SKIING / WORLD CUP AT MAMMOTH : Schneider Runs Away With a Milestone

MAMMOTH LAKES —  More amazing than Vreni Schneider’s 50th World Cup victory Thursday, a slalom that the Swiss star led from start gate to finish, was her contemplation of retirement at 29.

She’s some has-been.

Schneider dropped some hints after winning her sixth World Cup slalom of the season and moving past Sweden’s Pernilla Wiberg into the World Cup overall lead heading into next week’s finals at Vail, Colo.

Schneider left the drama to the also-rans, posting the fastest times for both runs to win with a total time of 1 minute 18.52 seconds. Katja Koren of Slovenia was a distant second, 1.43 seconds behind, and Germany’s Martina Ertl finished third.

Long Island’s Carrie Sheinberg was the top American, posting a career-best 11th place. She said watching Schneider race is like attending a clinic.

“There must be something she does that we don’t,” Sheinberg said. “Because she beats us by a lot. I really don’t know what it is.”

Retirement?

Schneider is skiing down the back slope of perhaps her best season. She is coming off an Olympics at which she won three medals--gold, silver and bronze--to add to the two gold medals she won at the 1988 Calgary Games.

She has won more medals--five--than any other female skier.

She is within striking distance of Annemarie Moser-Proell’s record of 62 World Cup women’s victories.

After Schneider’s Mammoth victory, Swiss coaches and teammates presented her with a gray sweatshirt with “50 Times” printed in blue block letters across the front.

Schneider appears to shock herself with each achievement. She might be shocked again next week at Vail, where she may very well clinch the second overall title of her career.

Picking up 100 points with her latest triumph, Schneider overtook Wiberg in the overall standings and leads by 41 points. Wiberg finished fourth Thursday.

“Obviously, now the World Cup overall is on my mind,” Schneider said. “Then, I’ll go home and, in the quiet of my home, make a decision.”

Schneider said her chances of returning next year are 50-50.

Another number, 62, might enter into her decision.

“Obviously, 62 is something to shoot for,” Schneider said of Moser-Proell’s record. “But I think it’s too many wins for me to achieve.”

American expectations are more modest.

Sheinberg is trying to pick up the slalom slack left when Julie Parisien, a three-time World Cup winner, announced that she was taking a sabbatical.

After a disappointing season through December, the 21-year-old Sheinberg gained momentum into the Olympics, where she placed a surprising 18th in slalom, the best U.S. finish.

Sheinberg had the 14th-fastest time in the first run and moved up three positions with a second-run time of 39.67, and a two-run total of 1.21:82.

Sheinberg said her problem has been self-confidence. After her top-20 finish in the Olympics, she was asked to give a motivational speech to the basketball team at her former high school in Port Washington, N.Y.

“I think it helped me as much as it helped them,” Sheinberg said.