Russia’s Alexander Khoroshilov claims Schladming Night Race
SCHLADMING, Austria — Schladming is the Super Bowl of slalom. Held annually under the lights, the night race draws upwards of 50,000 rowdy Austrian fans who collide to deliver an electric atmosphere like no other stop on the tour.
History was made Tuesday night as Alexander Khoroshilov secured the first-ever Alpine World Cup win for Russia. (There were previously a handful of wins for the USSR including Aleksandr Zhirov, who claimed four tech races in 1981 and Valeri Tysganov who landed a downhill victory in that same year.)
Khoroshilov, who’s been racing on the World Cup since 2004, has been having the best season of his career. After finishing no worse than tenth all season he finally ascended to the top of the podium in decisive fashion with a 1.44 second margin of victory over his closest competition, Stefano Gross of Italy. Germany’s Felix Neureuther rounded out the podium 1.51 seconds off the pace set by the Ruski. His advantage came after the first run in which only Neureuther was able to ski to within a second. Despite heavy snowfall at times, the track held up quite well, according to the racers, providing prime conditions for Khoroshilov to seal the deal.
After the race, his competitors remarked at how cool a customer Khoroshilov was throughout his winning performance. He seemed unaffected by the gravity of the moment and just went about his business. But when asked about it after the race, Khoroshilov sternly said, “I have a lot of emotions, but everything is inside.”
“I was really impressed when (Khoroshilov) crossed the finish line, how he was celebrating,” said Neureuther. “If I was winning my first race, I would have totally freaked out for sure. I was really impressed to see how cool he was and I congratulate him on his achievement.”
Notably out of contention was Marcel Hirscher who was battling an illness and finished 14th. Hirscher faired OK in the first run, fourth, but a series of small errors began to compound themselves in the second run. It’s been a busy stretch for the slalom skiers: four races in three weeks, plus a combined start for Hirscher. Some rest, the overall leader said, is needed before heading to World Champs.
The Americans were represented in the second run by David Chodounsky and Will Brandenburg. Chodounsky made the flip despite a sizable hip check in his first run, which ultimately set him back to 19th on the day. He’s been on the brink of a big result all season, while Brandenburg hadn’t qualified for second run, due in part to a string of DNFs, since last March. He finished just ahead of his teammate in 18th — his third best career result.
“Going into Kitzbuehel, I really tried to back off the full-on speed and use my intensity to ski a touch rounder line,” said Brandenburg. “I came in here and just knew I needed to get something rolling. I haven’t finished a first run all season. Again, I used the same tactics, didn’t really gun it that much. I got to the bottom and I’m happy with the result.”
Brandenburg said he “got lucky” with the snowfall, which let up significantly just prior to his first run. But that’s ski racing and those are the breaks you need to capitalize on, he said.
“It’s an outdoor sport. We grew up in this. Especially being from Schweitzer and Mount Spokane, skiing in the fog all the time, I’m used to it,” said Brandenburg. “The track was great, really very good. You could still push from the back.”
Brandenburg had been considering retirement from professional ski racing, but Tuesday’s result is making him think twice.
“I kind of thought this would be my last race,” he said. “I want to be top 25 to continue ski racing. I’ve been funding myself. It didn’t look like things were going that way. I’ll have to rethink it. That feeling today was pretty sweet. I want to keep going.”
Meanwhile, Chodounsky very well could have had a top-10 race if it wasn’t for the significant first-run error. He went on to ski the fifth-fastest second run, which gives him needed confidence heading into the World Championships in his home state of Colorado.
“It’s really big. I really wanted to have a good run to finish it off and head home on a strong note,” said Chodounsky. “I was hoping obviously for a better placing, but I’ll take it, and I’m heading out of January with a good feeling before World Champs.”
The Scoop
By Hank McKee
- Khoroshilov, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
- Gross, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
- Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
- Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/
- Strasser, Nordica/Nordica/
- Razzoli, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
- Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
- Hargin, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Larsson, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
- Yule, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
Men’s World Cup slalom, Schladming, Austria, Jan. 27,2015:
- The Night Race has been a staple of the World Cup tour since the 1990s. … The race ends in a large stadium right on the street in town. … It is the 24th of 38 men’s races on the World Cup calendar … the ninth of 11 slaloms on the schedule. … It is the final World Cup race before the World Championships. … Henrik Kristoffersen is the defending champion, having collected his first career win at Schladming last season.
- It is the first career World Cup win for Alexander Khoroshilov. … It is the first Russian World Cup win since Warwara Zelenskaja won back-to-back downhills at Nagano in 1997. … The win by a male Russian was back when the nation was the Soviet Union and Alexander Zhirov claimed the Laax giant slalom on March 28, 1981. The winning margin is 1.44 seconds. … Top five are within two seconds.
