Surprise slalom podium to close out World Champs

By Published On: February 15th, 2015Comments Off on Surprise slalom podium to close out World Champs

BEAVER CREEK, Colo.  – When Marcel Hirscher laid down the fastest first slalom run on Sunday, there was an air of inevitability that the world’s best tech skier would finish the job and depart Colorado with Austria’s sixth gold medal to close out the World Alpine Ski Championships.

In slalom, of course, nothing is ever certain. And that became all the more true as heavy snowfall caked the track making conditions challenging for the later racers in the second run. None of the first-run top three — Hirscher, Alexander Khoroshilov and Andre Myhrer — managed hang in there for a podium.

Instead, Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange, who after a string of knee injuries has steadily crept back into the elite conversation, claimed his second career World Championship gold medal and his first win since 2011. Grange was followed on the podium by a pair of Germans, Fritz Dopfer in silver and Felix Neureuther in bronze.

After a controversial first-run set — extremely slow and turny, yielding 43 DNFs — the day’s drama unfolded in the afternoon as Hirscher, skiing 30th with a 0.88-second lead, steadily lost time on Grange’s pace. Hirscher appeared on the verge of losing the gold, falling to a mere 0.06-second lead at the final split. But then, with the finish line in sight just past the Red Tail Jump above the stadium, the Austrian frontrunner clipped a tip and straddled to essentially culminate the championships.

“In a big event like World Championship or Olympic Games, it’s always a lot of stress and lots of pressure and you are not always feeling good,” said Grange. “But you have to believe in yourself. I don’t know – today was my day. Today was my day.”

Hirscher said the straddle came as a total shock.

“I thought it is nearly done, just 10 more gates to go with no special combinations or nothing, just let the skis go,” said Hirscher. “It’s not a secret that visibility wasn’t good especially at the middle of the race. I can’t see nearly nothing but I have no idea how it was for the other athletes because I was standing in the starting tent. So in general I have to say it was a super good world champs for me, two gold medals, one silver.”

For Grange, it’s been a tough row to hoe. His first knee injury came on this very hill in 2009, causing him to miss most of 2010. He bounced back rather quickly, winning gold at the World Championships in Garmisch in 2011, but then in 2012 suffered another ACL tear to the same knee. This season, Grange has been making headway with four World Cup top 10s, all in slalom. More recently, however, he had finished north of the top 20.

“After my two last races in Kitzbuehel and Schladming I was more than 20s, so I can’t imagine (this) today,” said Grange. “But it’s a wonderful gift for all this faltering for years – many injuries, bad bib number, no confidence sometimes. And you know skiing it’s always hard, but it’s easier when you’re on the podium and when you win. I was out of the podium (for the past) four years, so no I can’t expect that but it’s a dream.”

Grange wasn’t the only racer surprised by a podium result.

“It was unbelievable. I never thought that it’s going to be enough to be on the podium,” said Neureuther. “Especially, I had quite a big mistake also on the second run. Luckily Marcel did a bigger mistake, and that’s why I’m on the podium. I was down there in the finish area – it was the same situation like in the GS. … But today it was the happy end for me, so everything’s fine.”

The silver is Dopfer’s first World Championship medal. “It’s just unbelievable,” he also said. “After first run, I was confident that I could ski really good and had a pretty good feeling after the first run. But second run was way more difficult because was straight and the speed was higher, so I tried to push myself to my limit. I think I handled it, and I’m just thankful and really happy to stand on the podium.”

After leaning in on a couple occasions throughout his second run, Ted Ligety was the best performer for the American squad, finishing 21st.

“My run was pretty bad. I skied poorly. Going right after the TV break when it’s snowing this hard and nobody is slipping unfortunately is pretty disappointing,” said Ligety. “But my skiing wasn’t good to begin with. The two of those compounding, you have no chance.”

On a happier note, American Tim Kelley qualified for the flip in 29th — and for the first time in his professional career finished both runs at the elite level to ultimately place 23rd.

