Ski Wars: Hirscher Awakens

By Published On: January 6th, 2016Comments Off on Ski Wars: Hirscher Awakens

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.

SANTA CATERINA,ITALY,06.JAN.16 - ALPINE SKIING - ALPINE SKIING - FIS World Cup, Santa Caterina, slalom, men. Image shows Marcel Hirscher (AUT). Photo: GEPA pictures/ Christian Walgram

“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.”

ALPINE SKIING - FIS WC Madonna di CampiglioWhile 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

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About the Author: Gabbi Hall

A California native, Gabbi moved to Vermont to ski on the NCAA circuit for St. Michael’s College, where she served as team captain and studied journalism. Before joining Ski Racing, she worked as a broadcast TV producer and social media manager in higher education. She can be reached via email at gabbi@skiracing.com