Feller wins World Cup slalom by just .02 seconds to deny Norway another win at Adelboden
ADELBODEN, Switzerland (AP) — Manuel Feller denied the young Norwegian team another win at Adelboden in a World Cup slalom on Sunday and extended Austria’s unbeaten run in the discipline this season.
Feller rose from fifth after the first run to be 0.02 seconds faster than Atle Lie McGrath. Then first-run leader Alexander Steen Olsen fell within seconds of starting a potentially decisive run in fast-fading light and falling snow.
“I saw ‘OK, these young guns from Norway, they’re going really hard,’” said Feller, one of the most charismatic ski racers sporting his trademark mustache and pointed beard. “So I need to go a little bit more on the limit.”
His teammate Dominik Raschner, wearing low-ranked bib No. 35, was 0.23 back in third having been just 16th-fastest in the morning run.
Feller yelled with excitement while sitting in the course-side leader’s seat and seeing the United States-born McGrath cross the line having lost a lead of 0.25 at the final time check.
McGrath smiled and pointed across the finish area to his opponent, and later told Austrian broadcaster ORF that if he had to lose a race by such a small margin he was glad it was to his good friend Feller.
McGrath finished second at Adelboden for the second straight time after being edged by his teammate and close friend Lucas Braathen one year ago.
Braathen, 23, is sitting out the season in a dispute with the Norwegian ski federation over his individual commercial rights. A fan in the finish area Sunday held up a “We Stand With Lucas” banner.
McGrath said he had been in contact with Braathen, who will not return to race this season, though his smile suggested Braathen has not retired and will resume his career.
Austria has won all three men’s slaloms this season with Feller’s season-opening win at Gurgl, Austria, followed by Marco Schwarz’s victory at Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.
Feller is now fourth in the overall World Cup standings, led by two-time defending champion Marco Odermatt who does not ski slalom. Swiss star Odermatt won the giant slalom Saturday in similarly challenging conditions with fog over the course and snow falling on racers' goggles.
Feller’s fifth career World Cup win, all in slalom, lifted him atop the season-long discipline standings above Schwarz, whose season was ended last month by a crash in downhill. Schwarz was leading the overall World Cup standings.
At the post-race trophy ceremony, Feller and Raschner held up a t-shirt with a handwritten message to “Blacky”, their teammate Schwarz's nickname, to “Come Back Stronger."
Raschner previously only had top-10 World Cup results in parallel racing and the 29-year-old’s career-best race mirrored that one hour earlier Sunday of American AJ Hurt at the women’s slalom in Slovenia.
Hurt wore an even lower-ranked start bib, No. 38, and like Raschner rose from 16th place after the first run to place third at Kranjska Gora in what was her first podium finish.
The fog that also affected visibility Saturday – where Norway had five top-10 finishers in giant slalom – was still present on the Chuenisbärgli course.
Olympic champion Clément Noël was among racers failing to finish the first run, skiing out within 10 seconds.
Adelboden opened a peak mid-season stretch for men’s slalom racers, who also visit storied venues Wengen, Switzerland, then Kitzbühel and Schladming in Austria over the next 17 days.
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