Zagreb: Matt turns back Kostelic for victory

Mario Matt won a men's World Cup slalom Sunday, spoiling the home party of Ivica Kostelic.   
    Kostelic learned to ski on the slope and had been hoping to win the first men's World Cup slalom to be held in the Croatian capital.
    But the two-time World Champion Matt protected his lead from the first run and won in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 51.36 seconds on the icy Sljeme hill outside Zagreb.
    Kostelic took second in 1:51.69, while Reinfried Herbst of Austria, who won one week ago in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, settled for third at 1:51.76.
    Jimmy Cochran was 19th to lead three U.S. skiers in the top 30.    
    Bode Miller nearly crashed out in the first run and finished outside the top 30 and did not qualify for the second run.
    Miller's closest overall challenger, Benjamin Raich of Austria, fell in the second heat, got back up on his skis but finished only 26th and did not gain any significant ground on Miller.

ZAGREB, Croatia — Mario Matt won a men's World Cup slalom Sunday, spoiling the home party of Ivica Kostelic.
    Kostelic learned to ski on the slope and had been hoping to win the first men's World Cup slalom to be held in the Croatian capital.
    But the two-time World Champion Matt protected his lead from the first run and won in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 51.36 seconds on the icy Sljeme hill outside Zagreb.
    Kostelic took second in 1:51.69, while Reinfried Herbst of Austria, who won one week ago in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, settled for third at 1:51.76.
    "This was my best race of the season and it took place in my city, in front of my fans, who are the best supporters in the world,'' said Kostelic, whose entire family were among the 20,000 fans watching the race.
    ''When I crossed the line and I saw that I was ahead at the time, it was like a shot in the arm,'' said Kostelic, who fell on his back and raised his skis in the finish area.
    The finish by Kostelic brought a huge roar from the Croatian field. But, there was still a skier left to compete and Mario Matt was working with a first run lead.
    "I knew I had to attack," Matt told reporters. "It got so quiet during my run. I was wondering whether I was so fast, but I wasn't sure," said Matt. The quiet should have told him. He collected the win, his third of the season.
    Kostelic said: "I had a lot of pressure over the past days here in Croatia … Of course I hoped to win, but Mario is the best slalom skier right now. It is no shame to finish second behind him." He added, "I made some mistakes in the second run."
    One of the reasons the World Cup circuit visits Zagreb is the Kostelic siblings. Janica, a multiple Olympic champion, is now retired. She also never won on her home hill.
    The result turns what had once been a run-away sprint to the slalom title into a battle that could go to the finish. There are two March slaloms left on the men's schedule, at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy.  Technically, nine men now have a shot to overtake slalom standings leader Jean-Baptiste Grange. He failed to finish the second run. Matt became the top challenger, moving within 60 points of Grange and Italian Manfred Moelgg also has a realistic shot sitting 71 points behind. He is confident his skiing could carry him to the top.
    "My skiing in the first leg was easily my best this season," Matt said. "I'm coming back stronger than ever and the last two slaloms of the season take place on pistes I like very much."
    The Zagreb race also was significant to the chase for the overall World Cup title. Tour leader Bode Miller did not earn a second run providing a big opportunity for second ranked Benjamin Raich to make up ground. Instead he fell in the second run and had to hike up the course in order to get any points at all. He finished 26th, good for five points.
    "This was the worst thing that could happen today," Raich said.
    Jimmy Cochran was 19th in the race, one of two U.S. skiers to score points. Cody Marshall was 23rd. Ted Ligety was DQed in the second run and Miller lost his balance at the bottom of the course and nearly crashed out in the first run. Although Miller managed to stay on his skis, he finished outside the top 30 and did not qualify for the second run, meaning he failed to pick up any points from Sunday's race.
    Miller's closest overall challenger, Benjamin Raich of Austria, fell in the second heat, got back up on his skis but finished only 26th and did not gain any significant ground on Miller.
    Slalom standings leader Jean-Baptiste Grange of France crashed out in the second run but maintained his lead, 462 points to 405 points for second-place Matt.

