Mario Matt is all the way back.
At a World Cup slalom in Bansko, Bulgaria, Sunday (Feb. 27) Austrian Mario Matt registered his first trip to the top step of a World Cup podium since 2009. Not bad for a guy kicked off the team for poor performance.
A couple of injuries gave the 31 year old two-time World slalom champion (2001 and 2007) another shot at Cup action in time to catch the end of the January string of slalom races, picking off top 10 finishes at Adelboden, Wengen and Kitzbuehel. At World Championships he was fourth. In Bulgaria he won his 13th World Cup race.
Matt led after the first run and maintained composure to post the win over teammate Reinfried Herbst by .04 seconds. Freshly crowned World Slalom Champion Jean-Baptiste Grange was third, gaining ground on Cup slalom leader Ivica Kostelic, a first run casualty. With two slaloms remaining, at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia March 6 and at Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland March 19, Grange trails Kostelic by 36pts.
Matt told Austrian reporters he enjoyed a “huge sigh of relief,” and said, “The time was ripe.” He said in his most recent outings he had registered good second runs, but had lagged too far back after the first run.
“I knew that if I had a clever first the victory is possible.”
He started the season outside of the top 30 seeded skiers. “I really wanted to save my season,” he said.
Canadian Michael Janyk was fifth marking the ninth time in his career he has placed fifth or better in a Cup slalom. He is just the third Canadian to score that many top fives in slalom. “I’m really, really happy with my skiing and my approach to the day,” said Janyk. “The result is good and bad. It’s awesome to be top five and so frustrating to be just off the podium.
“It’s so clear in my mind what I need to do. I know I can be on top of the podium.”
Like Matt, Nolan Kasper was also enjoying being among the top 30 starters, a new experience for him on World Cup. He responded with a a career best tenth place result.
Kasper said it was just a good day. “It was sunny and the snow was a lot
better than I thought it would be. I had a better start than I’ve had
in the past because I was in the top 30 today. It was a pretty easy hill
and course so you really had to be gunning from the get go. I just tried
to make a little mistakes as possible and go fast.”
Ted Ligety finished 17th, his third best slalom finish of the season.-hm
The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Men’s World Cup slalom, Bansko, Bulgaria, Feb. 27, 2011.
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Matt, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
2 Herbst, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
3 Grange, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
4 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Janyk, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Missillier, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
7 Pranger, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
8 Byggmark, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
9 Deville, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Kasper, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
Men’s World Cup slalom, Bansko, Bulgaria, Feb. 27, 2011. … It is the 30th of 39 races on the men’s World Cup schedule. … the 28th held. … It is the eighth of ten scheduled slaloms. … It is the fifth World Cup held at Bansko, the second men’s race following yesterday’s combined.
It is the 13th career World Cup win for Mario Matt, 12th in slalom. … It is his first Cup win since March 14, 2009 at Are. … It is his fifth result of the season and first podium, though he was fourth in slalom at Adelboden and at World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
It is the 16th career World Cup podium for Reinfried Herbst, all in slalom, but just the third time he has finished second. … It is his second podium of the season having placed third at Adelboden Jan. 9.
It is the 18th career World Cup podium for Jean-Baptiste Grange, all in slalom or combined. … It is his eighth podium of the season including the gold slalom medal from World Championships.
It is the ninth time Michael Janyk has placed fifth or better in a World Cup slalom. … the third time this season. … Among Canadians only he, Thomas Grandi and Betsy Clifford have scored more top fives in World Cup slaloms. … It is a career best Cup result for Nolan Kasper and just his fourth scoring result. … three of them this season. … He is the ninth U.S. skier to post a World Cup top 10 this season. … It is the third best slalom result of the season for Ted Ligety. … It is the second scoring result for Patrick Biggs this season, both of them 22nd place finishes.
