World Championship Slalom: Foss-Solevaag takes place on the slalom throne – Alpine Ski World Championship

 The  last competition of the alpine skiWM promised excitement: Who will succeed Marcel Hirscher?  The  Austrian won the last two WM-Slaloms and ended his career in 2019.

Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, third after the first run, had a dream run in the second run and thus secured the world champion title.  The  Norwegian has already won gold in the team competition.

Second was the Austrian Adrian Pertl, who surprisingly won the first round (+0.21 seconds). Bronze went to Foss-Solevaag’s compatriot Henrik Kristoffersen (+0.46 seconds). It is Norway’s first slalom title since 1997, when Tom Stiansen won gold. “It’s incredible. It’s a dream” said a beaming Foss-Solevaag.

Straßer with a messed up World Championship race

Linus Straßer, the hope for medals of DSV, couldn’t convince.  The  Munich rider was restless in the first run, made a lot of mistakes – he was 1.71 seconds behind the finish line. That was only enough for 23rd place. Angry, he left the target area. “I can’t change it. It is what it is”, said Straßer on ZDF,

It shouldn’t have been because of the start number. In warm temperatures, Strasser’s number 15 seemed to be a disadvantage. But many drivers with much higher numbers ended up ahead of the 28-year-old. And things didn’t go any better for the Munich man in the final either: One mistake followed another. He reached the finish line 3.36 seconds behind. At least Straßer was able to improve from 23rd to 15th place.

 The  second DSV-Starter, Sebastian Holzmann, got involved and dropped out.

In addition to Straßer, other favorites also had problems with the slope: Austrians Manuel Feller and Marco Schwarz, leaders in the Slalom World Cup and combined world champions, were eliminated in the second round.

FIS changes regulations

 The  FIS had decided on an extraordinary rule change before the race. In the second run the best 15 riders started in reverse order and not the best 30 of the first run as usual. Because of the warm temperatures, it was feared that the slope might not hold up for the best drivers. After the top 15, the remaining drivers started the race from the 16th of the first round upwards.

FIS Race Director Markus Waldner explained the decision: “I was there yesterday at the women’s race, it’s extremely warm.  The  slope is suffering as a result. It will survive the first run. A few coaches disagreed, but we decided that way. It protects the good guys a bit. But everyone has the chance to finish in the top 15. It should not be possible for someone with number 30 to win a medal. We last had a race like this in Chamonix. “

Kostelic with anger posting

Former ski star Ivica Kostelic could not understand this decision.  The  Croat expressed anger in a post on social media. “Where are you now, you ‘freedom fighters’ who advocate fairness in sport? Why don’t you stand up and go against the interests of the herd,” writes the 41-year-old. “Are you afraid to face indisputable injustice? express? You who swear by fairness? “ And further: “We are looking for the champions here – are there any among you? Strength shows in generosity. Injustice is the path of the weak!”