Neureuther edges past Hirscher
Print Edition
Regaining his health from a series of injuries and falls, German skier Felix Neureuther announced himself as a medal contender for the Sochi Olympics by edging first-run leader Marcel Hirscher to win a World Cup slalom on Monday night in Bormio, Italy.
Neureuther then used the spotlight to announce his opposition to Russia’s human rights record and a recent law banning gay “propaganda” in the Olympic host country. He also criticized the choice of Pyeongchang, South Korea, to host the 2018 Winter Games.
“It’s not right,” Neureuther said. “The guys from the IOC should think about where to put the Olympic Games. It’s not right to give the Olympic Games to places where they are giving the most money. It should be about the sport, in nations where there is passion.”
Hirscher, the two-time defending overall World Cup winner from Austria, finished second, 0.36 seconds behind, and Manfred Moelgg of Italy moved up from sixth after the opening run to place third, 0.65 back.
Naoki Yuasa of Japan had the fastest second run and jumped from 21st to fourth.
The race was moved from Zagreb due to lack of snow in Croatia.
The course was about five or six seconds longer than most slaloms. Neureuther’s coach, Hans Wallner, set the second run.
“It’s a little long and it’s very turny but it’s not a very challenging course,” Hirscher said. “The terrain is too easy to create big gaps.”
Neureuther had ankle surgery in June and was off skis until the end of September. Then he tumbled head over heels during the second run of a race in Levi, Finland, in November and hurt his knee.
Neureuther had another crash while training in Alta Badia last month, dislocating his thumb and hurting his back.
“Now I’m healthy,” he said. “But I still have some big problems with my thumb. This will take some more weeks. I hope when there is the slalom in Sochi it will be good.”
The Sochi Games start on February 7 and the men’s slalom on February 22 is the final skiing event.
Neureuther said that he would not make any protests when in Sochi.
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