Marcel Hirscher of Austria became the first skier to win both races in the classic Adelboden weekend with his slalom victory at the Swiss resort yesterday.
The 22-year-old clocked a combined time of 1 minute, 58.66 seconds to snatch his third World Cup victory in succession and emerge as one of the clear favorites for the overall crystal globe.
Despite a thick fog and almost no visibility, Hirscher beat World Cup defending champion Ivica Kostelic by 0.27 seconds to bag his fifth success this winter.
In the overall standings, the Austrian, who also won Saturday’s giant slalom, leads the Croat by 230 points.
“It’s just crazy. I’m on a roll for sure with three victories in four days”, said Hirscher, who also won a slalom in Zagreb on Thursday. “But I’m also extremely tired and I’m glad to have some time off before the slalom in Wengen.”
Promising Stefano Gross of Italy clinched his first career podium in third place, 0.99 seconds behind the winner.
The men’s World Cup circuit remains in Switzerland for another classic in Wengen next weekend, when speed specialists will be in the limelight again.
SUTER WINS SUPER-G
REUTERS, BAD KLEINKIRCHEIM, AUSTRIA
Third in Saturday’s downhill on the same piste, Fabienne Suter confirmed her return to form when she won a women’s super-G in Bad Kleinkircheim yesterday.
The Swiss, who turned 27 last week, clocked 1 minute, 9.55 seconds on the steep Austrian piste to snatch her first victory in nearly three years.
Suter, winner of three previous World Cup races — one downhill and two super-Gs — had considered quitting last year after a poor 2010-2011 season.
“I had to be patient, but I was hoping for a good result here as I like this kind of tough course,” Suter said. “I did OK in the downhill, despite a mistake, so I was mostly looking for a clean race today. I managed to keep the best line from top to bottom this time.”
It was Switzerland’s first win this season in the women’s ranks and an excellent overall performance, with four Swiss in the top seven.
Giant slalom world champion Tina Maze equaled her best super-G result by finishing second, but the Olympic silver-medalist missed her chance to become one of the rare skiers to have won in all five alpine disciplines by 0.34 seconds.
Austria’s Anna Fenninger was third, 0.74 seconds off the pace.
Hot favorite Lindsey Vonn, weakened by a stomach bug, finished 1.53 seconds behind Suter in a disappointing 18th place. It was her worst result in a super-G since February 2008.
The American retained her comfortable lead in the World Cup overall standings, but she will be wary of improving Maze.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite