There’s something about Austrians and new World Cup venues that just works. Perhaps it’s a sign that the force is strong or it’s something in their training. Whatever the magic is, it has put them at the top of the podium at all of the last three venue debuts on the men’s World Cup slalom circuit.
On Wednesday in Santa Caterina, Italy, Marcel Hirscher kept that streak alive, adding win number four by beating out slalom points leader Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway and Alexander Khoroshilov of Russia in the first ever men’s World Cup slalom race at the venue.
The victory marked Hirscher’s first slalom win of the season and his 17th career World Cup slalom win, putting him in third place for all-time career slalom wins behind legends Alberto Tomba – who had 35 and was on site for today’s race – and Ingemar Stenmark – who accumulated 40.
“Henrik and Alexander did an amazing job as well, so it was a very close decision as it is all of this season. … So I’m super happy,” Hirscher said, immediately following his run. “Very thankful for my first victory in slalom this season.”
As for his rankings amongst legends, he reminded reporters that he still has a few more years in him to see how far he can go.
“Records are only for retired athletes that are sitting already in a seat and drinking a good glass of red wine,” he said.
The Santa Caterina hill uniquely challenged second-place skier, Kristoffersen, who found himself a little puzzled about how to solve the maze fastest.
“I think it’s a little different than what we usually ski on,” Kristoffersen said. “Usually it’s a little bit more like – I wouldn’t say difficult because it’s difficult to ski fast here – but usually it’s either steep or terrain or flat, but here it’s right in between steep and flat, and really don’t know if you should push it or be a little smart.”
While it may not have been Kristoffersen’s best performance of the season, Hirscher knows he’s still the one to watch.
“It’s a good feeling to be in front of the best slalom skier of the season so far,” Hirscher said about his win. “Henrik is definitely the favorite in each slalom race at the moment.”
While the ski forces were strong with the Europeans, North American skiers failed to find their mojo on the slope. Not a single representative from the continent qualified for the second run. The U.S. Ski Team’s David Chodounsky, who has had a solid season so far, failed to finish the first run after his hips fell dangerously low in the back seat.
“It was really tough,” he explained. “The hill was really good. Course was great. I felt like I skied well up top. Snow was good and hard, and then it kind of changed in the middle and got a little grippy, and I was just in the back seat at the wrong time, and it kinda caught my skis.”
U.S. Ski Team Head Men’s Coach Sasha Rearick sees room for improvement for the whole team and opportunity to have some new focuses.
“Today was extremely disappointing,” Rearick said. “It was one of those days where we really have to look at what we’ve done to get ready for today. I mean today was a huge opportunity and an absolutely a missed opportunity.”
The men’s World Cup excitement continues with giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland, on Jan. 9 at 10:30 am CET, where Marcel Hirscher is the defending champion.
The Scoop
by Hank McKee
1 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3 Khoroshilov, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4 Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/
4 Neueuther, Nordica/Nordica/
6 Yule, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
7 Lizeroux, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
8 Pinturault, Head/Head/Head
9 Digruber, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Foss-Solvaag, Volkl/Dalbello/Marker
- Men’s World Cup slalom, Santa Caterina, Italy, Jan. 6, 2016. … It is a make-up race from the VIP Trophy race canceled at Zagreb. …. It is the 15th of 44 races remaining on the men’s World Cup schedule. … The third of 10 scheduled men’s slaloms (with one cancellation). … It is the first World Cup men’s slalom to be held at Santa Caterina. … Marcel Hirscher had won the three previous slaloms at Zagreb prior to this race. After the first run, 11 men are within the same second.
- It is the 36th career World Cup win for Marcel Hirscher … matching him with Katja Seizinger and Benjamin Raich for 11th on the all-time victory list (sixth among men). … He matches Mikaela Shiffrin with 17 slalom wins for eighth all-time, third among men. … It is his fifth win of the season, but first in slalom. … It is the third discipline he has won in this season. … He has been on the podium in eight of the nine races he has completed. … The winning margin is 0.21 of a second. … Top three are within the same second. … Top dozen within two seconds.
- It is the 16th career World Cup podium for Henrik Kristoffersen. … His 11th in slalom. … It is his fifth podium of the season in seven completed races. … He has been first or second in all three slaloms held to date.
- It is the fourth career World Cup podium for Alexander Khoroshilov and first of the season. It is the 37th career Soviet/Russian World Cup podium.
