Hirscher claims second gold in St. Moritz slalom

By Published On: February 19th, 2017Comments Off on Hirscher claims second gold in St. Moritz slalom

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — It was another perfect day of ski racing as the 2017 World Ski Championships in St. Moritz drew to a close with the men’s slalom on Sunday. Austrian superstar Marcel Hirscher claimed his third medal of the Championships and his second gold as he took the race with a two-run time of 1:34.75 seconds, 0.68 seconds ahead of his Austrian teammate Manuel Feller in second. German star Felix Neureuther rounded out the podium in third, 0.93 seconds back.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as first run action got underway in the morning. Additional water injection following the women’s race on Saturday provided for a challenging surface for the 100 racers who took on the first run set. Hirscher set the pace in run one with Feller sitting in seventh and Neureuther in 10th, 0.67 and 0.76 seconds back, respectively. Hirscher’s arch-rival in slalom over the past few seasons, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, sat in sixth, 0.65 seconds out. The times were tight in the first run overall with only 2.39 seconds separating Hirscher from 30th-place finisher Joaquim Salarich of Spain.

Time gaps didn’t get much bigger in the second run as racer after racer took to the course with the utmost intensity, providing heart-stopping action for spectators. Neureuther took to the course and attacked from start to finish, clawing every bit of speed he could from the technical set and crossed the line with the lead. The next several racers could not match the German’s pace until Feller managed to slither his way down the course and into the lead. After Kristoffersen failed to take the lead after some costly mistakes at the top of the course and the next few racers failing to put up much of a challenge, only Hirscher stood in the start. Leaving nothing to chance, Hirscher skied like only he can and claimed his second career Worlds slalom gold by an impressive margin.

ST. MORITZ, SWITZERLAND Ð FEBRUARY 19: Marcel Hirscher of Austria competes during the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships Men's Slalom on February 19, 2017 in St. Moritz, Switzerland (Photo by Hans Bezard/Agence Zoom)

Photo by Hans Bezard/Agence Zoom

“It’s perfect,” Hirscher said after the race. “Sun is shining, great conditions today and the skiing was in all pretty good. Austria is pretty stoked with another two podiums. The young guns are kicking my ass during the training runs so I am very grateful for this, it has helped me to improve myself every training run.”

Feller has shown top-tier speed throughout the season in slalom, but was never able to put things together two runs in a row until Sunday. If Sunday’s race is any indication of what is to come, be prepared to hear Feller’s name quite a bit in the coming years.

Back and knee problems have plagued Neureuther for much of this season, making his medal performance one for the books. That fact was not lost on the German as he was caught wiping away tears after the race.

The Americans were led by David Chodounsky in 12th place. Given how tight the racing was, Chodounsky was only a few tenths away from a top-five finish.

“I’m a little bummed it was so tight,” admitted Chodounsky. “I know I hung on just towards the bottom here, I thought it was going to ski a little more difficult but it didn’t; it was pretty easy, and I could have pushed a lot harder and been a little bit faster, which would have made a much bigger difference. I had two good runs, a little mistake first run, but I’m in the points, which is huge; I needed that so I’ve gotta take the positives from today. It’s been a blast, I’ve skied well, and I’ve learned a lot about myself and the confidence is coming back and I still have another race in Kranjska (Gora).”

For the rest of the American contingent, Mark Engel finished in 34th, Robby Kelley was 39th, and Michael Ankeny failed to finish his first run after some impressive splits.

The men now head to Kvitfjell, Norway for downhill and super-G races Feb. 25 and 26.