“I was more nervous first run,” said Kelley. “After I made it down first run, I knew I could do it second run. I skied well, probably a little conservative on the second run. I’ve been struggling the last month to finish. I had a string of DNFs, so to put two runs down and make it into the top 30 was really fun.”

The men’s World Cup circuit returns in Saalbach, Austria, with downhill training runs starting on on Feb. 19.

 

The Scoop

By Hank McKee

  1. Grange, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  2. Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/
  3. Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
  4. Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  5. Hargin, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  6. Myhrer, Head/Head/Head
  7. Larsson, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  8. Khoroshilov, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  9. Foss-Solevaag, Volkl/Marker
  10. Strasser, Nordica/Nordica

Men’s World Championship slalom, Beaver Creek, Colo., Feb. 15, 2015:

  • It is the 11th and final event of the 2015 World Ski Championships. … It is the 68th World title slalom. … Marcel Hirscher is the defending champion. … Felix Neureuther leads the World Cup slalom standings.
  • It is the second World Championship gold medal in slalom for Jean-Bapiste Grange who also won at Garmisch 2011. … The last French male to win the slalom crown was Jean-Noel Augert in 1970. The winning margin is 0.35 of a second. … Top seven are within a second. … Top eight within two seconds.
  • It is the first World Championship medal for Fritz Dopfer. … His previous best had been seventh in both GS and slalom at Schladming in 2013.
  • It is the second World Championship medal for Felix Neureuther. … He won silver in slalom at Schladming 2013. … Last time the Germans had two medal winners in slalom was 1987 at Crans Montana with Frank Worndl for gold and Armin Bittner with bronze.
  • It is the third World Championship result for Trevor Philp and matches his career best finish. … It is Ted Ligety’s second World Championship slalom result. … It is the first World Championship result for Tim Kelley. … It is the second World Championship result, and a career best for Erik Read. … It is the 29th World Championship placing for Hubertus VonHohenlohe. … His career at Worlds stretches back to Schladming 1982.
  • Medal count: Austria five gold, three silver, one bronze; Slovenia two gold, one silver; U.S. two gold, one silver,  two bronze;  Switzerland one gold, two bronze; France one gold, one bronze; Germany two silver, one bronze; Canada two silver; Sweden 1 silver, two bronze; Norway one silver; Czech Republic one bronze.

 

