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Henrik Kristoffersen ended his wait of nearly 11 months for another World Cup win on Wednesday, triumphing in the last slalom before the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Racing under the floodlights, Kristoffersen beat his Norwegian teammate and first-run leader Atle Lie McGrath by 0.34 seconds with an all-attacking, wild final run, posting a two-run time of one minute 53.80 seconds in Schladming, Austria.
His 34th career victory could have hardly come in a more fitting place, as Kristoffersen lives in Salzburg, an hour-long drive from Schladming, where he also earned his first career win in January 2014.
“It’s a little bit of an emotional roller-coaster. I don’t cry a lot, and I never cry for pain or sadness, but today I cry for joy,” Kristoffersen said in a tearful course-side interview.
He hadn’t triumphed since winning back-to-back races in one weekend in Slovenia in early March.
Kristoffersen won the traditional night race for a record fifth time, moving him one past Austrian standout Benjamin Raich, the two-time gold medalist from the 2006 Olympics who won the event four times between 1999 and 2007.
“Fifth time Schladming, I guess this is my house,” Kristoffersen said.
The victory also moved him within two wins of Norwegian record holder Aksel Lund Svindal, who took 36 career World Cups before retiring in 2019.
Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen wins the men’s slalom in Schladming, Austria with a time of 1:53.80 to score his first victory of the season
Clement Noel jumps 5 spots to 3rd
Defending Olympic champion Clement Noel posted the fastest second-run time and the Frenchman improved from eighth to third position, trailing Kristoffersen by 0.54 seconds.
The rest of the field, led by Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in fourth, was more than 1.5 seconds off the pace.
Montreal’s Simon Fournier was the lone Canadian entered in the competition. He was 50th in 57.22 seconds and didn’t advance to the second run.
Loic Meillard, who beat Pinheiro Braathen to win a GS on the same hill Tuesday, skied out in the second run of the slalom.
Pinheiro Braathen lost his lead in the slalom season standings. Now on 451 points, he trails his former Norwegian teammate McGrath by a single point.
Kristoffersen, who became the seventh different winner in nine slalom races this season, climbed to fifth with 373 points.
There are two more slaloms scheduled in March.
The last men’s World Cup race before the Olympics is a downhill in Crans-Montana on Sunday.
Watch the men’s World Cup slalom second run from Schladming, Austria.
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