Top 10

  1. Marcel Hirscher (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  2. Manuel Feller (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  3. Felix Neureuther (GER) – Nordica/Nordica/Marker
  4. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
  5. Alexander Khoroshilov (RUS) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  6. Andre Myhrer (SWE) – Head/Head/Head
  7. Marco Schwarz (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  8. Michael Matt (AUT) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
  9. Setefano Gross (ITA) – Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
  10. Stefan Haladin (SLO) – Voelkl/Dalbello/Marker

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  6  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  46.43  48.32  1:34.75  0.00
 2  8  54063 FELLER Manuel 1992 AUT  47.10  48.33  1:35.43  +0.68  5.17
 3  2  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER  47.19  48.49  1:35.68  +0.93  7.07
 4  3  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  47.08  48.71  1:35.79  +1.04  7.90
 5  7  480736 KHOROSHILOV Alexander 1984 RUS  47.11  48.69  1:35.80  +1.05  7.98
 6  14  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  47.55  48.30  1:35.85  +1.10  8.36
 7  10  54320 SCHWARZ Marco 1995 AUT  46.86  49.00  1:35.86  +1.11  8.43
 8  12  54170 MATT Michael 1993 AUT  46.91  49.08  1:35.99  +1.24  9.42
 9  11  293797 GROSS Stefano 1986 ITA  47.40  48.75  1:36.15  +1.40  10.64
 10  40  561322 HADALIN Stefan 1995 SLO  47.93  48.23  1:36.16  +1.41  10.71
 11  5  220689 RYDING Dave 1986 GBR  46.96  49.22  1:36.18  +1.43  10.87
 12  25  534508 CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA  47.72  48.52  1:36.24  +1.49  11.32
 13  17  421860 NORDBOTTEN Jonathan 1989 NOR  47.55  48.71  1:36.26  +1.51  11.47
 14  1  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  47.64  48.66  1:36.30  +1.55  11.78
 15  21  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR  47.67  48.68  1:36.35  +1.60  12.16
 16  37  511908 SCHMIDIGER Reto 1992 SUI  47.75  48.63  1:36.38  +1.63  12.39
 17  26  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA  47.37  49.07  1:36.44  +1.69  12.84
 18  29  194262 BUFFET Robin 1991 FRA  47.65  49.10  1:36.75  +2.00  15.20
 19  22  511983 AERNI Luca 1993 SUI  48.32  48.67  1:36.99  +2.24  17.02
 20  27  202451 STRASSER Linus 1992 GER  48.25  48.96  1:37.21  +2.46  18.69
 21  38  201896 STEHLE Dominik 1986 GER  48.01  49.21  1:37.22  +2.47  18.77
 22  24  293098 RAZZOLI Giuliano 1984 ITA  48.37  48.89  1:37.26  +2.51  19.07
 23  18  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste 1984 FRA  48.23  49.57  1:37.80  +3.05  23.18
 24  19  290732 THALER Patrick 1978 ITA  48.92  49.57  1:38.49  +3.74  28.42
 25  47  491879 SALARICH Joaquim 1994 ESP  48.82  49.68  1:38.50  +3.75  28.50