Results

 1  14  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste 1984 FRA  1:04.26  53.21  1:57.47  0.00
 2  4  202462 DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  1:04.31  53.51  1:57.82  +0.35  2.15
 3  7  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER  1:04.47  53.55  1:58.02  +0.55  3.37
 4  3  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  1:04.64  53.40  1:58.04  +0.57  3.49
 5  2  501111 HARGIN Mattias 1985 SWE  1:04.23  53.86  1:58.09  +0.62  3.80
 6  15  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  1:04.04  54.17  1:58.21  +0.74  4.54
 7  9  500656 LARSSON Markus 1979 SWE  1:05.15  53.32  1:58.47  +1.00  6.13
 8  6  480736 KHOROSHILOV Alexander 1984 RUS  1:03.66  55.28  1:58.94  +1.47  9.01
 9  12  422082 FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian 1991 NOR  1:05.61  54.17  1:59.78  +2.31  14.16
 10  23  202451 STRASSER Linus 1992 GER  1:05.67  54.18  1:59.85  +2.38  14.59
 11  21  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  1:05.13  54.87  2:00.00  +2.53  15.51
 12  24  50605 HERBST Reinfried 1978 AUT  1:05.89  54.51  2:00.40  +2.93  17.96
 13  44  511896 MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI  1:06.21  54.60  2:00.81  +3.34  20.47
 13  41  380335 ZUBCIC Filip 1993 CRO  1:06.37  54.44  2:00.81  +3.34  20.47
 15  26  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO  1:06.38  54.49  2:00.87  +3.40  20.84
 16  35  421954 LYSDAHL Espen 1990 NOR  1:06.62  54.26  2:00.88  +3.41  20.90
 17  36  201891 SCHMID Philipp 1986 GER  1:06.35  54.62  2:00.97  +3.50  21.45
 18  38  103865 PHILP Trevor 1992 CAN  1:06.05  54.97  2:01.02  +3.55  21.76
 19  30  700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK  1:05.39  55.72  2:01.11  +3.64  22.31
 20  37  561148 SKUBE Matic 1988 SLO  1:07.15  54.08  2:01.23  +3.76  23.05
 21  17  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA  1:05.31  56.00  2:01.31  +3.84  23.54
 22  19  191459 LIZEROUX Julien 1979 FRA  1:06.36  55.07  2:01.43  +3.96  24.27
 23  34  530837 KELLEY Tim 1986 USA  1:07.16  55.28  2:02.44  +4.97  30.46
 24  43  103729 READ Erik 1991 CAN  1:07.65  54.97  2:02.62  +5.15  31.57
 25  33  320266 JUNG Dong-hyun 1988 KOR  1:07.56  55.13  2:02.69  +5.22  31.99
 26  48  380334 VIDOVIC Matej 1993 CRO  1:07.31  55.93  2:03.24  +5.77  35.37
 27  50  380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO  1:07.88  56.48  2:04.36  +6.89  42.23
 28  51  92562 PRISADOV Stefan 1990 BUL  1:08.66  55.98  2:04.64  +7.17  43.95
 29  56  700879 ZAMPA Andreas 1993 SVK  1:09.04  56.28  2:05.32  +7.85  48.11
 30  61  491879 SALARICH Joaquim 1994 SPA  1:09.14  56.50  2:05.64  +8.17  50.08
 31  53  30149 SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier 1980 ARG  1:08.57  57.67  2:06.24  +8.77  53.75
 32  55  561244 KRANJEC Zan 1992 SLO  1:10.08  56.72  2:06.80  +9.33  57.19
 33  65  320293 KYUNG Sung-hyun 1990 KOR  1:09.78  58.31  2:08.09  +10.62  65.09
 34  76  110320 CLARO Eugenio 1993 CHI  1:09.59  58.91  2:08.50  +11.03  67.61
 35  62  30388 BIRKNER DE MIGUEL Tomas 1997 ARG  1:11.87  57.26  2:09.13  +11.66  71.47
 36  80  170151 DYRBYE NAESTED Casper 1996 DAN  1:12.95  1:02.69  2:15.64  +18.17  111.37
