Kristoffersen goes 2-for-2 under the lights in Madonna

By Published On: December 22nd, 2015Comments Off on Kristoffersen goes 2-for-2 under the lights in Madonna

The hits keep on coming for the Attacking Vikings. On a clear night in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, Henrik Kristoffersen dominated the field and took the 62nd edition of the 3Tre night slalom for the fifth World Cup slalom victory of his career by a staggering 1.25 seconds over a pair of Austrians. Marcel Hirscher finished in second place and Marco Schwarz was third, 1.59 seconds off the pace.

With Kristoffersen’s win today, the Attacking Vikings – including Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud as well – have combined to give Norway victories in eight of the 12 men’s World Cup races contested so far this season. It’s a staggering statistic, especially given how small the Norwegian team is compared to other strong alpine nations.

Perhaps with a fire lit underneath him after an untimely exit in the first round of yesterday’s parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia, Kristoffersen left nothing in the tank as he attacked the Canalone Miramonte slope with borderline reckless abandon, teetering on the edge of disaster more than once before crossing the finish with the win.

“This place is amazing, here in Madonna. So many legends have been here before me,” an exhausted Kristoffersen said to the estimated 12,000 in attendance. “Thank you, Italy.”

Warm temperatures in the Dolomites and all of Central Europe have prevented many of the slopes from being prepared to their normal sheet of ice surface. Both of today’s runs saw the course break down with the warmer temperatures providing rougher conditions for later runners.

“It was so bumpy. It was breaking through a little bit on the steep part,” Kristoffersen explained. “I had a few close calls, just like in Val d’Isere, but that’s the way it is in alpine skiing, I’d rather be on the limit. Now, I’m skiing so good that I can stay on my skis being on the limit and it’s perfect.”

Hirscher, who also made an uncharacteristic first round exit in the parallel, admitted that Kristoffersen is in a league of his own in slalom at the moment, and may soon challenge him for dominance in GS.

“Yes, I’m impressed with his skiing, but I’m not surprised that he is dominating at the moment in slalom, we have seen that already in Val d’Isere,” he said. “There is no way at the moment if he is making no mistakes to beat him. He is the man to beat at the moment, definitely in slalom, and maybe in two months as well in GS.”

About a third of the way down during Hirscher’s second run, an aerial drone providing overhead television shots for the media rights holder Infront plummeted to the ground, narrowly missing Hirscher and shattering into pieces mere inches from the tails of his skis.

At the post-race press conference, the current world number one did not mince words when it came to how he felt about the situation.

“I thought a course worker or a slipper crashed and slid down the hill and was following me, or a pole, or a shovel, I don’t know,” he explained. “I heard something and I felt there was something, but what it was, I just went for it. But when I saw it in the finish area, I have to say that this was total sh–, what happened today. It was unbelievable.”

Understandably upset as he could have been seriously injured or worse if the drone had dropped just inches closer, Hirscher nevertheless felt thankful that things happened the way they did and he managed to escape free of harm.

“I’m not injured, nothing got hurt and I think I have to say thank you for that, that I’m healthy and sitting here, and for the next reason, with another podium,” he added.

For Schwarz who started with bib 33, it has been a steep learning curve so far on the World Cup. His first top-30 results came in Val d’Isere only 10 days ago where he finished 18th in the slalom and 19th in the GS. Still a junior, could Schwarz be the next great Austrian slalom star?

“Unbelievable. My second run was really good, no mistakes and third place, cool thing,” an excited Schwarz told reporters. “In Val d’Isere, I made my first World Cup points with 18th place, and now I am on the podium. It’s so cool, it was a great race.”

American David Chodounsky had another solid performance, taking his second top 10 in as many races, finishing in ninth place to go along with his fifth from Val d’Isere. If it weren’t for a costly mistake approaching the finish, Chodounsky could have been well on his way to his second top five this season. With how he has been skiing lately, a second top five — or better — is likely not far off.

“I felt my top was pretty good, then I had what felt like a big mistake … I came through the finish and I wasn’t too pleased,” he explained. “I’m still happy, I moved up into ninth, I’ll take that.”

Also of note was the performance of young Swiss racer Luca Aerni, who took advantage of an early start in run two, winning the run and leapfrogging from 26th after run one to ultimately finish an impressive fifth, a mere 0.25 seconds from the podium.

The next men’s slalom is scheduled for Zagreb, Croatia, on Jan. 6, but warm temperatures could force the rescheduling of the race to a yet to be determined venue and date. Stay tuned to SkiRacing.com for updates as they become available.

View more photos from this race here.

Fans can stay current on the World Cup circuit by downloading the new U.S. Ski Team iOS app powered by Ski Racing here.


The Scoop
By Hank McKee

  1. Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  2. Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  3. Schwarz, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  4. Razzoli, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  5. Aerni, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
  6. Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica
  7. Grange, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  8. Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  9. Chodounsky, Nordica/Nordica
  10. Myhrer, Head/Head/Head
  • Men’s World Cup slalom, Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, Dec. 22, 2015. … The 3-Tre. … It is the 13th of 45 races on the men’s World Cup schedule … the second of 11 slaloms (with one cancellation).  … It is the fifth straight day with a men’s race. … The 3-Tre has been held at Madonna di Campiglio since 1950, but it is the 56th World Cup race hosted by Madonna, the 36th slalom. … Felix Neureuther is the defending champion. … Phil Mahre (1981) and Bode Miller (2001) are the only Americans to win a Madonna slalom.  Tommy Corcoran placed third in 1958. … It’s a large start list with 85 starters.
  • It is the sixth career World Cup win for Henrik Kristoffersen and his fifth in slalom. … It is his second win of the season … and the eighth win of the season for Norway, all on the men’s circuit.  … It is the fourth Norwegian win of a Madonna slalom. … Winning margin is 1.25 seconds. …. Top six are within two seconds.
  • It is the 79th career World Cup podium placing for Marcel Hirscher … his seventh of the season in eight races.
  • It is just the third career scoring finish (all this season) and first podium for Marco Schwarz. … His previous best had been 18th in slalom at Val d’Isere Dec. 13.
  • It is the sixth career World Cup top 10 for David Chodounsky … his second of the season.
  • Hirscher regains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 623-600 over Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race). … Kjetil Jansrud (did not race) is third with 407pts. … Ted Ligety (did not qualify for 2nd run) is seventh overall with 248pts and Travis Ganong (did not race) is 10th with 204pts.
  • Kristoffersen leads the slalom standings 200-160 over Hirscher. … Chodounsky is third with 79pts.
  • Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup standings 1944-1658 over Norway. … France is third with 1397pts. … The U.S. is fifth with 995pts and Canada eighth with 231pts.