 26  49  350095 PFIFFNER Marco 1994 LIE  48.66  50.21  1:38.87  +4.12  31.31
 27  46  92720 POPOV Albert 1997 BUL  48.86  50.22  1:39.08  +4.33  32.90
 28  30  202437 LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER  48.95  50.20  1:39.15  +4.40  33.44
 29  55  481103 ANDRIENKO Aleksander 1990 RUS  49.29  50.09  1:39.38  +4.63  35.18
 30  39  380361 RODES Istok 1996 CRO  49.28  50.35  1:39.63  +4.88  37.08
 31  53  180567 RASANEN Joonas 1989 FIN  49.32  50.42  1:39.74  +4.99  37.92
 32  45  550054 ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps 1992 LAT  48.96  50.91  1:39.87  +5.12  38.91
 33  69  221236 TAYLOR Laurie 1996 GBR  49.09  50.90  1:39.99  +5.24  39.82
 34  32  934523 ENGEL Mark 1991 USA  49.05  51.04  1:40.09  +5.34  40.58
 35  31  380334 VIDOVIC Matej 1993 CRO  49.26  50.90  1:40.16  +5.41  41.11
 36  58  92719 ZLATKOV Kamen 1997 BUL  49.73  51.02  1:40.75  +6.00  45.59
 37  52  501873 LUNDBAECK Gustav 1993 SWE  51.22  51.43  1:42.65  +7.90  60.03
 38  54  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO  49.93  52.77  1:42.70  +7.95  60.41
 39  35  930160 KELLEY Robby 1990 USA  49.25  53.78  1:43.03  +8.28  62.92
 40  81  680041 ABRAMASHVILI Iason 1988 GEO  50.74  52.76  1:43.50  +8.75  66.49
 41  56  60160 ALAERTS Kai 1989 BEL  50.19  53.32  1:43.51  +8.76  66.57
 42  64  400235 WINKELHORST Steffan 1992 NED  48.76  54.93  1:43.69  +8.94  67.93
 43  79  310415 STANISIC Strahinja 1995 SRB  51.27  53.40  1:44.67  +9.92  75.38
 44  73  110266 ANGUITA Martin 1991 CHI  51.30  53.83  1:45.13  +10.38  78.88
 45  82  240139 KEKESI Marton 1995 HUN  52.63  52.83  1:45.46  +10.71  81.38
 46  85  170151 DYRBYE NAESTED Casper 1996 DEN  52.17  55.07  1:47.24  +12.49  94.91
 47  95  690694 KOVBASNYUK Ivan 1993 UKR  53.00  55.67  1:48.67  +13.92  105.78
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 48  91  780013 ZAVECKAS Rokas 1996 LTU  53.20  53.20
 49  90  270061 COMERFORD Cormac 1996 IRL  54.05  54.05
 50  93  800013 TOLA Erjon 1986 ALB  54.38  54.38
 51  97  942023 TAHIRI Albin 1989 KOS  56.65  56.65
 52  94  260241 BAHA Nima 1996 IRI  57.21  57.21
 53  96  6190671 POETTOZ Michael 1998 COL  59.49  59.49
 54  98  570018 SPEELMAN Sive 1995 RSA  1:01.05  1:01.05
 55  99  340230 FENIANOS Naim 1992 LBN  1:04.70  1:04.70
Did not qualify for final race
 56  49  680047 BENIAIDZE Alex 1991 GEO  48.52  52.40  1:40.92
 57  33  700901 HYSKA Martin 1994 SVK  49.40  52.35  1:41.75
 58  25  6300464 KOYAMA Yohei 1998 JPN  49.34  52.55  1:41.89
 59  103  660023 CHERTSIN Daniil 1997 BLR  50.49  54.52  1:45.01
 60  1  380363 KOLEGA Elias 1996 CRO  44.47  1:01.60  1:46.07
 61  73  780013 ZAVECKAS Rokas 1996 LTU  50.30  55.91  1:46.21
 62  94  690672 TELYCHUK Vasyl 1992 UKR  52.34  55.76  1:48.10
 63  101  660025 CHERTSIN Uladzislau 1998 BLR  51.93  56.20  1:48.13
 64  80  250402 GUDMUNDSSON Jon Gunnar 1998 ISL  52.44  56.44  1:48.88