 37  81  690694 KOVBASNYUK Ivan 1993 UKR  1:15.74  1:02.23  2:17.97  +20.50  125.65
 38  83  780013 ZAVECKAS Rokas 1996 LTU  1:15.59  1:03.57  2:19.16  +21.69  132.94
 39  89  80077 MACEDO Michel 1998 BRA  1:18.15  1:02.73  2:20.88  +23.41  143.49
 40  97  570012 HEATH Alexander 1978 RSA  1:19.77  1:05.12  2:24.89  +27.42  168.06
 41  84  270055 LYNE Conor 1993 IRE  1:21.75  1:05.15  2:26.90  +29.43  180.38
 42  88  360036 OSCH Geoffrey 1994 LUX  1:21.68  1:09.93  2:31.61  +34.14  209.25
 43  87  770015 TIMOFEEV Evgeniy 1994 KGZ  1:28.50  1:09.12  2:37.62  +40.15  246.09
 44  95  960300 GOUTT Yohan Goncalves 1994 TLS  1:29.27  1:17.20  2:46.47  +49.00  300.33
 45  92  310388 KOSIC Bojan 1990 MNE  1:30.52  1:17.25  2:47.77  +50.30  308.30
 46  98  540001 VON HOHENLOHE Hubertus 1959 MEX  1:36.39  1:19.17  2:55.56  +58.09  356.05
Did not qualify for final race
 47  46  240142 SZOLLOS Benjamin 1996 HUN  1:00.21  55.82  1:56.03
 48  33  250323 FINNSSON Magnus 1993 ISL  1:00.23  56.09  1:56.32
 49  47  240122 SZEPESI Bertold 1990 HUN  1:01.14  55.42  1:56.56
 50  43  230147 SYKARAS Konstantinos 1984 GRE  1:01.75  57.08  1:58.83
 51  29  550061 ONSKULIS Martins 1994 LAT  58.78  1:02.15  2:00.93
 52  69  690722 MYTSAK Dmytro 1995 UKR  1:03.15  58.61  2:01.76
 53  75  270047 MC MILLAN Patrick 1991 IRE  1:07.55  59.16  2:06.71
 54  92  740030 GHAZARYAN Arsen 1992 ARM  1:08.92  1:03.14  2:12.06
 55  84  340230 FENIANOS Naim 1992 LIB  1:08.47  1:03.71  2:12.18
 56  81  310429 PAVLOVIC Sava 1997 SRB  1:08.50  1:05.36  2:13.86
 57  72  210024 BABIKOV Dmitriy 1990 UZB  1:10.67  1:04.15  2:14.82
 58  90  740028 MANUKYAN Yura 1991 ARM  1:21.22  1:10.10  2:31.32
 59  96  210041 BUKHARBAEV Damir 1996 UZB  1:21.53  1:10.55  2:32.08
 60  99  770004 TRELEVSKI Andrey 1979 KGZ  1:19.23  1:13.92  2:33.15
 61  104  921000 ROY Jean-Pierre 1963 HAI  1:39.19  1:31.44  3:10.63
 62  102  840003 WILLIAMS Michael Elliott 1969 JAM  2:01.28  1:49.52  3:50.80
Did not start 2nd run
 16  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA
Did not finish 2nd run
 72  390035 SMITH Warren Cummings 1992 EST
 70  30266 GASTALDI Sebastiano 1991 ARG
 49  54170 MATT Michael 1993 AUT
 47  550054 ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps 1992 LAT
 40  380290 SAMSAL Dalibor 1985 HUN
 13  501101 BYGGMARK Jens 1985 SWE
 11  290732 THALER Patrick 1978 ITA
 10  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA
 5  293797 GROSS Stefano 1986 ITA
 1  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT
Did not finish 1st run
 100  450030 MARIOTTI Alessandro 1998 RSM
 99  160099 PIERI Pieris 1996 CYP
 96  620046 KHAN Arif Mohd 1990 IND
 94  280034 BIRAN Itamar 1998 ISR
 93  340305 MOHBAT Alexandre 1995 LIB
 91  210040 TUKHTAEV Kamiljon 1997 UZB
 90  670037 ZAKURDAEV Igor 1987 KAZ
 86  950000 OETTL REYES Manfred 1993 PER
 85  120054 ZHOU Dongjun 1989 CHN
 82  800013 TOLA Erjon 1986 ALB
 79  400237 MEINERS Maarten 1992 NED
 78  680060 KOZANASHVILI Nikoloz 1995 GEO
 77  310410 VUKOVIC Andrija 1994 SRB
 75  230651 ANTONIOU Ioannis 1995 GRE
 74  320296 PARK hyuk 1990 KOR
 73  550066 ZVEJNIEKS Miks 1995 LAT
 71  60253 MARCHANT Armand 1997 BEL
 69  710320 LAIKERT Igor 1991 BIH
