Vreni Schneider, in her first race since...

Vreni Schneider, in her first race since having knee surgery to remove cartilage on Dec. 6, won a World Cup slalom at Piancavallo, Italy.

It was the 25-year-old Swiss skier’s second slalom victory this season and the 29th World Cup win of her career. Her two-run time was 1 minute 18.86 seconds.

Austrian Monika Maierhofer, although clocking the fastest time in the second run, finished 1.38 seconds behind Schneider.

In a men’s slalom at Kranjska Gora, Yugoslavia, Jonas Nilsson of Sweden edged Hubert Strolz of Austria by 0.01 of a second. Nilsson, 26, is the first Swedish World Cup slalom winner since Ingemar Stenmark in 1987.