JB GrangeThough the hard-working race crew on the Gudiberg race hill across the tracks in Partenkirchen, Germany were reduced to using a fire hose and hand thrown salt, they got the hill to hold together for the final race of the 2011 World Ski Championships, the men’s slalom. The result were some historic finishes.

It was no accident the two guys wearing bibs one and two wound up on the podium. Weeks of temperatures at or above freezing combined with the efforts of the work crew had created a solid, grippy surface. But the ravages applied by the strength of the World Cup men was no easy thing to withstand.

Second starting Jean-Baptiste Grange claimed the slalom World Championship his second World medal having won bronze in 2007. It was the first French win in a World Championship slalom since Perrine Pelen in 1985, and the first for a Frenchman since Jean-Noel Augert in 1970.

First starting Manfred Moelgg of Italy, the silver medalist ahead of Grange in 2007, got bronze this time.  It was the sixth medal of the championships for Italy, matching the national record haul from 1997 when the title meet was on their own snow.

Winning silver for Sweden was Jens Byggmark in his first World Championship meet placing ever. It was the first world slalom medal for a Swedish male since Jonas Nilsson won gold in 1985.

Of the podium results Byggmarks was the more remarkable. He had finished sixth in the first run more than a second off Grange’s winning first run time and started the second run 25th when the course was as rutted and slick as it would get. The hose had been put away by the time he ran, but the course definitely offered its challenges.

“I actually felt that I was fast,” said Byggmark. “Usually I get nervous when I feel fast that I’ll be going out, but today. … that was the best feeling I’ve had in three years.”

Byggmark was a slalom force in 2007 and 2008, but said a rules change that shortened the distances between gates proved to be a difficult thing to overcome. “I had extreme canting and technqiue and so I had to change my technique,” he said. That took time and regaining confidence was difficult. “I wanted this today,” he said. “I never skied with this intensity ever I think. I had some confidence to go full at every gate. I wanted to gain time, to be as fast as possible at every gate.”

And he was about as fast as possible at every gate. His late start (18) in the first run may well have kept him from a brighter medal. “I could have been much faster in the first run if I had a bib from one to seven.”

Grange, with slalom wins this season from Levi, Kitzbuehel and Schladming and in the number two bib was considered a front runner, a man who should win. “But skiing isn’t always like that,” he pointed out. He said he “pushed really hard,” in the first run, knowing the course might not hold up for his second run.

“The second run, the snow conditions were not very good due to the weather. They made a great job on the snow, but it was tough to ski, very bumpy. I felt it already in the first gate. I was a bit nervous.”

He held his nerves in check for the gold.

Moelgg, with a win and a second place finish on the Gudiberg hill in World Cup action said he was lucky to have drawn bib one, and happy to be racing on a hill he has had some success on.

“When you get to the finish area you want to see the ‘one’ on the scoreboard. I did my best and tried my best.” He got a bit philosophical saying “I made one little mistake in the beginning of the second run, but I still attacked. Bronze was missing, but I’m still striving for gold.”

Mario Matt finished fourth, adding to the frustration of the Austrians who have seen their heroes drop to injury and their medals limited – on the men’s side – to a silver in super G to Hannes Reichelt (later to be injured) and a bronze in GS by Philipp Schoerghofer. That he made it to the race at all is astonishing having worked his way up through the World Cup ranks over the season to qualify. He was a distant 1.18 seconds out after the first run and skied 15th in the second heat with a run that was truely special and remained the fastest run of the afternoon.

Finishing in fifth was the Canadian fireplug Julien Cousineau matching the 1950 slalom finish of Ernie McCullough and two off the 2009 podium result of Michael Janyk, a first run casualty carrying a lead at the time he skied out. Sixth went to a Japanese, the best slalom finish for the island nation since Chiharu Igaya earned a bronze in 1958.

“I wish I had been on the podium, but I’m satisfied,” said Cousineau. “I’m starting to get tired of fifth. I want to get on the podium. I can’t wait. I know it’s coming. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Janyk took his premature exit in stride. “I knew I was skiing on the limit,” he said. “You always say it’s better to ski fast and ski out than to come out slowly. It’r true, but it still hurts.”

American Nolan Kasper led the way for his squad, powering through the ruts of the first course from the 29th start and skiing 14th in the second run. Ted Ligety finished 19th.

“The course held up well,” said Kasper. “With the course set I did what I could and I’m happy with the result. … I definitely feel like I have some more speed.”