 65  64  540026 DICKSON SOMMERS Rodolfo Roberto 1997 MEX  49.88  59.14  1:49.02
 66  85  260109 SAVEH SHEMSHAKI Poya 1990 IRI  52.52  56.55  1:49.07
 67  90  210040 TUKHTAEV Kamiljon 1997 UZB  52.16  56.93  1:49.09
 68  100  780020 ALEKSANDRAVICIUS Vilius 1995 LTU  55.34  59.42  1:54.76
 69  102  120061 ZHANG Xiaosong 1997 CHN  55.80  59.60  1:55.40
 70  92  120057 ZHANG Yangming 1994 CHN  54.96  1:00.73  1:55.69
 71  105  160109 KAKKOURAS Giorgos 1998 CYP  56.11  1:00.06  1:56.17
 72  86  570019 WILSON Connor 1996 RSA  56.41  1:00.04  1:56.45
 73  120  770011 TRELEVSKI Dmitry 1983 KGZ  56.45  1:01.61  1:58.06
 74  114  310388 KOSIC Bojan 1990 MNE  58.71  1:02.54  2:01.25
 75  130  120071 XU Mingfu 1997 CHN  55.33  1:05.97  2:01.30
 76  111  340250 CHAMOUN Dani 1993 LBN  58.46  1:03.72  2:02.18
 77  115  360043 BOCK Christophe 1998 LUX  1:02.44  1:00.22  2:02.66
 78  119  740036 KARAPETYAN Ashot 1999 ARM  1:01.52  1:04.79  2:06.31
 79  124  940001 RANDRIAMIARISOA Andy 1984 MAD  1:01.99  1:07.01  2:09.00
 80  125  590038 BRANCAL Ricardo 1996 POR  1:05.69  1:09.74  2:15.43
 81  128  800020 BICOKU Marsel 1997 ALB  1:06.89  1:14.60  2:21.49
 82  129  740040 ARAKELYAN Vazgen 2000 ARM  1:11.36  1:14.99  2:26.35
 83  132  921000 ROY Jean-Pierre 1963 HAI  1:47.84  1:34.98  3:22.82
Disqualified 2nd run
 13  191459 LIZEROUX Julien 1979 FRA
Disqualified 1st run
 100  540001 VON HOHENLOHE Hubertus 1959 MEX
 67  20378 ESTEVE Axel 1994 AND
 34  150644 KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE
Did not start 2nd run
 48  561244 KRANJEC Zan 1992 SLO
Did not finish 2nd run
 92  6190227 DENAT Jeremy 1996 PER
 83  310421 STEVOVIC Marko 1996 SRB
 77  230667 PROIOS Ioannis 1995 GRE
 71  860005 BRACHNER Patrick 1992 AZE
 68  60236 VAN DEN BROECKE Dries 1995 BEL
 63  700879 ZAMPA Andreas 1993 SVK
 62  30149 SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier 1980 ARG
 33  481327 TRIKHICHEV Pavel 1992 RUS
 23  511902 ZENHAEUSERN Ramon 1992 SUI
 15  501111 HARGIN Mattias 1985 SWE
 4  511996 YULE Daniel 1993 SUI
Did not finish 1st run
 89  54106 BREITFUSS KAMMERLANDER Simon 1992 BOL
 88  194752 HANSE Arthur 1993 POR
 87  280034 BIRAN Itamar 1998 ISR
 86  390041 LUIK Juhan 1997 EST
 84  660021 DANILOCHKIN Yuri 1991 BLR
 80  460060 BARBU Alexandru 1987 ROU
 78  750088 RISTEVSKI Antonio 1989 MKD
 76  250353 SNORRASON Sturla-Snaer 1994 ISL
 75  151238 ZABYSTRAN Jan 1998 CZE
 74  710351 EMRIC Eman 1996 BIH
 72  30388 BIRKNER DE MIGUEL Tomas 1997 ARG
 70  60256 VERBEKE Tom 1997 BEL
 66  180808 HANDOLIN Juho 1997 FIN
 65  410364 FEASEY Willis 1992 NZL
 61  410365 BARWOOD Adam 1992 NZL
 60  491853 DEL CAMPO Juan 1994 ESP
 59  30266 GASTALDI Sebastiano 1991 ARG
 57  430633 JASICZEK Michal 1994 POL
 51  380290 SAMSAL Dalibor 1985 HUN
 50  561296 SPIK Jakob 1994 SLO
 44  561291 GROSELJ Zan 1993 SLO
 43  502015 JAKOBSEN Kristoffer 1994 SWE
 42  934502 ANKENY Michael 1991 USA
 41  103676 BROWN Phil 1991 CAN
 36  103865 PHILP Trevor 1992 CAN
 28  103729 READ Erik 1991 CAN
 20  422082 FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian 1991 NOR
 16  301709 YUASA Naoki 1983 JPN
 9  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA
Disqualified 1st run in qualification race
 70  54106 BREITFUSS KAMMERLANDER Simon 1992 BOL
 56  710362 LOKMIC Emir 1997 BIH
Did not start 1st run in qualification race
 131  840003 WILLIAMS Michael Elliott 1969 JAM
 126  620059 THAKUR Himanshu 1994 IND
 123  620035 LAL Hira 1980 IND
 77  260180 JAFARI Seyed Morteza 1992 IRI
 24  20398 VERDU Joan 1995 AND
 23  400294 HAAS VAN DER Spike 1997 NED
Did not finish 2nd run in qualification race
 112  340440 BEHLOK Allen 1998 LBN
 110  170160 STAUNSAGER Mark Holme 1998 DEN
 109  950000 OETTL REYES Manfred 1993 PER
 108  160102 MICHAEL Andreas 1997 CYP
 104  230748 ZOGRAFOS-MANOS Emmanouil 2000 GRE
 99  690732 MARIICHYN Andriy 1995 UKR
 57  110409 HORWITZ Kai 1998 CHI
 44  550086 GEDRA Zaks 1998 LAT
 32  710320 LAIKERT Igor 1991 BIH
 19  150743 BERNDT Ondrej 1988 CZE
 17  92673 NUSHEV Georgi 1995 BUL
 10  700868 FALAT Matej 1993 SVK
 3  481785 EFIMOV Simon 1996 RUS
Did not finish 1st run in qualification race
 135  770022 KUSLIN Andrei 2000 KGZ
 134  770021 KUSLIN Vladimir 2000 KGZ
 133  770012 BORISOV Ivan 1979 KGZ
 127  800023 VERIGA Vasil 1998 ALB
 121  750109 SINADINOVSKI Voislav 2000 MKD
 118  240154 MAROTY Matyas 2000 HUN
 117  360045 CASTERMANS Max 1998 LUX
 116  450030 MARIOTTI Alessandro 1998 SMR
 113  660026 ZVERNIK Vlad 1998 BLR
 107  590039 ALMEIDA Samuel 1997 POR
 106  680068 JAPARIDZE Besarion 1998 GEO
 97  270055 LYNE Conor 1993 IRL
 96  160106 KOUYOUMDJIAN Yiannos 1997 CYP
 93  310439 BLAGOJEVIC Rastko 1999 SRB
 91  230733 MANTSIOS Vasileios 1998 GRE
 89  120055 WANG Yu 1994 CHN
 88  280036 SHCHERBAKOVSKIY Nikita 1999 ISR
 87  340447 ZINA Jeffrey 1998 LBN
 84  750107 BOZHINOVSKI Luka 1998 MKD
 79  260111 KIA SHEMSHAKI Behnam 1990 IRI
 75  690753 KARPUSHYN Mykhailo 1998 UKR
 71  750089 DEHARI Dardan 1990 MKD
 68  170159 VORRE Marcus 1998 DEN
 67  780023 DRUKAROV Andrej 1999 LTU
 65  250323 FINNSSON Magnus 1993 ISL
 63  680063 JAPHARIDZE Soso 1996 GEO
 61  110383 VON APPEN Sven 1997 CHI
 60  250361 AUDUNSSON Kristinn-Logi 1995 ISL
 55  240122 SZEPESI Bertold 1990 HUN
 54  110350 FIGUEROA Andres 1996 CHI
 53  60196 ALAERTS Xan 1992 BEL
 52  221190 NORRIS Kieran 1995 IRL
 51  230651 ANTONIOU Ioannis 1995 GRE
 43  151060 PAULUS Daniel 1994 CZE
 34  550066 ZVEJNIEKS Miks 1995 LAT
 30  310426 VUKICEVIC Marko 1992 SRB
 29  710353 SLJIVIC Marko 1996 BIH
 4  194207 THEOLIER Steven 1990 NED

 

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About the Author: Sean Higgins

A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.