Depleted Norwegians dominate men’s slalom
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — The Norwegian ski team arrived at the world championships without many of its injured stars. It left on Sunday with two gold medals and a bronze.
Sebastian Foss-Solevag triumphed in the concluding event, the men’s slalom, while fellow Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen took the bronze.
The success came four days after Foss-Solevag led Norway to gold in the team event.
“It’s a dream, two golds in Cortina. That’s incredible,” he said.
The Norway team was missing Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Adrian Smiseth Sejersted, Lucas Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath, all due to knee injuries, which mainly affected its chances in the speed events and the giant slalom.
“We had too many crashes, too many injuries,” Foss-Solevag said. “With a small team, we have two gold medals, that’s very good.”
Foss-Solevag is having his breakout season on the World Cup circuit, with four top-five finishes including his first win, in Flachau, Austria, last month.
On Sunday, he was third after the opening run, close behind surprise leader Adrian Pertl of Austria and Alex Vinzatzer of Italy, before posting the fastest time in the final run.
Pertl ended up 0.21 seconds behind for silver, while Vinatzer
dropped to fourth, missing the podium by 0.74.
“It’s amazing to finish off like this,” Foss-Solevag said. “I know the two guys in front can also put it together, but I fought from the start to the bottom and I did it.”
Foss-Solevag became the first slalom world champion from Norway since Tom Stiansen won the title in 1997.
Kristoffersen, last season’s World Cup slalom champion, contributed to the Norwegian success story.
Sixth after the opening run, he
moved up three spots and finished 0.46 behind Foss-Solevag to earn a slalom medal at the worlds for the first time. He was fourth in both 2015 and 2017.
“The gold for Sebastian has certainly more value than my bronze,” said Kristoffersen, who travels the World Cup circuit with his own team.
“But I am very satisfied. You’re on the podium, then you have to say that you’re satisfied,” he added. “Now I have Olympic and world championship medals in both slalom and GS. That’s not bad at all.”
Austria had won five of the six slalom medals at the last two worlds, both times with retired standout Marcel Hirscher taking the gold, and Pertl came close to continuing the streak.
Pertl was a late pick by Austrian coaches to complete the squad of four, which also included World Cup winners Marco Schwarz, Manuel Feller and Michael Matt.
Pertl prevailed over another up-and-coming prospect, Fabian Gstrein, in what seemed a surprise choice by the team. Gstrein was fastest in qualifying for the parallel race last Tuesday and finished that event in sixth, while Pertl didn’t finish his qualifying run.
“I had to fight even to be able to start today,” said Pertl, whose best World Cup result is third. “And now it’s a silver medal. That’s fantastic.”
Many pre-race favorites struggled on the demanding Druscie course.
Schwarz, who leads the World Cup slalom standings, was aiming for his second gold after winning the combined title.
However, the Austrian led by 0.57 seconds in the final leg when he straddled a gate.
Clement Noel also failed to finish his run when the Frenchman slid off the course on the boot of his inside ski halfway through his final run.