“The slalom group has put a lot of effort it,” said US coach Sasha Rearick. “They moved to Park City, worked their asses off and as a group are coming up. (Nolan) Kasper has been skiing amazing. What he showed today was not his best skiing. .He showed his best skiing on the last third of the course both runs, but not at the top. Him coming down in 15th will help him a lot for his start position on the World Cup so it is a good thing.”

The group gets a three day break before resuming World Cup racing at Bansko, Bulgaria. -HM

Gepa images

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Men’s World Championship slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Feb. 20, 2011
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Byggmark, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
3 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4 Matt, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
5 Cousineau, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6 Yuasa, Hart/Dolomite/Look
7 Deville, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
8 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
9 Pranger, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Myhrer, Nordica/Nordica/

Men’s World Championship slalom, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Feb. 20, 2011. … It is the 11th an final event of the 2011 World Championships the fifth of five men’s races. … It is the 64th World Championship slalom.

It is the first World Championship and second World title meet medal for Jean-Baptiste Grange. … He won bronze in slalom in 2007. … It is his fourth win of the season, all in slalom, also winning World Cup races at Levi, Kitzbuehel and Schladming. … It is the 26th French World Championship. … the seventh in slalom.

It is the first career World Championship medal for Jans Byggmark. … His first podium result since Jan. 20, 2008 when he was second in slalom at Kitzbuehel. … It is the fourth medal for Sweden at these championships, the first medal by a Swedish male since 2007 and the first by a Swedish male in slalom since Jonas Nilsson won gold in 1985.

It is the second World Championship medal for Manfred Moelgg who won silver in slalom in 2007. … It is his first podium result of the season. …  Italian men have won ten slalom medals in World Championship competition, Moelgg joins Alberto Tomba and Giorgio Rocca as two time slalom medal winners.

Julien Cousineau n
ow owns the best result from a World Championship in his house, besting his father (Alain)’s top finish of 25. … He also matches the second best slalom result at Worlds for Canada, topped only by Michael Janyk’s bronze medal from 2009. … It is the first career World Championship result for Nolan Kasper. … it is his third best result of the season. … It is the only slalom finish for Tefd Ligety in World Championship competition. … It is the only result of any discipline in a World Championship for Trevor White. … or for Brad Spence.

Medal Count
Austria 8    (4gold, 3silver, 1bronze)
France 4    (2gold, 1silver, 1bronze)
Italy 6    (1gold, 2silver, 3bronze)
USA 3 (1gold, 2silver)
Slovenia 2 (1gold, 1silver)
Canada 1 (1gold)
Norway 1 (1gold)
Sweden 4 (1silver, 3bronze)
Switzerland 1 (1silver)
Germany 2 (2bronze)
Croatia 1 (1bronze)

Place Garmisch-Partenkirchen
(GER)		 Discipline Slalom
Date 20.02.2011 Category FIS World Ski Championships
Race codex 0078 Gender M
Valid for FIS Points YES TD Name Stocker Rudolf (AUT)
    
