BEAVER CREEK, Colo.  – When Marcel Hirscher laid down the fastest first slalom run on Sunday, there was an air of inevitability that the world’s best tech skier would finish the job and depart Colorado with Austria’s sixth gold medal to close out the World Alpine Ski Championships.

In slalom, of course, nothing is ever certain. And that became all the more true as heavy snowfall caked the track making conditions challenging for the later racers in the second run. None of the first-run top three — Hirscher, Alexander Khoroshilov and Andre Myhrer — managed hang in there for a podium.

Instead, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange, who after a string of knee injuries has steadily crept back into the elite conversation, claimed his second career World Championship gold medal and his first win since 2011. Grange was followed on the podium by a pair of Germans, Fritz Dopfer in silver and Felix Neureuther in bronze.

After a controversial first-run set — extremely slow and turny, yielding 43 DNFs — the day’s drama unfolded in the afternoon as Hirscher, skiing 30th with a 0.88-second lead, steadily lost time on Grange’s pace. Hirscher appeared on the verge of losing the gold, falling to a mere 0.06-second lead at the final split. But then, with the finish line in sight just past the Red Tail Jump above the stadium, the Austrian frontrunner clipped a tip and straddled to essentially culminate the championships.

“In a big event like World Championship or Olympic Games, it’s always a lot of stress and lots of pressure and you are not always feeling good,” said Grange. “But you have to believe in yourself. I don’t know – today was my day. Today was my day.”

Hirscher said the straddle came as a total shock.

“I thought it is nearly done, just 10 more gates to go with no special combinations or nothing, just let the skis go,” said Hirscher. “It’s not a secret that visibility wasn’t good especially at the middle of the race. I can’t see nearly nothing but I have no idea how it was for the other athletes because I was standing in the starting tent. So in general I have to say it was a super good world champs for me, two gold medals, one silver.”

For Grange, it’s been a tough row to hoe. His first knee injury came on this very hill in 2009, causing him to miss most of 2010. He bounced back rather quickly, winning gold at the World Championships in Garmisch in 2011, but then in 2012 suffered another ACL tear to the same knee. This season, Grange has been making headway with four World Cup top 10s, all in slalom. More recently, however, he had finished north of the top 20.

“After my two last races in Kitzbuehel and Schladming I was more than 20s, so I can’t imagine (this) today,” said Grange. “But it’s a wonderful gift for all this faltering for years – many injuries, bad bib number, no confidence sometimes. And you know skiing it’s always hard, but it’s easier when you’re on the podium and when you win. I was out of the podium (for the past) four years, so no I can’t expect that but it’s a dream.”

Grange wasn’t the only racer surprised by a podium result.

“It was unbelievable. I never thought that it’s going to be enough to be on the podium,” said Neureuther. “Especially, I had quite a big mistake also on the second run. Luckily Marcel did a bigger mistake, and that’s why I’m on the podium. I was down there in the finish area – it was the same situation like in the GS. … But today it was the happy end for me, so everything’s fine.”

The silver is Dopfer’s first World Championship medal. “It’s just unbelievable,” he also said. “After first run, I was confident that I could ski really good and had a pretty good feeling after the first run. But second run was way more difficult because was straight and the speed was higher, so I tried to push myself to my limit. I think I handled it, and I’m just thankful and really happy to stand on the podium.”

After leaning in on a couple occasions throughout his second run, Ted Ligety was the best performer for the American squad, finishing 21st.

“My run was pretty bad. I skied poorly. Going right after the TV break when it’s snowing this hard and nobody is slipping unfortunately is pretty disappointing,” said Ligety. “But my skiing wasn’t good to begin with. The two of those compounding, you have no chance.”

On a happier note, American Tim Kelley qualified for the flip in 29th — and for the first time in his professional career finished both runs at the elite level to ultimately place 23rd.

“I was more nervous first run,” said Kelley. “After I made it down first run, I knew I could do it second run. I skied well, probably a little conservative on the second run. I’ve been struggling the last month to finish. I had a string of DNFs, so to put two runs down and make it into the top 30 was really fun.”

The men’s World Cup circuit returns in Saalbach, Austria, with downhill training runs starting on on Feb. 19.

The Scoop

By Hank McKee

1. Grange, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
2. Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/
3. Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
4. Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
5. Hargin, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6. Myhrer, Head/Head/Head
7. Larsson, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8. Khoroshilov, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
9. Foss-Solevaag, Volkl/Marker
10. Strasser, Nordica/Nordica

Men’s World Championship slalom, Beaver Creek, Colo., Feb. 15, 2015:

• It is the 11^th and final event of the 2015 World Ski Championships. … It is the 68^th World title slalom. … Marcel Hirscher is the defending champion. … Felix Neureuther leads the World Cup slalom standings.
• It is the second World Championship gold medal in slalom for Jean-Bapiste Grange who also won at Garmisch 2011. … The last French male to win the slalom crown was Jean-Noel Augert in 1970. The winning margin is 0.35 of a second. … Top seven are within a second. … Top eight within two seconds.
• It is the first World Championship medal for Fritz Dopfer. … His previous best had been seventh in both GS and slalom at Schladming in 2013.
• It is the second World Championship medal for Felix Neureuther. … He won silver in slalom at Schladming 2013. … Last time the Germans had two medal winners in slalom was 1987 at Crans Montana with Frank Worndl for gold and Armin Bittner with bronze.
• It is the third World Championship result for Trevor Philp and matches his career best finish. … It is Ted Ligety’s second World Championship slalom result. … It is the first World Championship result for Tim Kelley. … It is the second World Championship result, and a career best for Erik Read. … It is the 29^th World Championship placing for Hubertus VonHohenlohe. … His career at Worlds stretches back to Schladming 1982.
• Medal count: Austria five gold, three silver, one bronze; Slovenia two gold, one silver; U.S. two gold, one silver,  two bronze;  Switzerland one gold, two bronze; France one gold, one bronze; Germany two silver, one bronze; Canada two silver; Sweden 1 silver, two bronze; Norway one silver; Czech Republic one bronze.

Results