- There are no North American competitors in the second run.
- Hirscher claims the lead of the World Cup overall standings 721-636 over Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race). … Kristoffersen is third with 471pts. … Ted Ligety (did not race) is eighth overall with 28pts. …
- Kristoffersen leads the slalom standings 280-260 over Hirscher. … Khoroshilov is third with 114pts. … David Chodounsky (DNF 1st) is eighth with 79pts.
- Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 2314-1816 over Norway. … France is third with 1742pts… The U.S. is fifth a 1015 and Canada ninth with 263pts.
Official Results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Diff. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 53831 | HIRSCHER Marcel | 1989 | AUT | 58.43 | 56.11 | 1:54.54 | ||
| 2 | 6 | 422304 | KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik | 1994 | NOR | 58.40 | 56.35 | 1:54.75 | +0.21 | |
| 3 | 2 | 480736 | KHOROSHILOV Alexander | 1984 | RUS | 58.33 | 56.53 | 1:54.86 | +0.32 | |
| 4 | 4 | 202462 | DOPFER Fritz | 1987 | GER | 59.36 | 56.25 | 1:55.61 | +1.07 | |
| 4 | 3 | 201702 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 58.98 | 56.63 | 1:55.61 | +1.07 | |
| 6 | 13 | 511996 | YULE Daniel | 1993 | SUI | 58.94 | 56.85 | 1:55.79 | +1.25 | |
| 7 | 11 | 191459 | LIZEROUX Julien | 1979 | FRA | 59.15 | 56.77 | 1:55.92 | +1.38 | |
| 8 | 8 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 58.79 | 57.22 | 1:56.01 | +1.47 | |
| 9 | 39 | 51395 | DIGRUBER Marc | 1988 | AUT | 59.91 | 56.20 | 1:56.11 | +1.57 | |
| 10 | 14 | 422082 | FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian | 1991 | NOR | 59.05 | 57.09 | 1:56.14 | +1.60 | |
| 11 | 16 | 193967 | MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor | 1989 | FRA | 59.59 | 56.56 | 1:56.15 | +1.61 | |
| 12 | 1 | 293797 | GROSS Stefano | 1986 | ITA | 59.69 | 56.84 | 1:56.53 | +1.99 | |
| 13 | 27 | 220689 | RYDING Dave | 1986 | GBR | 59.86 | 56.69 | 1:56.55 | +2.01 | |
| 14 | 17 | 290732 | THALER Patrick | 1978 | ITA | 1:00.37 | 56.21 | 1:56.58 | +2.04 | |
| 15 | 25 | 501116 | LAHDENPERAE Anton | 1985 | SWE | 59.65 | 57.01 | 1:56.66 | +2.12 | |
| 16 | 53 | 54063 | FELLER Manuel | 1992 | AUT | 59.66 | 57.06 | 1:56.72 | +2.18 | |
| 17 | 21 | 501101 | BYGGMARK Jens | 1985 | SWE | 59.28 | 57.65 | 1:56.93 | +2.39 | |
| 18 | 12 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 59.88 | 57.26 | 1:57.14 | +2.60 | |
| 19 | 42 | 54170 | MATT Michael | 1993 | AUT | 1:00.09 | 57.09 | 1:57.18 | +2.64 | |
| 20 | 41 | 421669 | HAUGEN Leif Kristian | 1987 | NOR | 59.32 | 57.88 | 1:57.20 | +2.66 | |
| 21 | 5 | 501111 | HARGIN Mattias | 1985 | SWE | 59.85 | 57.41 | 1:57.26 | +2.72 | |
| 22 | 10 | 500656 | LARSSON Markus | 1979 | SWE | 1:00.27 | 57.01 | 1:57.28 | +2.74 | |
| 23 | 31 | 291318 | TONETTI Riccardo | 1989 | ITA | 1:00.07 | 57.24 | 1:57.31 | +2.77 | |
| 24 | 38 | 201896 | STEHLE Dominik | 1986 | GER | 59.56 | 57.84 | 1:57.40 | +2.86 | |
| 25 | 73 | 501351 | JOHANSSON Emil | 1988 | SWE | 1:00.28 | 57.66 | 1:57.94 | +3.40 | |