- It is the sixth career World Cup podium placing for Stefano Gross. … He was also second at Schladming Jan. 24, 2012. … It is his third podium of the season including the Adelboden slalom win on Jan. 11.
- It is the 36th career World Cup podium for Felix Neureuther … his sixth of the season. … It is his third Schladming podium.
- It is the third best career World Cup result for Will Brandenburg … and his first score of the season. … It is the 13th best World Cup result for David Chodounsky. … His fourth best of the season.
- Marcel Hirscher (14th in race) maintsins the lead of the World Cup overll standings 1014-834 over Kjetil Jansrud (did not race). … Neureuther is third with 662pts. … Ted Ligety is the top American in 12th place and 420pts. … Manuel Osborne-Paradis leads Canada overall in 38th place with 153pts.
- Neureuther leads the slalom standings 540-474 over Hirscher. … Fritz Dopfer (fourth in race) is third in slalom with 399pts. … Chodounsky leads the Americans in 24th place with 51pts. … Julien Cousineau is top Canadian in 42nd place with 14pts.
- Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup standings 3482-2453 over France. … Italy is third with 2376pts. … The U.S. is seventh with 1323pts and Canada ninth wih 427pts.
Results
1 | 6 | 480736 | KHOROSHILOV Alexander | 1984 | RUS | 53.67 | 52.72 | 1:46.39 | 0.00 | |
2 | 3 | 293797 | GROSS Stefano | 1986 | ITA | 55.30 | 52.53 | 1:47.83 | +1.44 | 9.75 |
3 | 4 | 201702 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 54.46 | 53.44 | 1:47.90 | +1.51 | 10.22 |
4 | 5 | 202462 | DOPFER Fritz | 1987 | GER | 54.75 | 53.34 | 1:48.09 | +1.70 | 11.50 |
5 | 29 | 202451 | STRASSER Linus | 1992 | GER | 55.35 | 52.97 | 1:48.32 | +1.93 | 13.06 |
6 | 16 | 293098 | RAZZOLI Giuliano | 1984 | ITA | 55.12 | 53.30 | 1:48.42 | +2.03 | 13.74 |
7 | 1 | 422304 | KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik | 1994 | NOR | 55.09 | 53.37 | 1:48.46 | +2.07 | 14.01 |
8 | 7 | 501111 | HARGIN Mattias | 1985 | SWE | 55.69 | 53.01 | 1:48.70 | +2.31 | 15.63 |
9 | 12 | 500656 | LARSSON Markus | 1979 | SWE | 55.60 | 53.29 | 1:48.89 | +2.50 | 16.92 |
10 | 19 | 511996 | YULE Daniel | 1993 | SUI | 55.12 | 53.83 | 1:48.95 | +2.56 | 17.32 |
11 | 30 | 501458 | LINDH Calle | 1990 | SWE | 56.50 | 52.46 | 1:48.96 | +2.57 | 17.39 |
12 | 20 | 193967 | MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor | 1989 | FRA | 56.50 | 52.49 | 1:48.99 | +2.60 | 17.60 |
13 | 13 | 290732 | THALER Patrick | 1978 | ITA | 55.73 | 53.27 | 1:49.00 | +2.61 | 17.66 |
14 | 2 | 53831 | HIRSCHER Marcel | 1989 | AUT | 55.01 | 54.03 | 1:49.04 | +2.65 | 17.93 |
15 | 9 | 501017 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | 55.42 | 53.64 | 1:49.06 | +2.67 | 18.07 |
16 | 28 | 301709 | YUASA Naoki | 1983 | JPN | 56.60 | 52.53 | 1:49.13 | +2.74 | 18.54 |
17 | 15 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 56.60 | 52.64 | 1:49.24 | +2.85 | 19.29 |
18 | 33 | 530165 | BRANDENBURG Will | 1987 | USA | 56.23 | 53.37 | 1:49.60 | +3.21 | 21.72 |
19 | 25 | 534508 | CHODOUNSKY David | 1984 | USA | 57.01 | 52.64 | 1:49.65 | +3.26 | 22.06 |
19 | 8 | 50707 | MATT Mario | 1979 | AUT | 56.00 | 53.65 | 1:49.65 | +3.26 | 22.06 |
21 | 17 | 191459 | LIZEROUX Julien | 1979 | FRA | 56.32 | 53.35 | 1:49.67 | +3.28 | 22.20 |
22 | 57 | 201896 | STEHLE Dominik | 1986 | GER | 56.93 | 52.96 | 1:49.89 | +3.50 | 23.69 |
23 | 18 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 56.14 | 53.95 | 1:50.09 | +3.70 | 25.04 |
