Flachau, Austria –Reigning Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall champion Ivica Kostelic of Croatia regained the World Cup slalom lead on Wednesday by winning a gnarly night slalom by a mere .07 in Flachau, Austria.
It was the Croatian’s second slalom of the early World Cup season, after winning the Audi Birds of Prey slalom in Beaver Creek, Colo. last month, to retake the discipline lead. Heavy snow fell prior and throughout the race to create soft and challenging race conditions. Sweden’s Andre Myhrer claimed the silver medal, while Cristian Deville of Italy captured the bronze.
It was a tough day for the Americans. Olympian Nolan Kasper of Warren, Vt., the lone American to make the second run, finished 26th. Ted Ligety and Will Brandenburg failed to qualify for the second run, while Bode Miller, Jimmy Cochran and Will Gregorak did not finish the first run.
Canada’s men’s team fared somewhat better. Julien Cousineau, of Lachute, Quebec, recorded his best result of the season with a 15th-place finish.
“I’m finally getting back to skiing well. I’m excited for the rest of the season,” said Cousineau, who did not qualify for the second run in Monday’s slalom in Alta Badia, Italy. “I’ve been straddling gates in training and my confidence is not 100 percent but I had a pretty good second run today – I’m happy with it.”
Trevor White, of Calgary, Alberta, looked like he had failed to qualify for the second run when he finished 0.01 seconds behind the 30th-place finisher but the late disqualification of Italian racer Roberto Nani gave him his first opportunity this season to ski the second run. White finished 27th, while fellow Calgarian Brad Spence was 28th. Paul Stutz, of Banff, Alberta, did not qualify for the second run.
The men’s World Cup will now break for the Christmas holiday before returning Dec. 29 with the annual downhill in Bormio, Italy. Ligety and Miller, along with Tommy Ford and Tim Jitloff will compete in the Alpine Rockfest tomorrow in Andalo, Italy, before heading on holiday break.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Flachau, Austria – Dec. 21, 2011
Men’s Slalom
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 6 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 55.11 | 53.83 | 1:48.94 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 1 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | 55.46 | 53.55 | 1:49.01 | 0.39 |
| 3 | 7 | DEVILLE Cristian | 1981 | ITA | 55.25 | 53.78 | 1:49.03 | 0.50 |
| 4 | 8 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 55.62 | 53.63 | 1:49.25 | 1.74 |
| 5 | 14 | PRANGER Manfred | 1978 | AUT | 55.26 | 54.13 | 1:49.39 | 2.52 |
| 6 | 25 | THALER Patrick | 1978 | ITA | 55.93 | 53.90 | 1:49.83 | 4.98 |
| 7 | 4 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 55.86 | 54.16 | 1:50.02 | 6.05 |
| 8 | 13 | BYGGMARK Jens | 1985 | SWE | 56.41 | 53.67 | 1:50.08 | 6.38 |
| 9 | 2 | MATT Mario | 1979 | AUT | 55.99 | 54.47 | 1:50.46 | 8.51 |
| 10 | 19 | VALENCIC Mitja | 1978 | SLO | 56.18 | 54.33 | 1:50.51 | 8.79 |