Worlds: Pranger leads slalom after one as many falter

With 29 nations represented in the men’s slalom, the final event of the 40th FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and a steep injected course there was every expectation there would be some carnage. What was unexpected was how early it began.

When nearly half of the first 15 racers exited the course it quickly became apparent the race was not just about speed, but also about attrition.

The top six finishers of the first run all came from that front 15 group, and beyond sixth the time spread of more than a second and a half makes it a daunting task to dare to dream of a medal.

The top six, however, should make for an exciting finish for these World Championships.

With 29 nations represented in the men’s slalom, the final event of the 40th FIS Alpine World Ski Championships and a steep injected course there was every expectation there would be some carnage. What was unexpected was how early it began.

 

When nearly half of the first 15 racers exited the course it quickly became apparent the race was not just about speed, but also about attrition.

 

The top six finishers of the first run all came from that front 15 group, and beyond sixth the time spread of more than a second and a half makes it a daunting task to dare to dream of a medal.

 

The top six, however, should make for an exciting finish for these World Championships.

 

Manfred Pranger of Austria, winner of the Wengen slalom less than a month ago, has the first run lead by a scant .04 over Swede Johan Brolenius, and all of his best results this season have come on the steepest and nastiest hills: Zagreb, Kitzbuehel and Schladming.

 

In third and fourth sit the biggest hopes of the hosting French, Jean-Baptiste Grange and Julien Lizeroux a one-two punch of incredible slalom abilities both lurking less than a half second off Pranger’s time.

 

American Ted Ligety is fifth and Italian Manfred Moelgg sixth, both less than a second out. Beyond them the closest competitor faces making up more than a second and a half in the second run.

 

The trail was tilled and injected then left to set up overnight.

 

“It’s a little funky snow right now,” Ligety said as he prepared for the 1:30pm (local) second run. “It is a little icy, too and it chunks out in places.” Pointing up the hill he said, “You can see the snow is not fully smooth. You can see the arc lines, the snow kind of breaks under your foot, but at least it is consistently like that the whole way down.”

 

He said with the slope in full sun, it should even out and present a nearly perfect surface for the second run.

 

Top skiers such as Giorgio Rocca, Reinfried Herbst, Bode Miller and Mario Matt are already gone. More than half (39) of the 75 starters either failed to finish or were disqualified for missing gates.

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UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time
1	5	50624	PRANGER Manfred	1978	AUT	52.49		52.49
2	8	500499	BROLENIUS Johan	1977	SWE	52.53		52.53
3	1	192665	GRANGE Jean-Baptiste	1984	FRA	52.76		52.76
4	7	191459	LIZEROUX Julien	1979	FRA	52.98		52.98
5	11	534562	LIGETY Ted	1984	USA	53.43		53.43
6	3	292491	MOELGG Manfred	1982	ITA	53.46		53.46
7	4	50625	RAICH Benjamin	1978	AUT	54.00		54.00
8	22	501101	BYGGMARK Jens	1985	SWE	54.36		54.36
9	36	150644	KRYZL Krystof	1986	CZE	54.37		54.37
9	19	102435	JANYK Michael	1982	CAN	54.37		54.37
11	15	501111	HARGIN Mattias	1985	SWE	54.42		54.42
12	16	510890	ZURBRIGGEN Silvan	1981	SUI	54.81		54.81
13	40	910000	IMBODEN Urs	1975	MDA	54.88		54.88
14	18	201702	NEUREUTHER Felix	1984	GER	54.98		54.98
15	42	180292	LEINO Jukka	1978	FIN	55.06		55.06
15	27	100115	GRANDI Thomas	1972	CAN	55.06		55.06
17	24	192506	MISSILLIER Steve	1984	FRA	55.18		55.18
18	13	560425	VAJDIC Bernard	1980	SLO	55.40		55.40
19	17	290732	THALER Patrick	1978	ITA	55.46		55.46
20	26	421400	MYHRE Lars Elton	1984	NOR	55.61		55.61
21	45	480736	HOROSHILOV Alexandr	1984	RUS	55.70		55.70
22	28	534040	COCHRAN Jimmy	1981	USA	55.98		55.98
23	38	511352	VILETTA Sandro	1986	SUI	56.64		56.64
24	53	380292	ZRNCIC-DIM Natko	1986	CRO	57.07		57.07
25	55	220083	BAXTER Noel	1981	GBR	57.08		57.08
26	56	180534	SANDELL Marcus	1987	FIN	57.24		57.24
27	52	250127	BJOERGVINSSON Bjoergvin	1980	ISL	57.27		57.27
28	54	481006	ZUEV Stepan	1988	RUS	57.57		57.57
29	43	420148	KARLSEN Truls Ove	1975	NOR	57.64		57.64
30	48	90047	GEORGIEV Stefan	1977	BUL	59.46		59.46
31	63	60088	VAN DEN BOGAERT Jeroen	1979	BEL	59.93		59.93
32	60	480610	KASAKOV Ivan	1982	RUS	1:00.32		1:00.32
33	62	480989	SCHASTNIH Alexander	1988	RUS	1:00.76		1:00.76
34	72	700830	ZAMPA Adam	1990	SVK	1:02.37		1:02.37
35	37	534959	JITLOFF Tim	1985	USA	1:02.43		1:02.43
36	65	700808	STANCEL Simon	1988	SVK	1:08.14		1:08.14