Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen produced an amazing second run to edge out Austrian Marcel Hirscher in winning the World Cup slalom in Kitzbuehel yesterday.
Sitting 12th after the first run, 0.83sec off German Fritz Dopfer’s leading pace, the 21-year-old Olympic bronze medallist roared down the Ganslern course at the second time of asking, timing 52.99sec for a combined 1min 43.96sec.
It was his ninth career victory and fifth this season, having dominated the slalom with victories in Val d’Isere, Madonna di Campiglio, Adelboden and Wengen, and second place in Santa Caterina.
It came as a massive boost for the Norwegian team, figurehead Aksel Lund Svindal having sustained a season-ending injury in Saturday’s downhill. It also means Norway have now won a remarkable 14 races out of a possible 24 on the men’s circuit.
“From 12th position to victory, what’s going on there?!” Kristoffersen said. “It’s incredible. The victory came despite an error, but it took a fast second run. Three hundredths of a second over Marcel is not much! This is maybe the coolest victory in my career.”
Hirscher, after skiing out in Wengen last weekend, had everything to prove, sitting joint fourth after the first leg.
The Olympic slalom silver medallist skied a fast top section, lost some in the middle and, despite being roared on by tens of thousands of home fans, came through just 0.03sec behind Kristoffersen.
“I’m super happy,” Hirscher said. “It was a really tough job. Henrik is in unbelievable form. It’s a good result for me, very positive, but Henrik is currently the best.”
Hirscher, however, moved within 27 points of Svindal in the overall standings, his 80pts for second place taking him to 889, with Svindal now unable to add to his tally of 916pts. Kristoffersen sits in third place on 771pts ahead of another Norwegian, Kjetil Jansrud, on 621.
Hirscher remains in second place in the slalom standings, on 420pts compared to Kristoffersen’s 580.
First run leader Dopfer sealed third spot, at 0.45sec, while defending Kitzbuehel champion Mattias Hargin of Sweden sat in second after the first run but an error halfway down the second saw him lose valuable time, the veteran finishing 0.79sec off Kristoffersen’s lead time.
World champion Jean-Baptiste Grange of France finished well down the field, in 12th, 2.05sec off the pace.
The slalom specialists now move on to the Austrian resort of Schladming for a night race tomorrow, with Hirscher no doubt aiming to surpass Svindal and take control of the overall standings with just under half of the season to race.
Italian Peter Fill was declared the winner of Saturday’s spectacular downhill, which organisers brought to a close after just 30 runners following crashes by not only Svindal but also Austrian duo Hannes Reichelt and Georg Streitberger.
The slalom got off to the worst possible start. Italian Giuliano Razzoli was first out of the hut on the first run, but the 2010 Olympic slalom gold medallist fell heavily and was left clutching his left knee.
The helicopter was called up, as it had been during the downhill, to evacuate Razzoli before competition restarted on the testing, icy Ganslern piste. Also skiing out was the French winner of Friday’s combined event, Alexis Pinturault, who barely managed five gates.
Meanwhile, the two season-ending injuries including one to Norwegian star Aksel Lund Svindal highlights  the dangers of top-level ski racing. The seasons of Svindal and Austrian Georg Streitberger, were immediately over, the two having sustained serious knee ligament injuries. Another Austrian, 2014 winner Hannes Reichelt, escaped with bruising.
The downhill course in the Tyrolean resort is widely recognised as the toughest on the World Cup circuit, with be-goggled racers reaching motorway-coasting speeds in excess of 130km/h wearing only a skin-tight catsuit, back support and helmet. “When you start here, you know it’s really dangerous and you know you need to risk a lot and hope you come down in one piece,” acknowledged Italian winner Peter Fill.