Matt takes gloss off Kostelic homecoming
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) Austria’s Mario Matt won a men’s World Cup slalom on Sunday, spoiling Ivica Kostelic’s homecoming.
Mario Matt of Austria scored an outstanding victory at a new venue for slalom.
Kostelic learned to ski on the Sljeme hill outside Zagreb and had hoped to win the first men’s World Cup slalom to be held in the Croatian capital.
But Matt, a two-time world champion, protected his lead from the first run and won in an aggregate time of 1 minute, 51.36 seconds.
Kostelic was second in 1:51.69, and Reinfried Herbst of Austria finished third at 1:51.76.
“This was my best race of the season and it took place in my city, in front of my fans, who are the best supporters in the world,” Kostelic said.
“I made some mistakes in the second run,” he added.
Bode Miller of the United States, the overall World Cup leader, lost his balance at the bottom of the course and nearly crashed out in the first run.
Although Miller managed to stay on his skis, he finished outside the top 30 and did not qualify for the second run, and failed to pick up any points from Sunday’ race.
Miller’s closest overall challenger, Benjamin Raich of Austria, fell in the second heat, got back up on his skis but finished 26th and did not gain significant ground on Miller.
Matt came down through the 69 gates without a major error to notch his third win of the season and his 11th career victory.
Kostelic has now finished among the top three in the last five races.
Women have raced in Zagreb for four months, but the men had their debut Sunday.
One of the reasons the World Cup circuit visits Zagreb is the Kostelic siblings. Janica, a multiple Olympic champion, is now retired. She also never won on her home hill.
Jean-Baptiste Grange of France crashed out in the second run but maintained his lead in the slalom standings.
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