| 26 | 58 | 550054 | ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps | 1992 | LAT | 1:00.22 | 58.10 | 1:58.32 | +3.78 | |
| 27 | 62 | 511899 | ROCHAT Marc | 1992 | SUI | 1:00.02 | 1:00.08 | 2:00.10 | +5.56 | |
| Disqualified 2nd run | ||||||||||
| 9 | 293098 | RAZZOLI Giuliano | 1984 | ITA | ||||||
| Disqualified 1st run | ||||||||||
| 75 | 30149 | SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier | 1980 | ARG | ||||||
| 55 | 934523 | ENGEL Mark | 1991 | USA | ||||||
| Did not qualify for 2nd run | ||||||||||
| 74 | 700868 | FALAT Matej | 1993 | SVK | ||||||
| 71 | 103676 | BROWN Phil | 1991 | CAN | ||||||
| 65 | 294890 | NANI Roberto | 1988 | ITA | ||||||
| 64 | 194207 | THEOLIER Steven | 1990 | FRA | ||||||
| 63 | 430633 | JASICZEK Michal | 1994 | POL | ||||||
| 60 | 53889 | HIRSCHBUEHL Christian | 1990 | AUT | ||||||
| 59 | 304242 | NARITA Hideyuki | 1993 | JPN | ||||||
| 57 | 380290 | SAMSAL Dalibor | 1985 | HUN | ||||||
| 50 | 511127 | GINI Marc | 1984 | SUI | ||||||
| 48 | 50981 | HOERL Wolfgang | 1983 | AUT | ||||||
| 46 | 930160 | KELLEY Robby | 1990 | USA | ||||||
| 40 | 530837 | KELLEY Tim | 1986 | USA | ||||||
| 36 | 512014 | NIEDERBERGER Bernhard | 1993 | SUI | ||||||
| 30 | 421860 | NORDBOTTEN Jonathan | 1989 | NOR | ||||||
| 29 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | ||||||
| 23 | 50605 | HERBST Reinfried | 1978 | AUT | ||||||
| 22 | 202451 | STRASSER Linus | 1992 | GER | ||||||
| 20 | 501223 | BAECK Axel | 1987 | SWE | ||||||
| Did not finish 2nd run | ||||||||||
| 26 | 54320 | SCHWARZ Marco | 1995 | AUT | ||||||
| 24 | 511983 | AERNI Luca | 1993 | SUI | ||||||
| Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
| 72 | 54252 | RASCHNER Dominik | 1994 | AUT | ||||||
| 70 | 380335 | ZUBCIC Filip | 1993 | CRO | ||||||
| 69 | 60160 | ALAERTS Kai | 1989 | BEL | ||||||
| 68 | 304535 | NAKAMURA Shun | 1995 | JPN | ||||||
| 67 | 6291574 | SALA Tommaso | 1995 | ITA | ||||||
| 66 | 380334 | VIDOVIC Matej | 1993 | CRO | ||||||
| 61 | 481327 | TRIKHICHEV Pavel | 1992 | RUS | ||||||
| 56 | 561117 | KUERNER Miha | 1987 | SLO | ||||||
| 54 | 511908 | SCHMIDIGER Reto | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
| 52 | 290095 | BALLERIN Andrea | 1989 | ITA | ||||||
| 51 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | ||||||
| 49 | 193986 | PLACE Francois | 1989 | FRA | ||||||
| 47 | 194262 | BUFFET Robin | 1991 | FRA | ||||||
| 45 | 934566 | ROBERTS Hig | 1991 | USA | ||||||
| 44 | 421954 | LYSDAHL Espen | 1990 | NOR | ||||||
| 43 | 180567 | RASANEN Joonas | 1989 | FIN | ||||||
| 37 | 511902 | ZENHAEUSERN Ramon | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
| 35 | 561148 | SKUBE Matic | 1988 | SLO | ||||||
| 34 | 934502 | ANKENY Michael | 1991 | USA | ||||||
| 33 | 103865 | PHILP Trevor | 1992 | CAN | ||||||
| 32 | 301709 | YUASA Naoki | 1983 | JPN | ||||||
| 28 | 700830 | ZAMPA Adam | 1990 | SVK | ||||||
| 19 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | ||||||
| 18 | 534508 | CHODOUNSKY David | 1984 | USA | ||||||
| 15 | 501017 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | ||||||
About the Author: Gabbi Hall
