ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP. WENGEN, SWITZERLAND – It was a masterful display of skiing in beyond slushy conditions on a sun-drenched afternoon in Wengen, much to the delight of the throngs of colorfully adorned and exuberant Croatian fans in attendance.

Croatia's Ivica Kostelic clears a gate during the Alpine Skiing slalom World Cup race in Wengen, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Keystone, Jean-Christophe Bott)

Ivica Kostelic continued his unbelievable run of success winning his fourth World Cup race in just 15 days. The 31-year-old from Zagreb easily overcame a 0.09 second deficit, storming past first run leader Austria’s Marcel Hirscher to win Sunday’s slalom by the colossal margin of 0.93.

The veteran Croatian skier entered the starthouse for his second run, following France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange and with only Hirscher left behind him.

France's Jean Baptiste Grange clears a gate during a men's ski World Cup slalom race in Wengen, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Enrico Schiavi)

“I heard that Jean-Baptiste Grange was leading and I didn’t have too much time to play with, but I didn’t want to make a mistake on the steeps so I took it a bit easy,” said Kostelic after the victory. “When I went from the steep, into the flats and rolls on the second part of the course, I really tried to push hard,”

His two-run winning time on the Männlichen piste was 1:45.28 coming on a course which deteriorated racer-by-racer in the bright, sunny, and unusually balmy conditions.

“There were ruts for sure, a little bit harder than in the combined but it helped me ski well here today,” said Kostelic referring to Friday afternoon’s slalom portion of the combined, a race which he also won.

Kostelic’s second run time was 1.02 seconds faster than Hirscher and 0.96 ahead of Grange.

Hirscher, who also finished second to Kostelic last Sunday in Adelboden achieved the same placing, while also climbing into second in the World Cup slalom standing behind the recently dominant Croatian.

Austria's Marcel Hirscher clears a gate during a men's ski World Cup slalom race in Wengen, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Enrico Schiavi)

France’s Grange, third after the first run, 0.12 slower than Hirscher and 0.03 behind Kostelic, held his placing while battling his way through the 64 gates, despite a recent shoulder injury which occurred during a FIS race in Chamonix earlier this month. The 2009 World Cup slalom champion ended the day on the podium in third place, 0.99 seconds behind Kostelic.

Croatia's Ivica Kostelic clears a gate during a men's ski World Cup slalom race in Wengen, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

After the victory and podium celebation, Kostelic made his way to the large contingent of highly enthusiastic Croatian fans lining the finish area, shaking hands, posing for pictures and joining their festive celebration.

“Of course, I’m proud,” said Kostelic when asked about representing his nation in front of so many Croatian flags flying today in Wengen. “We are not a ski nation so it is nice to present your country this way in a sport where technology is really important. We have three ski resorts in Croatia so when you can beat the Austrians it makes you very proud.”

From left, second placed Marcel Hirscher of Austria, winner Ivica Kostelic of Croatia and third placed Jean Baptiste Grange of France celebrate at the end of a men's ski World Cup slalom race in Wengen, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

Kostelic increased his overall World Cup lead over Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal to 215 points with his slalom victory. The Norwegian two-time overall champion Svindal, competed Sunday, but was unable to qualify among the top 30 for the second run and subsequently failing to earn any points.

The men’s Audi FIS World Cup now heads east to Kitzbühel, Austria, for Friday’s super-G, Saturday’s Hahnenkamm downhill and Sunday’s traditional slalom.

Written by Brian Pinelli
FISalpine.com
Sunday 16 January 2011