 68  40349 RISHWORTH Mike 1987 AUS
 67  750088 RISTEVSKI Antonio 1989 MKD
 66  430429 BYDLINSKI Maciej 1988 POL
 64  40594 PERAUDO Ross 1992 AUS
 63  710311 RUDIC Marko 1990 BIH
 60  250348 KRISTGEIRSSON Einar Kristinn 1994 ISL
 59  410365 BARWOOD Adam 1992 NZL
 58  150495 VRABLIK Martin 1982 CZE
 57  481103 ANDRIENKO Aleksander 1990 RUS
 54  60160 ALAERTS Kai 1989 BEL
 52  92720 POPOV Albert 1997 BUL
 46  180567 RASANEN Joonas 1989 FIN
 45  150644 KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE
 42  481327 TRIKHICHEV Pavel 1992 RUS
 39  103676 BROWN Phil 1991 CAN
 32  530165 BRANDENBURG Will 1987 USA
 31  421860 NORDBOTTEN Jonathan 1989 NOR
 29  220689 RYDING Dave 1986 GBR
 28  301709 YUASA Naoki 1983 JPN
 27  511983 AERNI Luca 1993 SUI
 25  534508 CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA
 22  50625 RAICH Benjamin 1978 AUT
 20  511996 YULE Daniel 1993 SUI
 18  50707 MATT Mario 1979 AUT
 8  293098 RAZZOLI Giuliano 1984 ITA
Disqualified 2nd run in qualification race
 31  680047 BENIAIDZE Alex 1991 GEO
Disqualified 1st run in qualification race
 8  460060 BARBU Alexandru 1987 ROU
Did not start 1st run in qualification race
 59  670052 KHUBER Martin 1992 KAZ
 51  230659 VALCAREGGI Massimiliano 1995 GRE
 48  110324 VON APPEN Henrik 1994 CHI
Did not finish 2nd run in qualification race
 57  690086 FESHCHUK Rostyslav 1990 UKR
 52  550065 SARKANIS Toms 1993 LAT
 44  310415 STANISIC Strahinja 1995 SRB
 42  60088 VAN DEN BOGAERT Jeroen 1979 BEL
 41  240139 KEKESI Marton 1995 HUN
 34  221213 RAPOSO Charlie 1996 GBR
 25  410364 FEASEY Willis 1992 NZL
Did not finish 1st run in qualification race
 106  770012 BORISOV Ivan 1979 KGZ
 105  750100 KURTISHI Gentian 1992 MKD
 103  750101 ILJAZI Besar 1992 MKD
 101  210020 EGEMBERDIEV Safar 1986 UZB
 100  130034 WU Meng-che 1995 TPE
 98  770017 TRELEVSKII Sergei 1989 KGZ
 95  620059 THAKUR Himanshu 1994 IND
 94  450025 BIZZOCCHI Lorenzo 1993 RSM
 93  620035 LAL Hira 1980 IND
 91  340040 MEHANNA Jamil 1978 LIB
 89  270064 ARBEZ Maxime 1996 IRE
 85  340154 FENIANOS Tarek 1990 LIB
 83  80072 MACEDO Tobias 1996 BRA
 80  120061 ZHANG Xiaosong 1997 CHN
 78  450026 MICHELOTTI Vincenzo Romano 1996 RSM
 74  170152 JONSTRUP Jeppe 1996 DAN
 71  310407 PESIC Mladen 1994 SRB
 62  120037 TIAN Yuheng 1985 CHN
 60  310412 HADZIC Tarik 1994 MNE
 55  230667 PROIOS Ioannis 1995 GRE
 49  110350 FIGUEROA Andres 1996 CHI
 45  110269 CARVALLO Nicolas 1991 CHI
 38  680053 GELASHVILI Jaba 1993 GEO
 35  750089 DEHARI Dardan 1990 MKD
 32  40536 DEMSCHAR Daniel 1994 AUS
 30  710353 SLJIVIC Marko 1996 BIH
 27  320290 KIM Hyeon-tae 1990 KOR
 23  40489 LAIDLAW Luke 1992 AUS

 

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About the Author: Geoff Mintz

Geoff Mintz is a former alpine ski racer who cut his teeth at Ragged Mountain and Waterville Valley, N.H. After graduating from Holderness and UVM, he relocated to Colorado, where he worked on the hill prior to pursuing a career in journalism. Mintz served as associate editor for Ski Racing Media from 2011 to 2015. He later reconnected with his local roots to manage all marketing and communications for Ski & Snowboard Club Vail before resuming work at SRM as editor-in-chief.