Men's Slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) 2008

Ski2b-Redaktion 09.02.2008 14:12 Uhr

09:40:

Hello and welcome in Garmisch-Partenkirchen! There is just one men slalom taking place in Germany this year.



09:43:

The weather conditions here in this former Olympiaplace are excellent. The sky is blue, the sun is shining and the slope is in best condition.



09:53:

The technique specialists will ski on a course with a new finish area which lies in the historic Olympic Stadium. This made the course a little longer, we are expecting running times of about 50 seconds.



09:55 - Byggmark, Jens (SWE):

Jens Byggmark will open the first heat soon. The Swede has already finished in second place for three times this season.



09:56 - Neureuther, Felix (GER):

Felix Neureuther will start second. The audience will surely cheer for the German.



09:59 - Grange, Jean-Baptiste (FRA):

Jean-Baptiste Grange from France is best in slalom so far in this season. He already won three times and is of course the biggest favorite for today's race.



10:02 - Mölgg, Manfred (ITA):

Just like Neureuther also Manfred Mölgg is still waiting for his first World Cup victory. The Italian will start seventh, 65 gates have to be managed.



10:06 - Byggmark, Jens (SWE):

The race has started! Jens Byggmark is on the course. The Swede comes along well with the steep section, which is very icy just like the whole slope. 52,85 seconds - that's the first benchmark.



10:08 - Neureuther, Felix (GER):

It's getting loud now. Felix Neureuther has started. He is leading at the first intemediate time, very close to the gates. At the finish he clearly underbids Byggmark's time.



10:10 - Raich, Benjamin (AUT):

At the top, Benni Raich is just slighty slower, then a mistake at the middle section. All in all a better run, but still behind with eight tenth at the last section.



10:12 - Matt, Mario (AUT):

Mario Matt gets stuck to one of the first gates and loses the balance. The winner of last year is slipping down the slope and is the first drop out today.



10:15 - Grange, Jean-Baptiste (FRA):

Now for Grange, good start then slight problems. The Frenchman finds a better rhythm below. At the finish, he's half a second behind Neureuther.



10:17 - Lizeroux, Julien (FRA):

Lizeroux with slight problems at the top already, too. But the Frenchman starts attacking and takes over the lead. Three tenth ahead of Neureuther at the section below.



10:19 - Mölgg, Manfred (ITA):

Manfred Mölgg is great carving. At the middle section he loses some time, but below he's better again. First place for the Italian currently.



10:21 - Deville, Cristian (ITA):

Yet another Italian. Cristian Deville finishes in fourth place, he's content.



10:22 - Schönfelder, Rainer (AUT):

Schönfelder has big problems, he just manages to stay on the course. Last place for the Austrian at the finish.



10:23 - Larsson, Markus (SWE):

Markus Larsson with some mistakes, too. He takes over last place behind Schönfelder.



10:25 - Gini, Marc (SUI):

Marc Gini delivers a wild run. The Swiss is very risky and close to a drop out all the time. At the steep section he has big problems, he finishes in seventh place.



10:27 - Ligety, Ted (USA):

At the first intermediate time, Ligety is already behind with 23 hundredths. But then he gets going but loses his perfect line below and drops back again.



10:28 - Myhrer, Andre (SWE):

Andre Myhrer with a good run but one big mistake at the steep section. He finishes in 12th place.



10:30 - Kostelic, Ivica (CRO):

Ivica Kostelic applies his edges too much. He gets going below. Same time like Neureuther, third place.



10:32 - Herbst, Reinfried (AUT):

Herbst takes over the lead. At the finish he has a lead of 45 hundredth.



10:33 - Berthod, Marc (SUI):

Marc Bethod's run is already over after three seconds only. The Swiss missed a gate and drops out.



10:34 - Albrecht, Daniel (SUI):

Daniel Albrecht finishes in 14th place only. He covered the course in 53.96 seconds.



10:36 - Miller, Bode (USA):

Now for Bode Miller, well performing at the steep section, but not risky enough so that he's alredy behind with more than one second. Miller straddles in and is the next drop out.



10:38 - Vajdic, Bernard (SLO):

Vajdic with a good start. At the top the Slovenian is behind with only 16 hundredth. At the middle section he's applying the edges too much. At the finish it's still enough for a top ten result.



10:40 - Janyk, Michael (CAN):

Drop-out! Michael Janyk is the next one dropping out. The Candadian slipped away after an inside ski mistake.



