MERIBEL, France (March 22, 2015)—It was a rough last day at the World Cup Finals with the guys battling fog and soft snow in the slalom. The indomitable Marcel Hirscher of Austria took the win, grabbing both the slalom World Cup crystal globe and the overall title. Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) and David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO) represented the U.S., but neither finished the race.
With warm weather not allowing the snow to set up after rain on Saturday afternoon, the race was riddled with ruts and soft snow. But the crowd didn’t care, as the true battle was between Felix Neureuther of Germany and Hirscher, with Hirscher trailing Neureuther by 55 points in the slalom standings before the race. Hirscher knew he had to win or take second place in order to seize the slalom title.
It played out just like the Austrian hoped. Neureuther had a tough time in both runs, not able to find speed out of the soft snow, and finished in 12th. Hirscher, who wanted both titles badly, put down a blazingly fast second run to take the win. The result also led to Hirscher clinching the overall World Cup crystal globe—his ninth career globe.
On the American side, Chodounsky sat in 19th and Ligety in 22nd after first run. Ligety decided to scrap the second run instead of risking injury in the soft snow. Chodounsky was hopeful, but the soft snow kicked him out of the course and he DNFed.
That’s it for the men on the World Cup, but racing is not quite over. Many now head back stateside for the U.S. National Championships at Sugarloaf in Maine beginning on Wednesday.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Men's slalom podium: Marcel Hirscher of Austria in first, Giuliano Razzoli of Italy second, Alexander Khoroshilov of Russia third
- Men's World Cup slalom standings podium: Marcel Hirscher of Austria in first, Felix Neureuther of Germany second and Alexander Khoroshilov of Russia third
- Men's World Cup overall podium: Marcel Hirscher of Austria in first, Kjetil Jansrud of Norway second and Alexis Pinturault of France third
- Marcel Hirscher becomes the first male skier to win the overall World Cup title four times in a row.
- This is the third year in a row that Marcel Hirscher won the slalom title.
- Watch the race on Universal Sports Network at 11 a.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET on Sunday.
RESULTS
Men’s slalom results
Final World Cup slalom standings
Final World Cup overall standings