  
RankBibFIS CodeNameYearNationRun 1Run 2Total TimeFIS Points
 1 2 192665GRANGE Jean-Baptiste 1984 FRA  51.30 50.42 1:41.72 0.00
 2 18 501101BYGGMARK Jens 1985 SWE  52.39 49.76 1:42.15 2.58
 3 1 292491MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  51.52 50.81 1:42.33 3.66
 4 14 50707MATT Mario 1979 AUT  53.11 49.43 1:42.54 4.92
 5 8 102239COUSINEAU Julien 1981 CAN  52.95 49.64 1:42.59 5.22
 6 25 301709YUASA Naoki 1983 JPN  52.60 50.08 1:42.68 5.76
 7 16 291145DEVILLE Cristian 1981 ITA  53.11 49.67 1:42.78 6.36
 8 6 380260KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO  52.32 50.56 1:42.88 6.96
 9 11 50624PRANGER Manfred 1978 AUT  52.41 50.62 1:43.03 7.86
 10 5 501017MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  51.87 51.35 1:43.22 9.00
 11 10 501223BAECK Axel 1987 SWE  52.59 50.90 1:43.49 10.61
 12 3 501111HARGIN Mattias 1985 SWE  52.27 51.32 1:43.59 11.21
 13 20 560355VALENCIC Mitja 1978 SLO  53.03 50.60 1:43.63 11.45
 14 22 910000IMBODEN Urs 1975 MDA  53.75 50.03 1:43.78 12.35
 15 29 532138KASPER Nolan 1989 USA  53.16 50.67 1:43.83 12.65
 16 28 150594TREJBAL Filip 1985 CZE  54.04 49.80 1:43.84 12.71
 17 39 194364PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  54.13 49.78 1:43.91 13.13
 18 33 50824DREIER Christoph 1981 AUT  53.95 50.07 1:44.02 13.79
 19 17 534562LIGETY Ted 1984 USA  52.78 51.39 1:44.17 14.69
 20 26 102922WHITE Trevor 1984 CAN  53.84 50.58 1:44.42 16.19
 21 43 202462DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  53.63 50.88 1:44.51 16.73
 22 37 293797GROSS Stefano 1986 ITA  54.33 50.60 1:44.93 19.25
 23 23 421400MYHRE Lars Elton 1984 NOR  53.55 52.02 1:45.57 23.09
 24 51 700830ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK  54.08 51.56 1:45.64 23.51
 25 30 511896MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI  55.49 51.79 1:47.28 33.34
 26 34 92591ALBRECHT Kilian 1973 BUL  55.12 52.52 1:47.64 35.50
 27 41 511174VOGEL Markus 1984 SUI  54.15 53.60 1:47.75 36.16
 28 53 302982OHKOSHI Ryunosuke 1988 JPN  55.50 53.13 1:48.63 41.44
 29 56 30149SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier 1980 ARG  55.53 53.85 1:49.38 45.94
 30 75 380335ZUBCIC Filip 1993 CRO  57.22 53.26 1:50.48 52.53
 31 59 92534CHONGAROV Nikola 1989 BUL  57.39 53.61 1:51.00 55.65
 32 72 20174VIDOSA Roger 1984 AND  57.10 54.03 1:51.13 56.43
 33 62 60088VAN DEN BOGAERT Jeroen 1979 BEL  57.04 54.97 1:52.01 61.71
 34 70 370022JENOT Olivier 1988 MON  58.53 54.58 1:53.11 68.30
 35 63 40349RISHWORTH Mike 1987 AUS  58.62 55.13 1:53.75 72.14
 36 79 550054ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps 1992 LAT  59.31 56.81 1:56.12 86.35
 37 19 511127GINI Marc 1984 SUI  55.50 1:01.24 1:56.74 90.07
 38 21 102912SPENCE Brad 1984 CAN  53.27 1:03.48 1:56.75 90.13
 39 44 150644KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE  54.36 1:03.07 1:57.43 94.21
 40 81 230189BONOU Nikos 1986 GRE  1:00.35 58.62 1:58.97 103.45
 41 92 170136VIAL Christian 1984 DAN  1:01.65 58.41 2:00.06 109.98
 42 89 80063LONGHI Jhonatan 1988 BRA  1:01.11 59.13 2:00.24 111.06
 43 87 310388KOSIC Bojan 1990 MNE  1:01.83 1:00.99 2:02.82 126.53
 44 91 240122SZEPESI Bertold 1990 HUN  1:03.11 59.92 2:03.03 127.79
 45 94 780002RUMIANCEV Vitalij 1985 LTU  1:03.93 59.13 2:03.06 127.97
 46 90 690036VAKHNENKO Igor 1981 UKR  1:04.04 1:00.16 2:04.20 134.81
 47 83 710311RUDIC Marko 1990 BIH  1:01.35 1:13.70 2:15.05 199.88
