Ivica First win for Manfred Pranger

Kitzbühel, Austria, Jan. 23rd - Four years after scoring his first World Cup points in Wengen where he came in 23rd, Austria's Manfred Pranger finally won his first World Cup race on the almost “holly” slalom course from Kitzbühel. The Tyrolian who turns 27 next Tuesday in Schladming achieved a kid's dream in beating by 12/100 of a second his teammate Mario Matt, the 2001 World Champion, while Croatia's Ivica Kostelic was a happy 3rd at 24/100.

While Rainer Schoenfelder was a solid 4th, only 9/100 away from the podium, other favourites had a difficult day. Benjamin Raich was 8th after a big mistake in the first run, while Kalle Palander only a distant 15th despite clocking the 3rd best time in the morning. Giorgio Rocca straddled again a gate in the first run.

But Bode Miller had even a more disappointing day. A series of major mistakes at the bottom of the course prevented him to qualify for the second run. He was one of the fastest at the intermediate times!

This allowed Raich to get closer to him in the Overall standings - only 166 points separate him now from Raich before the night slalom in Schladming won by the Austrian last year!

A happy Pranger

Pranger, who has often clocked best times in first runs in recent winters, was incredibly excited to have been able to successfully defend his lead this time after a slow season start. “I almost can't believe it, it's an indescribable feeling,” he said in the finish area. “Ever since I was a child it's been my dream to win in Kitzbühel and to hear the national anthem played in my honour. I'm from Tyrol, so this is definitely the biggest race and victory for me!”

Already leading the rest of the field by almost half a second after the first run, Pranger also explained that he had to race hard in the afternoon to remain out of reach of Matt in the second run. “The second run was really difficult, and I knew that Mario had skied it well, which meant I had to take a lot of risks,” he also said. “I was very focused and in the last gates, I stared the finish line to push myself hard until the end.”

A very nice person in life, Manfred has a very spectacular way to psych himself up at the start. He violently talks to himself in the last seconds prior his races - this spectacular ritual has also become his trade mark.
“I know it looks strange, but this is my personal way to get mentally ready for the competitions,” he explained. “It has helped me a lot in the last four years and I'll continue to use it.” Before today's second run, he also took some time to relax with free skiing in powder snow!

In Wengen, Pranger came in 4th after a poor first run. “I was too tense, I even suffered from my back and my results have been frustrating so far,” he recalled. “Fortunately, the trainers convinced me to be more relaxed and smooth. I followed their advices and it worked well. So I found back part of my confidence which helped me to ski really well today. Now I'm sure to race in Bormio.”

Mario Matt is back

Mario Matt achieved his best World Cup performance since a broken shoulder disrupted his career in 2002 and he seemed more than content with the result. “It's fantastic to make such a comeback here in Kitzbühel where I won my first ever World Cup slalom,” he told the press. “I needed some time to fix everything with my skis but I've been feeling strong in training lately. Of course, it was really important to show now that I can do it.”

Matt, who lost the 2003 season because of a series of injuries at his right shoulder, will be fighting for more than a podium Tuesday night in Schladming where he won the slalom in January 2000!

Kostelic, the slalom world champion, is also starting to look back on form after recovering from a lengthy injury lay-off. Out of action for several months after injuring his knee in Schladming last year, Kostelic has made it to the podium twice in eight days, following his second place finish in last week's Wengen slalom.

He will also fight for victory in Schladming which may well be one of the most dramatic slalom races of the season.

Patrick Lang