Johannes Strolz captures shocking World Cup Adelboden slalom victory

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jan 09, 2022 8:52 AM EST | Last Updated: January 9, 2022

Wearing low-ranked bib No. 38, Johannes Strolz was the shocking victor of a World Cup slalom connected Sunday.

The 29-year-old Austrian had a career-best decorativeness of 10th successful much than 8 years of World Cup racing. The lad of an Olympic champion, Strolz was successful tears sitting successful the finish-area leader's spot watching rivals neglect to lucifer his time.

First-run associated person Manuel Feller bowed theatrically crossed the decorativeness country successful the steadily falling snowfall to acclaim his unheralded compatriot aft seeing his clip was 0.17 seconds down successful 2nd place.

Strolz is not adjacent an authoritative subordinate of the almighty Austria squad this play and prepares his ain skis for races without the assistance of a technician.

"Even erstwhile I got kicked retired of the squad I had enactment successful autumn erstwhile we prepared for the season," helium said from Adelboden, Switzerland. "So galore coaches successful the squad inactive believed successful me."

WATCH | Strolz scores astonishing win:

Linus Strasser of Germany was third, trailing by 0.29. Strasser had been 14th-fastest successful a tightly contention archetypal tally successful the greeting erstwhile Strolz placed seventh.

Still, Strolz had lone 0.17 to marque up successful the 2nd limb raced done steadily falling snowfall connected the storied Chuesnisbargli elevation astatine Adelboden.

"I was fortunate successful the archetypal tally with the visibility," acknowledged Strolz. "Finally present it each came together. I conscionable tried to absorption connected my skiing."

Strolz's father, Hubert, took golden successful combined astatine the 1988 Calgary Olympics and besides metallic successful elephantine slalom.

His accidental for triumph Sunday archetypal opened up erstwhile 3 pre-race favorites failed to decorativeness the archetypal run.

3rd successful slalom standings

World champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, wearing No. 1, slid retired 4 gates from the extremity and No. 3 Clement Noel went retired aboriginal successful his run.

A clang for Kristoffer Jakobsen, who remains tied for the slalom standings pb with Foss-Solevaag, turned him astir and sent him sliding into a finish-line structure.

Strolz soared straight into 3rd spot successful the slalom standings with the 100 contention points helium earned for the astonishment win.

The effect had small interaction connected the wide World Cup standings arsenic defending champion Alexis Pinturault failed to decorativeness his 2nd tally aft being fifth-fastest successful the morning. He stayed a distant 4th wide down Marco Odermatt, who won Saturday's elephantine slalom but skips slaloms.

Feller was runner up for the 2nd consecutive time though seemed arsenic blessed for Strolz to person won.

"He had a beauteous pugnacious clip the past years," Feller said, describing Strolz arsenic "one feline [who] deserves it much [than] me."

With 5 much World Cup slaloms earlier the Beijing Olympics unfastened Feb. 4, Strolz has clip to corroborate the signifier of Sunday's triumph and effort to triumph enactment to Alpine skiing's Wunderteam.

The 2010 Olympic slalom champion, Guiliano Razzoli, placed ninth to springiness the 37-year-old Italian a 3rd consecutive top-10 decorativeness successful what is shaping up arsenic a bounceback season.