 48 93 520082TURKSEVER Erdinc 1985 TUR  1:05.42 1:10.14 2:15.56 202.93
Did not qualify for final race
 49 22 40332STEVENS Hugh 1986 AUS  52.86 52.89 1:45.75 
 50 12 60015MOLLIN Bart 1981 BEL  53.31 52.49 1:45.80 
 51 43 380334VIDOVIC Matej 1993 CRO  53.42 53.38 1:46.80 
 52 46 400237MEINERS Maarten 1992 NED  52.86 54.45 1:47.31 
 53 55 350095PFIFFNER Marco 1994 LIE  53.35 54.16 1:47.51 
 54 63 350088OEHRI Josef 1991 LIE  54.45 53.96 1:48.41 
 55 62 430472KLUSAK Michal 1990 POL  54.32 54.27 1:48.59 
 56 60 750089DEHARI Dardan 1990 MKD  53.94 55.39 1:49.33 
 57 125 910003LINDNER Georg 1983 MDA  56.46 55.56 1:52.02 
 58 73 680054GEDEVANISHVILI Dimitri 1993 GEO  56.62 56.89 1:53.51 
 59 88 520100SIMSEK Emre 1987 TUR  57.73 57.68 1:55.41 
 60 95 240139KEKESI Marton 1995 HUN  58.85 1:00.19 1:59.04 
 61 75 230353KARAMANIDIS Chrysostomos 1990 GRE  58.52 1:00.76 1:59.28 
 62 92 660015MAZALEUSKI Siarhei 1992 BLR  58.84 1:00.46 1:59.30 
 63 89 950000OETTL REYES Manfred 1993 PER  59.30 1:00.37 1:59.67 
 64 97 660019DUS Evgeny 1992 BLR  1:00.13 1:01.51 2:01.64 
 65 113 170106DAMGAARD Kristian-Lyhne 1987 DAN  1:00.36 1:01.41 2:01.77 
 66 105 240084VINCZE Akos 1978 HUN  1:00.77 1:01.85 2:02.62 
 67 98 210024BABIKOV Dmitriy 1990 UZB  1:02.35 1:03.29 2:05.64 
 68 109 170114STENE Nils-Henrik 1988 DAN  1:03.11 1:04.64 2:07.75 
 69 104 540001VON HOHENLOHE Hubertus 1959 MEX  1:05.53 1:06.59 2:12.12 
 70 112 740028MANUKYAN Yura 1991 ARM  1:05.88 1:07.53 2:13.41 
 71 116 360034GIRST Patrick 1989 LUX  1:06.96 1:06.87 2:13.83 
 72 114 740030GHAZARYAN Arsen 1992 ARM  1:10.24 1:04.05 2:14.29 
 73 127 770004TRELEVSKI Andrey 1979 KGZ  1:07.38 1:09.74 2:17.12 
 74 108 340154FENIANOS Tarek 1990 LIB  1:09.31 1:12.32 2:21.63 
 75 121 740029KHACHATRYAN Davit 1992 ARM  1:12.63 1:13.10 2:25.73 
 76 122 941000NKRUMAH-ACHEAMPONG Kwame 1974 GHA  1:13.40 1:13.70 2:27.10 
 77 126 570017DYWILI Tsotane 1992 RSA  1:13.70 1:15.71 2:29.41 
 78 124 921000ROY Jean-Pierre 1963 HAI  1:24.14 1:31.03 2:55.17 
Disqualified 1st run
  98 280030VANDEPUT Virgile 1994 ISR     
Did not finish 2nd run
  99 210032VORONOV Artem 1993 UZB     
  49 180627MALMSTROM Victor 1991 FIN     
  46 421669HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR     
  40 50981HOERL Wolfgang 1983 AUT     
  36 561148SKUBE Matic 1988 SLO     
  32 534508CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA     
  27 301312SASAKI Akira 1981 JPN     
  13 201702NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER     
  12 293098RAZZOLI Giuliano 1984 ITA     
  4 50605HERBST Reinfried 1978 AUT     
Did not finish 1st run
  100 740022NERSISYAN Arsen 1987 ARM     
  97 570012HEATH Alexander 1978 RSA     
  96 160091PAPAMICHAEL Constantinos 1993 CYP     
  95 120047ZHANG Yuxin 1989 CHN     
  88 110266ANGUITA Martin 1991 CHI     
  86 660021DANILOCHKIN Yuri 1991 BLR     
  85 860005BRACHNER Patrick 1992 AZE     
  84 670052KHUBER Martin 1992 KAZ     
  82 680047BENIAIDZE Alex 1991 GEO     
  80 460040NAN Ioan-Gabriel 1980 ROU     
  78 750088RISTEVSKI Antonio 1989 MKD     
  77 350086HEEB Simon 1991 LIE     
  76 410266GRIFFIN Benjamin 1986 NZE     
  74 491356CARRERAS Pol 1990 SPA     
  73 430429BYDLINSKI Maciej 1988 POL     
  71 30266GASTALDI Sebastiano 1991 ARG     
  69 700724BABUSIAK Jaroslav 1984 SVK     
  68 260097SAVEH SHEMSHAKI Porya 1987 IRA     
  67 180703PALONIEMI Santeri 1993 FIN     
