Austrian Kilian Albrecht will make his debut for Bulgaria in Monday's slalom in Alta Badia. Kilian received his new Bulgarian passport on Monday allowing him to compete.

Despite false reports the 33-year-old had opted to compete for Hungary, he has completed an agreement with Tseko Minev, president of the Bulgarian Ski Fedaration, and received his new passport on Monday.

Minev - the principal investor in Bulgaria's modern ski resort of Bansko - along with former Luxembourg champion Marc Girardelli, played key roles in the arrival of Albrecht.

But to quickly obtain the nationality of his adopted country, Albrecht also had the help of Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe, friend of the ex-king and Bulgarian Prime Minister, Simйon.

Von Hohenlohe was 54th, some 24 seconds behind the winner Ivica Kostelic, representing Mexico in Sunday's Super Combined in Rieteralm.

Albrecht finished fourth for Austria in the men's slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and at his peak was a regular top 10 finisher in the World Cup but was not selected for this year's Turin Games.

Other high-profile Austrian-born skiers have turned their backs on their country in the past after falling out with the powerful Austrian federation or simply struggling to retain a place in the squad.

Three-time World Cup champion Girardelli initially raced for Austria until 1976 before he switched to Luxembourg due to disagreements about coaching.

Elfi Eder, the 1996 slalom World Cup champion and 1994 Olympic slalom silver medallist, left in 1997 to race for the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Josef Strobl, a seven times winner on the World Cup tour, took Slovenian citizenship in 2004 but failed to make that country's team for the Turin Games.

While the Swiss pair of Urs Imboden and Christophe Roux are now competing for Moldova.

Bulgaria's most famous skier was Petar Popangelov, who won a World Cup slalom in 1980 and finished 11 times on the podium.

Lee Walker
Eurosport.com - 12/12/2006 19:55

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