Ivica Kostelic erased a massive deficit in the slalom leg to win a World Cup super-combined race on Sunday to clinch the discipline title.
Kostelic has been nearly unbeatable in slalom races in January and he secured his seventh victory this month by finishing in two minutes 57.12 seconds.
Fellow Croat Natko Zrncic-Dim was 0.51 seconds back in second place for his career-best result.
Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway took third, 0.53 behind.
Benjamin Thomsen of Invermere, B.C., was the only Canadian in the race and finished 29th.
Kostelic has won the three combined races held so far this season and has an unassailable lead in the discipline standings. He posted his 18th career win.
“I have to say it's one of the happiest days ever”, Kostelic said. “I secured the globe in the combined and I won the race from a difficult position. And my best friend is standing beside me on the podium. You can't get better than that.”
Kostelic and Zrncic-Dim embraced each other after Svindal crossed the finish line before Kostelic delighted the 20,000 fans packed in the finish area with a backwards somersault.
“Actually, I can feel it a bit in my leg,” he said, joking. “I'm not sure my gymnastic teacher would be too happy with my acrobatic jump today.”
Kostelic trailed Beat Feuz of Switzerland by 2.50 seconds after the downhill but put down a superb slalom run on the Verte course.
“After the downhill I was pretty disappointed,” Kostelic said. “I told myself it will be very hard to win but it's not impossible. The only advantage I had for the slalom was my number, which I used the best that I could. I usually ski with a two or three per cent reserve for emergency cases. But today I just went all-out.”
Svindal, who was trailing Feuz by only 0.08 seconds after the downhill, struggled midway through the course and then never recovered his speed.
“I'm happy my third place,” Svindal said. “I had a chance to win after the downhill. I tried hard but my slalom was not good enough. But that's how it is.”
Feuz, a former junior world champion, finished 10th, 1.67 behind Kostelic.
Kostelic, currently in the best form of his career, earned 100 points on Sunday and extended his lead in the overall standings, where he leads Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland by 475 points. Didier Cuche of Switzerland is third with 673 points.
Zurbriggen placed fifth in the super-combined, while Cuche didn't take part in the race after winning Saturday's downhill.
Svindal said Kostelic is now all but guaranteed the World Cup overall title.
“Now for the overall, it's history,” Svindal said. “Maybe next year.”
Zrncic-Dim said he was relieved to be on the podium after crashing several times earlier this season and going through a bit of sickness in Wengen. He also paid tribute to Kostelic.
“It's very inspiring to ski with him,” Zrncic-Dim said. “He is a great guy and my good friend. I think I can learn a lot with him, he is giving me a lot of advice.”
Several top skiers, including Benjamin Raich, Bode Miller and Carlo Janka, skipped the Chamonix races to train prior to next month's world championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
The men's World Cup continues next week with a GS and a super G scheduled in Hinterstoder, Austria.
Source: The Globe and Mail
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