Alpine Skiing at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games:

This event was expected to go to either Petra Kronberger (AUT) or Vreni Schneider (SUI). Kronberger was leading the 1991-92 slalom World Cup, while Schneider was the 1991 World Champion and World Cup champion. The first run leader was surprising American Julie Parisien, who had yet to medal on the World Cup circuit. She was followed by Spaniard Blanca Fernández Ochoa, whose brother Francisco had won the 1972 men’s slalom gold medal, with Kronberger third and Schneider fifth. The second run leader was an even bigger surprise, as New Zealand’s Annelise Coberger won, moving her up from eighth place after the first run to an eventual silver medal. Kronberger trailed only Coberger on the second run, moving her up to win the gold medal. Fernández Ochoa was only seventh on run two, but held on for a bronze medal. Her medal was the first ever won by a Spanish woman at the Olympics, Winter or Summer. Coberger’s medal was the first ever won in the Winter Olympics by any athlete from the Southern Hemisphere. Schneider skied poorly for her on both runs, placing fifth and 10th for an overall seventh-place, but she would return in 1994 to win the gold medal in this event.