Ivica Kostelic (1st run DNF) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1294-725 over Didier Cuche (did not race). … Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race) is third with 713pts. … Ligety is the top U.S. skier in ninth with 528pts. … Janyk leads the Canadian overall in 35th place with 172pts. … Kostelic leads Grange 478-442 in the slalom standings with two race remaining. … Andre Myhrer (2nd run DNF) is third at 333pts. … Janyk is the top Canadian on the slalom standings list in 13th with 172pts. … Ligety the top US skier in 22nd with 79pts. … Kasper is 23rd with 68pts. … Austrian leads the men’s Nations Cup 4636-3114 over Switzerland. … Italy is third with 2491pts. … The U.S. in seventh with 1283pts and Canada ninth with 942pts.
Gepa image
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| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 12 | 50707 | MATT Mario | 1979 | AUT | 54.21 | 56.14 | 1:50.35 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 2 | 50605 | HERBST Reinfried | 1978 | AUT | 54.33 | 56.06 | 1:50.39 | 0.22 |
| 3 | 1 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 54.89 | 55.94 | 1:50.83 | 2.65 |
| 4 | 14 | 201702 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 55.10 | 56.08 | 1:51.18 | 4.59 |
| 5 | 9 | 102435 | JANYK Michael | 1982 | CAN | 54.64 | 56.71 | 1:51.35 | 5.53 |
| 6 | 8 | 192506 | MISSILLIER Steve | 1984 | FRA | 55.80 | 55.62 | 1:51.42 | 5.91 |
| 7 | 13 | 50624 | PRANGER Manfred | 1978 | AUT | 55.00 | 56.50 | 1:51.50 | 6.36 |
| 8 | 11 | 501101 | BYGGMARK Jens | 1985 | SWE | 55.23 | 56.35 | 1:51.58 | 6.80 |
| 9 | 4 | 291145 | DEVILLE Cristian | 1981 | ITA | 54.84 | 56.78 | 1:51.62 | 7.02 |
| 10 | 26 | 532138 | KASPER Nolan | 1989 | USA | 55.42 | 56.31 | 1:51.73 | 7.63 |
| 11 | 49 | 511174 | VOGEL Markus | 1984 | SUI | 54.95 | 57.04 | 1:51.99 | 9.07 |
| 12 | 42 | 293797 | GROSS Stefano | 1986 | ITA | 54.77 | 57.26 | 1:52.03 | 9.29 |
| 13 | 7 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 55.97 | 56.10 | 1:52.07 | 9.51 |
| 14 | 19 | 511127 | GINI Marc | 1984 | SUI | 55.92 | 56.17 | 1:52.09 | 9.62 |
| 15 | 15 | 293098 | RAZZOLI Giuliano | 1984 | ITA | 55.24 | 56.87 | 1:52.11 | 9.73 |
| 16 | 53 | 202462 | DOPFER Fritz | 1987 | GER | 55.39 | 56.94 | 1:52.33 | 10.95 |
| 17 | 16 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 55.90 | 56.47 | 1:52.37 | 11.17 |
| 18 | 3 | 501111 | HARGIN Mattias | 1985 | SWE | 55.48 | 57.11 | 1:52.59 | 12.38 |
| 19 | 39 | 561148 | SKUBE Matic | 1988 | SLO | 56.11 | 56.49 | 1:52.60 | 12.44 |
| 20 | 57 | 192504 | MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas | 1984 | FRA | 56.24 | 56.39 | 1:52.63 | 12.60 |
| 20 | 50 | 193347 | TISSOT Maxime | 1986 | FRA | 56.00 | 56.63 | 1:52.63 | 12.60 |
| 22 | 51 | 102456 | BIGGS Patrick | 1982 | CAN | 56.31 | 56.42 | 1:52.73 | 13.16 |
| 23 | 54 | 51395 | DIGRUBER Marc | 1988 | AUT | 56.43 | 56.65 | 1:53.08 | 15.09 |
