Sweden's Anja Paerson is on her best way to become one of the remarkable slalom specialists in the history of World Cup ski racing. At only 20, the skier from Tärnaby set an impressive winning streak of four consecutive victories in a single month.

In Slovenia's Maribor, Anja remained unbeaten on Sunday after an exciting and spectacular dual with France's Laure Pequegnot, first winner in slalom this winter at Copper Mountain, in Colorado.

Laure clocked the fastest time in the first run with an advance of 18/100 of a second on Paerson, but her younger rival fought back in the afternoon, beating her by 26/100 in the run and by only 8/100 in the total time.

Switzerland's Sonja Nef was 3rd, losing over a second and a half on them - which perfectly shows how dominating both contenders were in that competition watched by thousands of spectators.

"I'm happy for Ivica"

The defending slalom World Cup champion Janica Kostelic managed again to reach the top-10 after two controlled runs. She lost a total of 2,57 seconds on Paerson, but only 65/100 on Sonja Nef.

"I know I can eventually ski faster but for the moment this is the best could produce this week-end" said the skier of Zagreb after the race.

"I still need some time and confidence to get back where I want to be. It will take some time and I have to accept it. It's frustrating not to be able to express your potential but I lost so much time in training with my injuries. I also suffered a setback after my crash in Val d'Isere where I was skiing really well".

"But I'm having a good time watching Ivica skiing so well. I'm so happy for him, it's just so great. I'll meet him again in two weeks at Schladming".

At Saalbach, Janica plans to take part in the downhills the slalom and the combined in order to check her form in those events.

She has not compete in downhill since the Finals at Are last March. In Val d'Isere she reached a strong top-15 position in her first Super-G on the winter.

Anja was dancing in the finish area

Anja Paerson was particularly glad after her latest success and demonstrated her joy dancing in the finish area.

"I had to fight so hard this time, but this is what makes ski racing so exciting" she said.

"It's getting tougher because I can't be as relaxed as at the beginning of the season. I need a lot of energy to remain focused all the time, there is much tension around me".

"It was good that Laure was so fast in the first run, it motivated me. I like to attack from the back".

"There are still a lot of races left so I don't want to speculate about my chances to win a World Cup title, but I'll definitely give my best to keep the Red Bib as long as possible".

At Saalbach, in Austria, two downhills, a slalom and a combined are on the program for the women on next week. It could be a turning point in the Overall classification if allrounders such as Dorfmeister or Renate Goetschl, the winner in the year 2000, don't score many points.