WENGEN, Switzerland – It was Norway all the way, all weekend at Wengen.
Henrik Kristoffersen won a World Cup slalom on Sunday to follow teammates Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud in making Switzerland’s signature Alpine ski meeting a three-race Norwegian sweep.
Kristoffersen’s fourth win this season, all in slalom, was also a record 12th for Norway in a men’s World Cup campaign.
This one is still only 19 races old, and has two months and 24 scheduled races to go.
“It’s pretty unique, it doesn’t happen every year,” said Kristoffersen, who also won last Sunday at nearby Adelboden. “I don’t think it’s a secret. The work that the individual athlete does makes the difference.”
A bonus for Norway was Austrian Marcel Hirscher’s failure to finish the race, meaning the four-time defending overall World Cup champion missed the chance to take back the standings lead from Svindal.
Kristoffersen added to his first-run lead to finish .30 seconds faster than Guiliano Razzoli, the 2010 Olympic champion from Italy. Another Italian, Stefano Gross, was .68 back in third.
The 21-year-old racer’s surge down the final section, after slipping .05 behind Razzoli’s time split, carried him through the finish area and almost over a protective airbag at the back.
“I told the coaches, ‘If I’m behind on the last steep, don’t worry, I’m going to get it back,”’ Kristoffersen said.
Hirscher made a surprise exit in the second leg, though he was only 10th fastest in the morning on a flat course that did not suit him.
“It could be that everything is over, the slalom and the overall globes,” Hirscher said. “Now others are the favorites.”
Kristoffersen made it four consecutive wins for Norway in eight days after Svindal won Saturday’s downhill and Kjetil Jansrud took the combined event on Friday.
Norway is typically a cross-country skiing nation and Kristoffersen showed some Nordic skills on the flat course. The race was run in steadily falling snow on the lower part of the downhill course rather than the adjoining slalom hill that was too difficult to prepare during recent warm weather with little snow.
On an uphill section of gates, Kristoffersen preferred to use a skating-style move while some rivals chose an aerodynamic tuck position typical of downhill racers.
“I haven’t done that much (cross-country skiing) in my life, but I’m from Norway so I guess it’s in my body,” the 21-year-old Kristoffersen told The Associated Press after his first run in the morning. “This is maybe a little bit too flat. But it’s better to have a race than not.”
While Wengen welcomed the Norwegians this weekend, it was unkind to Hirscher yet again. He has 36 career World Cup wins – tied for sixth in the circuit’s 50-season history – but none at Wengen in nine tries.
Sunday’s race was also the first time this season that Kristoffersen and Hirscher did not combine to finish 1-2 in slalom.
The World Cup now moves on to Austria’s season highlight, the four-event Hannenkahm meeting at Kitzbuehel.
