Marcel Hirscher added a landmark trophy to his record and salvaged Austrian pride when he won the Kitzbuehel World Cup slalom on Sunday.
The overall World Cup holder and leader skied a perfect second run to clinch his fifth slalom victory of the season in a combined time of 1 minute, 44.34 seconds.
Victory was all the more important for Hirscher as it was his first win in the stronghold of Austrian skiing, while he became the first skier from his country to win the Hahnenkamm slalom since Manfred Pranger eight years ago.
The last Austrian to have won in Kitzbuehel was downhill specialist Klaus Kroell in 2009.
“It’s a kid’s dream I have achieved today, this race is huge, I’m really incredibly happy,” he said.
Hirscher now leads Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal, his closest rival in the race for the big globe, by 154 points on 1,035 points.
Germany’s Felix Neureuther, the winner in Wengen last week and was second and Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic third. Kostelic won the classic combined, adding up the times of Sunday’s slalom and Saturday’s downhill.
The leading trio was the same as in Wengen last weekend, a sign of what to expect at the world championships in Schladming in two weeks.
“I fought very hard, as I knew Neureuther skied another great run. It was a nice rehearsal for the worlds for sure, as the pressure almost can’t be bigger there,” Hirscher added.
Hampered early this winter by a lingering knee injury, Kostelic is reaching his peak right on time for the world championships and could be a serious threat in Schladming, especially in the combined, a race he relishes.
“It’s a great honor and pleasure to be on the podium again next to Hirscher and Neureuther like in Wengen, it’s pretty exciting. I am also very proud to have won the classical combined again here, I hope it’s not the last time it took place,” the Croatian said.
The International Ski Federation is planning to drop the Kitzbuehel combined event next season.
“I can’t imagine this combined going away as it’s such a big part of skiing history. In a few years, I’ll be away and so will [men’s World Cup director] Gunter Hujara, but it will not be possible to bring the classical combined back. It’s been around since the 1930s,” Kostelic added.
Kostelic finished ahead of Frenchmen Alexis Pinturault and Thomas Mermillod Blondin for his fourth back-to-back victory in the Hahnenkamm combined event.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was