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  4  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  47.34  50.46  1:37.80  0.00
 2  3  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  48.37  50.68  1:39.05  +1.25  9.20
 3  33  54320 SCHWARZ Marco 1995 AUT  49.45  49.94  1:39.39  +1.59  11.71
 4  10  293098 RAZZOLI Giuliano 1984 ITA  48.67  50.80  1:39.47  +1.67  12.29
 5  28  511983 AERNI Luca 1993 SUI  50.13  49.51  1:39.64  +1.84  13.55
 6  1  202462 DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  48.87  50.89  1:39.76  +1.96  14.43
 7  12  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste 1984 FRA  48.94  51.03  1:39.97  +2.17  15.98
 8  21  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  49.08  51.06  1:40.14  +2.34  17.23
 9  20  534508 CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA  49.17  51.00  1:40.17  +2.37  17.45
 10  8  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  48.81  51.48  1:40.29  +2.49  18.33
 11  16  511996 YULE Daniel 1993 SUI  49.96  50.35  1:40.31  +2.51  18.48
 12  6  480736 KHOROSHILOV Alexander 1984 RUS  48.70  51.63  1:40.33  +2.53  18.63
 13  17  290732 THALER Patrick 1978 ITA  49.10  51.44  1:40.54  +2.74  20.17
 14  11  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA  48.87  51.69  1:40.56  +2.76  20.32
 15  30  700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK  49.80  50.78  1:40.58  +2.78  20.47
 16  9  191459 LIZEROUX Julien 1979 FRA  49.29  51.37  1:40.66  +2.86  21.06
 17  5  293797 GROSS Stefano 1986 ITA  48.57  52.13  1:40.70  +2.90  21.35
 18  18  501223 BAECK Axel 1987 SWE  49.43  51.35  1:40.78  +2.98  21.94
 19  22  501101 BYGGMARK Jens 1985 SWE  49.62  51.20  1:40.82  +3.02  22.23
 20  40  51395 DIGRUBER Marc 1988 AUT  50.17  51.06  1:41.23  +3.43  25.25
 21  55  54063 FELLER Manuel 1992 AUT  49.93  51.35  1:41.28  +3.48  25.62
 22  42  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR  50.16  51.16  1:41.32  +3.52  25.91
 23  48  194262 BUFFET Robin 1991 FRA  50.17  51.16  1:41.33  +3.53  25.99
 24  25  220689 RYDING Dave 1986 GBR  50.00  51.35  1:41.35  +3.55  26.13
 25  23  50605 HERBST Reinfried 1978 AUT  49.89  51.76  1:41.65  +3.85  28.34
 26  14  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  49.96  52.60  1:42.56  +4.76  35.04
 27  32  291318 TONETTI Riccardo 1989 ITA  49.60  54.05  1:43.65  +5.85  43.07
Did not start 1st run
 72  511896 MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 85  800013 TOLA Erjon 1986 ALB
 84  680047 BENIAIDZE Alex 1991 GEO
 80  60253 MARCHANT Armand 1997 BEL
 77  501351 JOHANSSON Emil 1988 SWE
 76  54252 RASCHNER Dominik 1994 AUT
 74  511174 VOGEL Markus 1984 SUI
 71  380335 ZUBCIC Filip 1993 CRO
 69  6291574 SALA Tommaso 1995 ITA
 68  380334 VIDOVIC Matej 1993 CRO
 67  561291 GROSELJ Zan 1993 SLO
 66  194207 THEOLIER Steven 1990 FRA
 65  430633 JASICZEK Michal 1994 POL
 64  481327 TRIKHICHEV Pavel 1992 RUS
 63  53889 HIRSCHBUEHL Christian 1990 AUT
 60  380290 SAMSAL Dalibor 1985 HUN
 59  561117 KUERNER Miha 1987 SLO
 58  291145 DEVILLE Cristian 1981 ITA
 57  934523 ENGEL Mark 1991 USA
 56  511908 SCHMIDIGER Reto 1992 SUI
 53  150644 KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE
 52  511127 GINI Marc 1984 SUI
 49  50981 HOERL Wolfgang 1983 AUT
 46  934566 ROBERTS Hig 1991 USA
 45  421954 LYSDAHL Espen 1990 NOR
 44  180567 RASANEN Joonas 1989 FIN
 43  54170 MATT Michael 1993 AUT
 41  530837 KELLEY Tim 1986 USA
 39  201896 STEHLE Dominik 1986 GER
 37  512014 NIEDERBERGER Bernhard 1993 SUI
 35  934502 ANKENY Michael 1991 USA
 34  103865 PHILP Trevor 1992 CAN
 31  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA
 26  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO
 19  202451 STRASSER Linus 1992 GER
Did not finish 2nd run
 24  501116 LAHDENPERAE Anton 1985 SWE
 7  501111 HARGIN Mattias 1985 SWE
 2  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER
Did not finish 1st run
 83  30266 GASTALDI Sebastiano 1991 ARG
 82  150743 BERNDT Ondrej 1988 CZE
 81  30388 BIRKNER DE MIGUEL Tomas 1997 ARG
 79  481103 ANDRIENKO Aleksander 1990 RUS
 78  700868 FALAT Matej 1993 SVK
 75  491879 SALARICH Joaquim 1994 SPA
 73  202437 LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER
 70  103729 READ Erik 1991 CAN
 62  304242 NARITA Hideyuki 1993 JPN
 61  550054 ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps 1992 LAT
 54  290095 BALLERIN Andrea 1989 ITA
 51  193986 PLACE Francois 1989 FRA
 50  303097 ISHII Tomoya 1989 JPN
 47  930160 KELLEY Robby 1990 USA
 38  511902 ZENHAEUSERN Ramon 1992 SUI
 36  561148 SKUBE Matic 1988 SLO
 29  301709 YUASA Naoki 1983 JPN
 27  421860 NORDBOTTEN Jonathan 1989 NOR
 15  422082 FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian 1991 NOR
 13  500656 LARSSON Markus 1979 SWE

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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.