| 24 | 20 | 301709 | YUASA Naoki | 1983 | JPN | 55.96 | 1:07.50 | 2:03.46 | 72.47 |
| Disqualified 1st run | |||||||||
| 59 | 421669 | HAUGEN Leif Kristian | 1987 | NOR | |||||
| Did not start 1st run | |||||||||
| 32 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | |||||
| Did not qualify 1st run | |||||||||
| 73 | 90134 | YANAKIEV Zahari | 1987 | BUL | |||||
| 72 | 700868 | FALAT Matej | 1993 | SVK | |||||
| 71 | 90109 | TODOROV Dean | 1983 | BUL | |||||
| 69 | 90047 | GEORGIEV Stefan | 1977 | BUL | |||||
| 68 | 92534 | CHONGAROV Nikola | 1989 | BUL | |||||
| 66 | 561117 | KUERNER Miha | 1987 | SLO | |||||
| 64 | 501458 | LINDH Calle | 1990 | SWE | |||||
| 63 | 534959 | JITLOFF Tim | 1985 | USA | |||||
| 62 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | |||||
| 61 | 480736 | KHOROSHILOV Alexander | 1984 | RUS | |||||
| 60 | 191750 | FANARA Thomas | 1981 | FRA | |||||
| 58 | 930105 | GRANSTROM Colby | 1990 | USA | |||||
| 55 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | |||||
| 52 | 50931 | BECHTER Patrick | 1982 | AUT | |||||
| 47 | 301312 | SASAKI Akira | 1981 | JPN | |||||
| 45 | 50981 | HOERL Wolfgang | 1983 | AUT | |||||
| 43 | 180251 | PALANDER Kalle | 1977 | FIN | |||||
| 34 | 50547 | SCHOENFELDER Rainer | 1977 | AUT | |||||
| 29 | 150594 | TREJBAL Filip | 1985 | CZE | |||||
| 28 | 501116 | LAHDENPERAE Anton | 1985 | SWE | |||||
| 27 | 102922 | WHITE Trevor | 1984 | CAN | |||||
| 24 | 150398 | BANK Ondrej | 1980 | CZE | |||||
| 23 | 102912 | SPENCE Brad | 1984 | CAN | |||||
| 22 | 910000 | IMBODEN Urs | 1975 | MDA | |||||
| 21 | 500656 | LARSSON Markus | 1979 | SWE | |||||
| 18 | 560355 | VALENCIC Mitja | 1978 | SLO | |||||
| Did not finish 2nd run | |||||||||
| 33 | 534508 | CHODOUNSKY David | 1984 | USA | |||||
| 30 | 511896 | MURISIER Justin | 1992 | SUI | |||||
| 25 | 421400 | MYHRE Lars Elton | 1984 | NOR | |||||
| 17 | 501223 | BAECK Axel | 1987 | SWE | |||||
| 10 | 102239 | COUSINEAU Julien | 1981 | CAN | |||||
| 6 | 501017 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | |||||
| Did not finish 1st run | |||||||||
| 70 | 294904 | PANGRAZZI Paolo | 1988 | ITA | |||||
| 67 | 90131 | GEORGIEV Georgi | 1987 | BUL | |||||
| 65 | 53922 | WIESER Manuel | 1990 | AUT | |||||
| 56 | 250127 | BJORGVINSSON Bjorgvin | 1980 | ISL | |||||
| 48 | 194495 | FAIVRE Mathieu | 1992 | FRA | |||||
| 46 | 102727 | STUTZ Paul | 1983 | CAN | |||||
| 44 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | |||||
| 41 | 510997 | BERTHOD Marc | 1983 | SUI | |||||
| 40 | 290732 | THALER Patrick | 1978 | ITA | |||||
| 38 | 530165 | BRANDENBURG Will | 1987 | USA | |||||
| 37 | 511908 | SCHMIDIGER Reto | 1992 | SUI | |||||
| 36 | 92591 | ALBRECHT Kilian | 1973 | BUL | |||||
| 35 | 50824 | DREIER Christoph | 1981 | AUT | |||||
| 31 | 421483 | JANSRUD Kjetil | 1985 | NOR | |||||
| 5 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | |||||
About the Author: Hank McKee
