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WORLD

Swede claims home win in World Cup slalom

Maria Pietilä Holmner of Sweden provided a home win in the women's World Cup slalom at Åre on Saturday, holding on to her leading time from the first run in a closely-fought contest.

Swede claims home win in World Cup slalom
Maria Pietilä-Holmner celebrates her victory on December 13th 2014. Photo: Marcus Ericsson/TT

Pietilä Holmner clocked 1 minute 43.65 seconds to win by just 0.06secs from overall World Cup leader Tina Maze of Slovenia with another Swede, Frida Hansdotter, third 0.32secs off the pace.

For the 28-year-old Swede it was a welcome return to form four years after she won a World Cup slalom in Aspen followed by a parallel slalom in Munich six weeks later.

"It's amazing. This means so much to me and I have proven to myself that I can beat the best again," she said.

"I felt pretty confident. I just promised myself to try and take a chance.

We have such a strong team, both in the slalom and giant, so watch out for Sweden."

US slalom champion Michaela Shiffrin placed fourth after trailing the lead by over half a second on the first run, meaning she remains winless this season.

Maze's second place bolstered her lead in the overall standings. She now has 560 points and is more than 200 points clear at the top.

Maze won the Åre giant slalom on Friday from Sweden's Sara Hector.

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REAL MADRID

Real Madrid trophy cabinet too small for 13th European Cup

Before Real Madrid's 13th European Cup could be displayed at the Santiago Bernabeu on Friday, the club's trophy cabinet needed to be enlarged, Spanish media reported.

Real Madrid trophy cabinet too small for 13th European Cup
Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez poses in the trophy room of the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid in 2016. Photo: Javier Soriano / AFP
The 13 trophies are lined up in one of the rooms in the bowels of the stadium that together make up the third most visited museum in the Spanish capital. More than one million come each year to admire Real's history.
   
It was almost a week after the final before the latest “Big Ears”, as the Spanish have dubbed the trophy with its distinctive large handles, could be installed. 
   
Spanish sports daily Marca reported that when the glass case was renovated just four years ago, “the most optimistic of the club directors thought they needed to have three spare places.” None foresaw that the club would win the Champions League in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.