    — The Associated Press & Patrick Lang contributed

The SCOOP

By Hank McKee

Equipment
Men's Slalom, Zagreb-Sljeme, Croatia, Feb. 17, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Matt, Fischer/Nordica/Fischer
2 Kostelic, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
3 Herbst, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
4 Rocca, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Dragsix, Volkl//Marker
6 Berthod, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
7 Sasaki, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
8 Lizeroux, Fischer/Lange/Fischer
9 Neureuther, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Brolenius, Elan/Nordica/Elan
 
Men's Slalom, Zagreb, Croatian, Feb. 17, 2008. … It is the 30th of 41 races on the men's 2008 World Cup schedule. … It is the ninth of 11 scheduled slaloms. … It is the fifth race held at Zagreb and the first men's race.
    It is the 11th career win for Mario Matt. … His tenth in slalom. … It is his third win of the season, all of them since January 6 when he won Adelboden. … It is the 17th win of the season for Austria. … The 11th of the season in slalom.
    It is the 21st career World Cup podium for Ivica Kostelic. … His first in his native Croatia. … It is his fifth podium of the season all coming since he was third in the Kitzbuehel combined Jan. 20. … He has not won this season.
    It is the fourth career World Cup podium for Reinfried Herbst in just 24 recorded race results… All in slalom. … It is his second podium of the season having won the last slalom outing at Garmisch Feb. 9.
    It is the poorest finish of the season for Jimmy Cochran in seven scoring results. … It is the second career scoring result for Cody Marshall having also placed 19th at Wengen's slalom Jan. 12.
    Winning margin is .33 of a second. … Top eight are within the same second. Top 21 within two seconds… Bode Miller (did not qualify for second run) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1067 over Benjamin Raich (26th in race). … Didier Cuche (did not race) is third at 882 and Jean-Baptiste Grange (2nd run DNF) is fourth at 682.
… Ted Ligety (2nd run DSQ) is eighth with 612pts. … Grange maintains the lead of the slalom standings but the gap is closed dramatically. … Matt moves to second 462-405. … Manfred Moelgg (13th in race) is third at 391 and Ivica Kostelic moves to fourth at 329. … Ligety leads the Americans in tenth place with 238pts. … Austria leads the men's Nations Cup 5124-2953 over Switzerland. … Italy is third at 2669 and the U.S. fourth at 2512.

Did not finish 1st run: RATKIC Ivan (CRO), BJOERGVINSSON Bjoergvin (ISL), VRABLIK Martin (CZE), IKUTA Yasuhiro (JPN), MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas (FRA), BRENNER Hannes (AUT), CHENAL Joel (FRA), BARRETT Scott (CAN), KRYZL Krystof (CZE), IMBODEN Urs (MDA), LEINO Jukka (FIN), ANDERSSON Oscar (SWE), STUTZ Paul (CAN), BIGGS Patrick (CAN), FILL Peter (ITA), JANYK Michael (CAN), MYHRER Andre (SWE), BYGGMARK Jens (SWE)

Did not finish 2nd run: GRANGE Jean-Baptiste (FRA)

Disqualified 1st run: SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier (ARG)

Disqualified 2nd run: ALBRECHT Daniel (SUI), LIGETY Ted (USA)

Did not qualify 2nd run: ZRNCIC-DIM Natko (CRO), SAMSAL Dalibor (CRO), MYHRE Lars Elton (NOR), PAQUIN Pierre (FRA), ANSELMET Alexandre (FRA), BAUMANN Romed (AUT), WHITE Trevor (CAN), OMMINGER Andreas (AUT), NORDH Fredrik (SWE), KARLSEN Truls Ove (NOR), RAZZOLI Giuliano (ITA), TREJBAL Filip (CZE), KELLEY Tim (USA), KOLL Alexander (AUT), HIRSCHER Marcel (AUT), LAHDENPERAE Anton (SWE), MINAGAWA Kentaro (JPN), MILLER Bode (USA), LARSSON Markus (SWE), SCHOENFELDER Rainer (AUT)