problems with course deterioration that caused the controversial cancellation of Saturday's downhill, yesterday's event posed no such difficulties. 'It was a perfect course, fast and challenging, just what a super-g should be,' Mahrer said.

Back in Europe, Deborah Compagnoni, of Italy, returned to winning ways yesterday when she won a women's World Cup super- giant slalom at Morzine in France, a year after a serious accident in the 1992 winter Olympics.

Compagnoni tore knee ligaments at Meribel in the Olympic giant slalom 24 hours after taking gold in the super-g, but returned to the circuit last January. Encouraged by three third-place finishes, the 22-year-old Italian seized victory on the course where she won her first World Cup race last season.

Compagnoni, who started fifth, recorded 1:12.66 to take the lead, withstanding the challenges of Saturday's downhill winner, Katja Seizinger, of Germany, and the overall World Cup leader, Anita Wachter, of Austria. Seizinger was second in 1:12.80 and Wachter third in 1:12.96.

Results, Sport in Short, page 29