Olympic silver medallist Anna Fenninger of Austria wins World Cup giant slalom race in Are

Anna Fenninger (Wikipedia photo)

ARE, Sweden – Olympic silver medalist Anna Fenninger won a World Cup giant slalom race Thursday, and closed the gap on overall leader Maria Hoefl-Riesch.

The Austrian, who also won the Olympic super-G in Sochi, won the race despite finishing seventh in the first run.

Her combined time of 2 minutes, 26.

39 seconds was 0.21 faster than surprise runner-up Anemone Marmottan of France. Lara Gut of Switzerland and Eva-Maria Brem of Austria tied for third, trailing Fenninger by 0.39.

Hoefl-Riesch placed 21st and earned only 10 World Cup race points.

Fenninger’s 100 points brought her within 67 of the 2011 overall champion from Germany with six races remaining this season.