24 | 27 | 192506 | MISSILLIER Steve | 1984 | FRA | 56.75 | 53.49 | 1:50.24 | +3.85 | 26.06 |
25 | 21 | 50625 | RAICH Benjamin | 1978 | AUT | 56.20 | 54.12 | 1:50.32 | +3.93 | 26.60 |
26 | 10 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 56.35 | 54.00 | 1:50.35 | +3.96 | 26.80 |
27 | 32 | 421860 | NORDBOTTEN Jonathan | 1989 | NOR | 56.55 | 54.59 | 1:51.14 | +4.75 | 32.15 |
28 | 36 | 220689 | RYDING Dave | 1986 | GBR | 57.05 | 54.19 | 1:51.24 | +4.85 | 32.82 |
29 | 43 | 561148 | SKUBE Matic | 1988 | SLO | 57.12 | 54.72 | 1:51.84 | +5.45 | 36.88 |
Disqualified 1st run | ||||||||||
41 | 201891 | SCHMID Philipp | 1986 | GER | ||||||
22 | 50605 | HERBST Reinfried | 1978 | AUT | ||||||
Did not qualify for 2nd run | ||||||||||
74 | 30388 | BIRKNER DE MIGUEL Tomas | 1997 | ARG | ||||||
71 | 290095 | BALLERIN Andrea | 1989 | ITA | ||||||
66 | 150594 | TREJBAL Filip | 1985 | CZE | ||||||
65 | 180718 | HENTTINEN Jens | 1993 | FIN | ||||||
64 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | ||||||
63 | 54170 | MATT Michael | 1993 | AUT | ||||||
62 | 511174 | VOGEL Markus | 1984 | SUI | ||||||
61 | 180567 | RASANEN Joonas | 1989 | FIN | ||||||
60 | 512014 | NIEDERBERGER Bernhard | 1993 | SUI | ||||||
59 | 532138 | KASPER Nolan | 1989 | USA | ||||||
58 | 511127 | GINI Marc | 1984 | SUI | ||||||
55 | 193986 | PLACE Francois | 1989 | FRA | ||||||
54 | 511896 | MURISIER Justin | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
53 | 380335 | ZUBCIC Filip | 1993 | CRO | ||||||
52 | 421669 | HAUGEN Leif Kristian | 1987 | NOR | ||||||
51 | 511908 | SCHMIDIGER Reto | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
48 | 54320 | SCHWARZ Marco | 1995 | AUT | ||||||
47 | 103676 | BROWN Phil | 1991 | CAN | ||||||
46 | 291145 | DEVILLE Cristian | 1981 | ITA | ||||||
44 | 291318 | TONETTI Riccardo | 1989 | ITA | ||||||
39 | 934502 | ANKENY Michael | 1991 | USA | ||||||
37 | 511902 | ZENHAEUSERN Ramon | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
35 | 530837 | KELLEY Tim | 1986 | USA | ||||||
34 | 320266 | JUNG Dong-hyun | 1988 | KOR | ||||||
31 | 700830 | ZAMPA Adam | 1990 | SVK | ||||||
26 | 511983 | AERNI Luca | 1993 | SUI | ||||||
24 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | ||||||
14 | 422082 | FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian | 1991 | NOR | ||||||
11 | 501101 | BYGGMARK Jens | 1985 | SWE | ||||||
Did not finish 2nd run | ||||||||||
23 | 501116 | LAHDENPERAE Anton | 1985 | SWE | ||||||
Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
77 | 680053 | GELASHVILI Jaba | 1993 | GEO | ||||||
76 | 30266 | GASTALDI Sebastiano | 1991 | ARG | ||||||
75 | 40349 | RISHWORTH Mike | 1987 | AUS | ||||||
73 | 430633 | JASICZEK Michal | 1994 | POL | ||||||
72 | 60160 | ALAERTS Kai | 1989 | BEL | ||||||
70 | 53889 | HIRSCHBUEHL Christian | 1990 | AUT | ||||||
69 | 550054 | ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps | 1992 | LAT | ||||||
68 | 6531063 | GINNIS AJ | 1994 | USA | ||||||
67 | 92562 | PRISADOV Stefan | 1990 | BUL | ||||||
56 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | ||||||
50 | 380290 | SAMSAL Dalibor | 1985 | HUN | ||||||
49 | 421849 | JOHANSEN Truls | 1989 | NOR | ||||||
45 | 194262 | BUFFET Robin | 1991 | FRA | ||||||
42 | 561117 | KUERNER Miha | 1987 | SLO | ||||||
40 | 421954 | LYSDAHL Espen | 1990 | NOR | ||||||
38 | 102239 | COUSINEAU Julien | 1981 | CAN |