10:41 - Rocca, Giorgio (ITA):

Giorgia Rocca covers the course in 52.61 seconds. The Italian can't keep up with the best ones currently. Eleventh place for him.



10:42 - Cochran, Jimmy (USA):

Jimmy Cochran doesn't make it to the first intermediate time neither. After some gates and one mistake his run is already over.



10:45 - Sasaki, Akira (JPN):

Akira Sasaki already loses all chances at the first section. The Japanese has to climb back after a big mistake but still continues his run. However he drops out at the section below anyway.



10:46 - Thaler, Patrick (ITA):

Good performance by Patrick Thaler. The Italian is constantly losing time, but is content with tenth place.



10:47 - Minagawa, Kentaro (JPN):

Kentaro Minagawa with big problems at the middle section. There the Japanese loses a great deal of time. 15th place at the finish.



10:49 - Missilier, Steve (FRA):

Steve Missilier is the next one reaching the finish. Way too many mistakes by the Frenchman. He even falls, but immediatley stands up again.



10:50 - Lahdenperae, Anton (SWE):

The Swede Anton Lahdenperae reaches the finish with a lag of more than two seconds. That's 16th place currently.



10:52 - Koll, Alexander (AUT):

The Austrian Alexander Koll is high performing. Always close to the gates. Eights place for him.



10:54 - Brolenius, Johan (SWE):

The slope is still in a good condition as the Swede can still finish in a front place. Brolenius was slightly faster than Kroll and is currently ranked seventh.



10:55 - Hansson, Martin (SWE):

At the finish Martin Hansson is behind first place with 2.25 seconds.



10:57 - Herbst, Reinfried (AUT):

After the first 30 starters, it's the Austrian Reinfried Herbst who's leading. He's ahead of Manfred Mölgg with 45 hundredths.



10:58 - Fill, Peter (ITA):

Allrounder Peter Fill has to struggle with this demanding slope and reaches the finish in 22nd place only. Will that be enough for the second heat?



11:02 - Hirscher, Marcel (AUT):

That's bitter! Marcel Hirscher was strong performing. Before crashing down he was behind with only 31 hundreths at the second intermediate time.



11:03 - Hörl, Wolfgang (AUT):

Yet for another Austrian: Wolfgang Hörl gets going at the middle section and finishes in 13th place. He'll attend the final for sure.



11:04:

Patrick Biggs and Naoki Yuasa both drop out.



11:06 - Kogler, Stefan (GER):

The second German Stefan Kogler is doing well until he reaches the finish area, where his run is over too soon.



11:08:

So that was it for the first heat. The final at the Gudiberg is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (CET). We'll be back in time. See you!



12:57:

Hello and welcome back in Garmisch-Partenkirchen! The second slalom heat will start at any moment.



12:59 - Herbst, Reinfried (AUT):

Reinfried Herbst is leading after the first heat. The second-best Austrian Alexander Koll is ranked tenth.



13:01 - Herbst, Reinfried (AUT):

Herbst is leading with 45 hundredths ahead of Manfred Mölgg. This makes a good starting position for the Italian to maybe celebrate his first world cup victory.



13:03 - Leino, Jukka (FIN):

Jukka Leino will soon open the second heat. He is at the same time with Wanninger, ranked 30st. So all in all there'll be 31 athletes competing in the final.



13:05 - Leino, Jukka (FIN):

Starting shot! The Finn Jukka Leino opens the final on the Gudiberg. He clocks the first total time of 1:45.40 minutes.



13:07 - Wanninger, Christian (GER):

Looks like Wanninger wanted too much. The race is already over for the young German shortly after the start. No, he gets back on the course and reaches the finish with a deficit of more than half minute.



13:10 - Albrecht, Kilian (BUL):

Kilian Albrecht is great performing, he even increases his lead from the first heat. Then a big mistake at the finish area, shooting his run down.



13:11 - Hansson, Martin (SWE):

Hansson delivers a good start, he finds the rhythm. Then slight problems, but he's doing better again at the last section. Record for Hansson!



13:14 - Larsson, Markus (SWE):

Yet another Swede: Markus Larsson with a rather weak performance. He doesn't stay without mistakes at the second heat neither. At the finish, he's even ranked behind his teammate.



13:16 - Schönfelder, Rainer (AUT):

Rainer Schönfelder wasn't content with the first heat, too. The Austrian is high performing at the top, carving fast around the poles. But then he drops out!



