Aksel Lund Svindal won his third world championship under the lights in a steady snowfall Monday night in Val d’Isere, but the best skiing of the evening, and the loudest cheers of the biggest crowd of the championships went to silver medallist Julien Lizeroux.

Croatia rightly celebrated the bronze medal placing of Natko Zrncic-Dim while Americans were left shaking their heads in disbelief as Bode Miller, with a big lead and a sure medal in hand, cut too close to a gate, straddled and was spun to the sidelines.

It was Lizeroux who would earn the accolades on this night; The daylight had belonged to Svindal the downhill winner by a slim margin over Miller. The biggest threat at that time appeared to be Jean-Baptiste Grange, the French leader of the World Cup slalom standings impressively ranked fourth after the downhill race.
Aksel Lund Svindal won his third world championship under the lights in a steady snowfall Monday night in Val d’Isere, but the best skiing of the evening, and the loudest cheers of the biggest crowd of the championships went to silver medallist Julien Lizeroux.

Croatia rightly celebrated the bronze medal placing of Natko Zrncic-Dim while Americans were left shaking their heads in disbelief as Bode Miller, with a big lead and a sure medal in hand, cut too close to a gate, straddled and was spun to the sidelines.

It was Lizeroux who would earn the accolades on this night; The daylight had belonged to Svindal the downhill winner by a slim margin over Miller. The biggest threat at that time appeared to be Jean-Baptiste Grange, the French leader of the World Cup slalom standings impressively ranked fourth after the downhill race.

Beyond those three skiers the time differences seemed impossible for a mortal skier to make up in slalom. Lizeroux thought otherwise.

Lizeroux, the “other” French slalomist, was 22nd in the downhill, a massive 2.93 seconds out. He was the sixth starter in the slalom and he ripped a run. On the oversized television screens above the finish area, Lizeroux’s run was super imposed over others who started after him. In the space of five or six gates his image would move from a gate behind, catch, pass and move a gate ahead of others, mostly downhill racers.

“I think I always have nothing to lose, especially today,” said Lizeroux. “because I was three seconds behind after the downhill. I spoke with my coaches and we said, ‘OK, relax. Nothing to lose, so go for it.’ Just like 100 percent, not 99, not 101, just 100. And I skied easy and relaxed .. and fast. That’s it.”

That was it okay, Lizeroux was two seconds ahead when he finished, and the cameras put his face on the big screen during any brief lull in the action. He continued to pump up the crowd throughout the evening as challenger after challenger would start with a better time then drift behind.

With the exception of one brief flurry displaying his considerable slalom talents, Grange fought the course from the start, eventually succumbing and failing to finish. When Miller, too, went out it became certain Lizeroux was on the podium and only Svindal stood between him and a gold medal.

Svindal had all of that 2.93 second lead from the downhill and he used two-thirds of it. And he, too, nearly went out, avoiding disaster only by sure will power. Svindal got caught in the back seat, and survived by jetting around the gate, leaning way back and supported by his poles. Having made the gate, he let it ride to the finish for the gold medal, the third of his career after winning both the downhill and GS at Are in 2007.

“Championships are kind of simple,” Svindal said. “Well, it’s not simple to get in the top three, but it’s simple because either you’re top three or you’re disappointed you didn’t get a medal. There’s not much thinking. You just try to get after it. In slalom, I didn’t think I was the favorite for today. If you’re not one of the favorites, you have nothing to lose and you just go for it and see what happens.”

The slalom leg of the World Championship combined got pushed to a 5pm start when the women’s downhill was delayed a day and ran between the combined’s downhill and slalom legs. The downhill portion was approximately 500m longer than the slalom and brought racers down the face of the Bellevarde into a jam-packed stadium.

Lizeroux’s silver was the second of the championships for the French (Marie Marchand-Arvier was second in the women’s SG) who hadn’t had a medal that bright since 2001.

Zrncic-Dim’s medal was the first for Croatia by someone not named Kostelic, and is also the first Croatian medal (of seven) in a World Championships that was not gold.

“I [didn’t] think that I will be one day on the podium of world championships,” said Zrncic-Dim. “I look at guys [like] Svindal and Miller, they’re so great skiers, and I’m so young. I’m so proud that I’m in that company.”

American Ted Ligety lost his chance to be in Zrncic-Dim’s company. He had finished the downhill leg ahead of Lizeroux but was disqualified on a technicality as his bindings were .15mm (roughly six thousandths of an inch) too high. “It makes me sick to my stomach,” said U.S. head coach Sasha Rearick. “The way it turned out he would have been right in there.”

The SCOOP

FIS World Ski Championships
Men’s Combined, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 9. 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Svindal, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Lizeroux, Dynastar/Lange/Look
3 Zrncic-Dim, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Zurbriggen, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
5 Fill, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Viletta, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
6 Mermillod Blondin, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
8 Baumann, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 Jansrud, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Horoshilov, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Men’s combined, 40th FIS World Ski Championships, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 9, 2009. … It is the fifth race started and sixth completed of ten (plus one team event) of the championships. … It is the 263rd World Championship race and 69th combined.

It is the third World Championship for Aksel Lund Svindal. … He previous won gold medals in DH and GS at Are Feb. 14 and Feb. 11 respectively. … He also has a silver medal from combined in Bormio 2005 and a bronze in SG from Val d’Isere Feb. 3. … It is the 18th World Championship in alpine racing for Norway dating back to Stein Eriksen’s triple gold medal performance at Are in 1954. … It is the third win of the season for Svindal who also won the downhill and super G at Beaver Creek in December.

It is the first World Championship podium for Julien Lizeroux. … His best previous result had been 14th in slalom at Are in 2007. … It is the 92nd World Championship medal for France and the 25th in combined dating back to Emile Allais in 1935. … It is the second medal of these World Championships, both silver, the other from Marie Marchand-Arvier in SG Feb. 3. … It is the second podium of the season for Lizeroux who won the World Cup slalom at Kitzbuehel Jan. 25.

It is the first World Championship medal for Natko Zrncic-Dim. … His previous best had been 19th Feb. 7 in DH. … It is the seven World Championship medal for Croatia. … the first not gold. … Ivica Kostelic won the slalom at St Moritz in 2003 and Janica Kostelic the other five.

No North Americans finished both runs.

Medal Count:
SUI 1 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze
AUT 1 gold, 2 bronze
USA 2 gold
NOR 1 gold, 1 bronze
ITA 1 silver, 1 bronze
CAN 1 gold
FRA 2 silver
CRO 1 bronze