WINTER SPORTS ROUNDUP : Girardelli Wins Run in Italy

Four-time World Cup champion Marc Girardelli withstood a sensational second-run comeback by Alberto Tomba and the unexpected challenge of Alain Feutrier to win a giant slalom Sunday at Alta Badia, Italy.

Girardelli’s first victory of the season, combined with a fourth place in a downhill at Val Gardena on Saturday, lifted him to first place in the overall World Cup standings with 236 points.

He clocked the fastest time in the first run, 1 minute 22.57 seconds, and was second to Tomba in the second heat down the Gran Risa course. He had a winning time of 2:46.25.

Feutrier, who resumed skiing in 1989 after a bout with leukemia, had his best giant slalom race ever, finishing second in 2:46.75.

Tomba was third. It was the fourth consecutive defeat for Tomba in his favorite gate races.

Ulrike Maier led an Austrian domination of a women’s World Cup super-giant slalom at Vail, Colo., claiming her second victory of the season. Maier edged Norway’s Astrid Loedemel by 0.02 seconds.

Austrians Anita Wachter and Sylvia Eder were third and fourth, respectively.

Maier, a two-time gold medalist in the world championships in super-G, had not won a World Cup race until this season. She had a run of 1 minute 22.61 seconds.

Series 500-meter leaders Qiabo Ye of China and Dan Jansen of the United States won their specialties and Bonnie Blair of the United States won the 1,000-meter race at the World Cup speedskating meet in Seoul.

Ye’s time of 41.04 seconds beat that of Japan’s Kyoiko Shimazaki, who skated 41.40 seconds. Jansen’s 37.69 seconds beat Igor Zhelezovsky of Belarus by 0.08 seconds.

Zhelezovsky, the 1,000-meter series leader, won his specialty in 1:14.91, beating Yukinori Miyabe of Japan, who skated 1:16.17.

Blair’s 1:25.49 in the women’s 1,000 was 0.06 seconds faster than Germany’s Christine Aaftink.

Philippe Candeloro of France won the men’s title at the NHK Trophy International Figure Skating competition in Tokyo with the help of an original spin.

Candeloro, 20, completed a triple axel and nine other jumps and spun with his knees on the ice to the cheers of 7,600 spectators.

“I think I am the only skater in the world to display such a spin,” he said. “I . . . call it the ‘Candeloro Spin.’ ”

Canadian Elvis Stojko finished second. Alexei Urmanov of Russia was third.

Italian Guenther Huber won a World Cup two-man bobsled competition at La Plagne, France, edging Olympic champion Gustav Weder of Switzerland.

Huber, with brakeman Stefano Ticci, had a combined two-run time of 2 minutes 1.08 seconds, 0.04 of a second faster than Weder.