  66 202437LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER     
  65 400163ROOIJ VAN Joery 1986 NED     
  64 320244KIM Woo-Sung 1986 KOR     
  61 60160ALAERTS Kai 1989 BEL     
  60 90131GEORGIEV Georgi 1987 BUL     
  58 481006ZUEV Stepan 1988 RUS     
  57 180534SANDELL Marcus 1987 FIN     
  55 220689RYDING David 1986 GBR     
  54 320293KYUNG Sung-Hyun 1990 KOR     
  52 480736KHOROSHILOV Alexander 1984 RUS     
  50 380292ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO     
  48 150495VRABLIK Martin 1982 CZE     
  47 220083BAXTER Noel 1981 GBR     
  45 250127BJORGVINSSON Bjorgvin 1980 ISL     
  42 193347TISSOT Maxime 1986 FRA     
  38 180251PALANDER Kalle 1977 FIN     
  35 530165BRANDENBURG Will 1987 USA     
  31 421483JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR     
  24 150398BANK Ondrej 1980 CZE     
  15 102435JANYK Michael 1982 CAN     
  9 192506MISSILLIER Steve 1984 FRA     
  7 510890ZURBRIGGEN Silvan 1981 SUI     
Disqualified 2nd run in qualification race
  83 550058BRISHKA Roberts 1993 LAT     
  78 690067DOLGYY Sergiy 1984 UKR     
Disqualified 1st run in qualification race
  48 230192TSAKNAKIS Alexandros 1986 GRE     
  17 700851SIRAN Vladimir 1991 SVK     
Did not start 2nd run in qualification race
  41 40474POCCARD Marc 1989 AUS     
Did not start 1st run in qualification race
  118 770011TRELEVSKI Dmitry 1983 KGZ     
Did not finish 2nd run in qualification race
  128 590035GONCALVES Jorge 1968 POR     
  120 590033MARQUES Joao-Miguel 1992 POR     
  117 360035TRIERWEILER Ben 1988 LUX     
  115 240140HALMAGYI Zoltan 1995 HUN     
  111 570015SCOTT Peter 1990 RSA     
  110 170126MADSEN Nicolai 1991 DAN     
  107 270053LYONS Simon 1993 IRE     
  106 280027BARNETZ Niv 1994 ISR     
  103 80062SETUBAL Paulo E. 1988 BRA     
  102 270045MCKELVEY Nicholas 1991 IRE     
  101 210020EGEMBERDIEV Safar 1986 UZB     
  99 270040MC SHERA Shane 1990 IRE     
  96 270055LYNE Conor 1993 IRE     
  94 120048HUANG Haibin 1990 CHN     
  93 80068GUGLIELMINI Fabio 1994 BRA     
  91 550049BLUMS Kristaps 1992 LAT     
  85 310403MINIC Mladen 1993 MNE     
  82 110320CLARO Eugenio 1993 CHI     
  64 40543BROWN Callum 1994 AUS     
  53 680045VAKHTANGISHVILI Kote 1991 GEO     
  50 700843KUTLIK Matej 1991 SVK     
  44 260110KIYA DARBANDSARI Mohammad 1989 IRA     
  39 460060BARBU Alexandru 1987 ROU     
  38 260084TIR Omid 1984 IRA     
  36 410270CAFE Tim 1987 NZE     
  30 250272HALLDORSSON Gunnar-Thor 1990 ISL     
  29 260079SAVEH SHEMSHAKI Hossein 1985 IRA     
  21 680041ABRAMASHVILI Iason 1988 GEO     
  19 250259GUDMUNDSSON Brynjar-Jokull 1989 ISL     
Did not finish 1st run in qualification race
  130 770015TIMOFEEV Evgeniy 1994 KGZ     
  129 570018SPEELMAN Sive 1995 RSA     
  123 620058THAKUR Rajat 1994 IND     
  119 770012BORISOV Ivan 1979 KGZ     
  100 110269CARVALLO Nicolas 1991 CHI     
  90 120035LI Lei 1987 CHN     
  87 110294ECHEVERRIA Jose Tomas 1992 CHI     
  80 120037TIAN Yuheng 1985 CHN     
  74 30283FREEMAN CRESPO Ignacio 1992 ARG     
  70 690672TELYCHUK Vasyl 1992 UKR     
  69 550038DAUGULIS Kaspars 1989 LAT     
  68 690086FESHCHUK Rostyslav 1990 UKR     
  56 350087KINDLE Nicola 1991 LIE     
  52 250292HALLDORSSON Sigurgeir 1991 ISL     
  42 60198VAN DEN BROECKE Robin 1992 BEL    

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”

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