13:18 - Lahdenperae, Anton (SWE):

Lahdenperae increases his lead at the top. He also comes along well with the middle section. Below he's faster than his previous competitors. That's the clear lead!



13:19 - Kryzl, Krystof (CZE):

The Czech is way too slow. Kryzl drops back to fifth place, but can still be happy for a top ten result.



13:21 - Trejbal, Filip (CZE):

And yet a further Czech: Filip Trejbal doesn't find the rhythm but he's real fast below and still takes over the lead!



13:23 - Minagawa, Kentaro (JPN):

The Japanese Minagawa is struggling his way around the poles and finishes third.



13:25 - Valencic, Mitja (SLO):

Valencic is high performing at the middle section and increases his lead. The audience is cheering for the Slovenian as he takes over the lead.



13:27 - Razzoli, Giuliano (ITA):

Razzoli delivers a clean run, but is way too passive to get ahead. A top 30 result is of big importance to him. The Italian fans are still cheering for him anyway.



13:28 - Byggmark, Jens (SWE):

Byggmark risks too much. The Swede can't keep his extreme line any more and gets off the course.



13:30 - Gini, Marc (SUI):

Marc Gini straddles in at the first gate immediately after having started. He's very dissapointed.



13:31 - Rocca, Giorgio (ITA):

At the middle section Rocca is not close enough to the gates and therefore drops back.



13:33 - Raich, Benjamin (AUT):

Like usual Benni Raich starts rather causiously. He's trying to find the rhythm. He drops back behind Valencic.



13:34 - Hörl, Wolfgang (AUT):

Wolfgang Hörl is not risky enough. The 24-year-old Austrian is not fully attacking and therefore drops back to sixth place.



13:36 - Thaler, Patrick (ITA):

Good run by Patrick Thaler. The Italian still loses time. At the finish he has a deficit of 24 hundredths, that's third place currently.



13:38 - Vajdic, Bernard (SLO):

Vajdic delivers a strong start and is seven tenth ahead of Valencic. The Slovenian gets stuck shortly and his lead is gone. He finishes third behind Raich.



13:40 - Grange, Jean-Baptiste (FRA):

Grange with a big mistake a the transition. That's not a good day for the Frenchman. 15th place only.



13:41 - Hargin, Mattias (SWE):

At the top Hargin loses one tenth. Not close enough to the gates at the middle section. His lead is gone. Second place for the Swede at the finish. Valencic is still leading, that's a big success for him!



13:42 - Koll, Alexander (AUT):

Alexander Koll drops out. He didn't pay attention for just a second only.



13:44 - Ligety, Ted (USA):

Ligety increases his lead, he's ahead with more than a second now. Even though he loses a little time at the transition he delivers the best running time and therefore takes over the clear lead.



13:48 - Brolenius, Johan (SWE):

Below Brolenius is now as fast as Ligety so it's just second place for the Swede.



13:50 - Dragsic, Mitja (SLO):

Dragsic in problems right at the start. He's doing better then and even takes over the lead. So it's currently three Slovenians among the first seven!



13:51 - Deville, Cristian (ITA):

Deville easily manages the first gates. At the middle section he loses time but still first place at the finish.



13:54 - Neureuther, Felix (GER):

Now for Neureuther, it's getting loud. But he already loses time at the top, at the flat section he's close to a drop out but manages to stay on the course. He lost his speed and finishes in 13th place.



13:55 - Kostelic, Ivica (CRO):

Also Ivica Kostelic loses time at the top. High performing below, just like in the first heat, there he makes up a great deal of time and takes over first place.



13:56 - Lizeroux, Julien (FRA):

Lizeroux is too late at the top and is trying hard to stay on the course. The Frenchman drops back to third place.



13:58 - Mölgg, Manfred (ITA):

Mölgg is real fast at the top, also very close to the gates. He's cheering at the finish, kissing his skis as he is ranked first at the finish! 53 hundredths faster than Kostelic!



13:59 - Herbst, Reinfried (AUT):

Now there is just Reinfried Herbst left to take away the first world cup victory from Mölgg. The Austrian delivers a sensational run and sets up a new record.



14:00 - Herbst, Reinfried (AUT):

That was a thrilling race! Herbst wins ahead of Mölgg and Ivica Kostelic.



14:01:

That was it for today in Garmisch-Partenkirchen!



14:02:

The next men's race, a slalom, is scheduled for February 17 and takes place in Zagreb (CRO) The first heat will start at 10:15 a.m. (CET). See you!