Lucas Braathen gifted shocking World Cup slalom win by teammate Kristoffersen

Graham Dunbar · The Associated Press

· Posted: Jan 16, 2022 9:37 AM EST | Last Updated: January 16, 2022

Soaring from 29th spot aft the archetypal run, Lucas Braathen scored a stunning triumph successful a World Cup slalom connected Sunday successful Wengen, Switzerland.

Braathen sat successful the finish-area leader's container for 45 minutes looking steadily much disbelieving until watching the past racer, his Norway teammate Henrik Kristoffersen, straddle a gross wrong show of a wide victory.

The mistake talented the triumph to Braathen who was astir 1 2nd faster than immoderate rival successful the 2nd tally connected snowfall that was cutting up successful the lukewarm sunshine.

In the end, Braathen posted a combined clip of 1:41:48, 0.22 seconds up of Daniel Yule of Switzerland. The 2010 Olympic champion, Guiliano Razzoli of Italy, was 0.29 backmost successful 3rd for his champion effect successful six years astatine property 37.

WATCH | Braathen prevails aft starting Sunday wearing bib No. 31:

Calgary's Erik Read was 22nd of 24 finishers successful 1:43.56.

Braathen's triumph was besides singular for starting the time among the low-ranked racers wearing bib No. 31.

Season-ending genu wounded a twelvemonth ago

It was the 2nd consecutive Sunday that a Swiss slalom was won by an outsider, aft Johannes Strolz wore No. 38 to triumph astatine adjacent Adelboden.

"Words cannot picture however grateful I am," said the 21-year-old Braathen, whose ranking dipped aft a season-ending genu wounded 1 twelvemonth agone successful the Adelboden elephantine slalom.

Braathen had besides been accelerated successful the archetypal tally Sunday, until losing his bushed successful the bottommost fractional to hardly suffice among the apical 30 racers who beforehand to the 2nd leg.

"After my mistake successful the archetypal tally I was anxious to redeem myself successful the second," said Braathen, whose begetter is Norwegian and parent Brazilian.

Braathen was helped by getting aboriginal usage of the 2nd tally snowfall aboveground and a gross mounting designed by a Norway squad coach.

A steep and tricky mediate conception saw respective racers clang out. Italian imaginable Alex Vinatzer mislaid 1 ski, Christian Hirschbuehl of Austria mislaid some and Luca Aerni of Switzerland was launched into the aerial with some skis precocious disconnected the snow.