ALPINE:

Kostelic wins again, Janyk 4th in Wengen slalom

Jan. 16, 2011

WENGEN, Switzerland ― Ivica Kostelic of Croatia extended his runaway start to 2011, winning a men's World Cup slalom Sunday on the Lauberhorn course. Michael Janyk of Canada was just off the podium in fourth, with Brad Spence 13th and Julien Cousineau 17th.

Kostelic had a combined two-run time of 1 minute, 45.28 seconds to stretch his lead in the World Cup overall standings. He also leads the slalom points race.

Marcel Hirscher of Austria led after the first run, but finished 0.93 seconds back in second. Jean-Baptiste Grange of France was third, trailing Kostelic by 0.99.

"You really had to attack the second run," said Kostelic, who was 1.02 faster than Hirscher the second time down.

Janyk keyed one of the best days of the season for the Canadian squad.

"In the first run I didn't get the snap that I get when I'm skiing well," Janyk said. "Right on the second gate [in the second leg] I felt it. Then I knew I was going to be able to put it on the line."

David Chodounsky of Minnesota was the only U.S. skier to advance out of the first run, finishing a career best 19th. Bode Miller went out after straddling the third gate and Ted Ligety spilled midway down. Will Brandenburg misjudged his exit from the start house and straddled the first gate.

Chodounsky had the sixth-fastest time in the afternoon and was 2.23 behind Kostelic.

The Croatian now has four World Cup victories in 15 days, plus second- and fifth-place finishes in the same span.

It's a career-best streak for the 31-year-old Kostelic. He has earned 100 World Cup points for each victory and has a 215-point lead over Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who has suggested Kostelic is on track to win the season-long title.

"If I keep skiing like this then I am (the favourite)," said Kostelic, whose sister Janica won three women's overall trophies before retiring.

He started the month by winning the invitation-only parallel slalom event at Munich. He added the slalom at nearby Adelboden a week ago, also over Hirscher.

Kostelic then won the Wengen super-combined Friday with a dominating slalom run, after a morning downhill on the adjacent Lauberhorn course.

"I just skied pretty well in the ruts, and in the super-combined (slalom) as well," said Kostelic, referring to the tricky, soft snow conditions after days of warm temperatures and a heavy rainfall.

The victory Sunday gave Kostelic his 15th career World Cup win, with 11 in his specialist discipline. It was also his third slalom title at Wengen, including last year.

Janyk was 17th after the first run but a hard-charging performance the second time around made him the man to beat as the final skiers made their way down the course.

Eventually, the 28-year-old was edged out of a podium spot.

"The results were solid," said Paul Kristofic, Canada's head coach. "We are definitely satisfied with (Spence's result), but there's potential for more. We are looking to get him in the top 10. With Julien, his strongest suit is hard, firm snow. The conditions didn't play into his favour."

Janyk didn't finish his first two World Cup slalom races of the season and then didn't qualify for the second run in Zagreb, Croatia, on Jan. 6, a performance and result that lighted a fire under the veteran skier.

"I came off that and I was extremely frustrated. That isn't how I ski — that isn't how I built my career," Janyk said of Zagreb. "The two DNFs hurt 10 times less than sucking and missing the second run."

Janyk bounced back from a tough day in Zagreb with a fifth-place finish in Adelboden, Switzerland, last week. After Sunday's fourth-place result, a top-three finish is definitely within his reach, said Kristofic.

"Mike is contending for the podium and that's where he wants to be," said Kristofic. "On the second run, he took advantage of a decent course and really hammered it. I think he's had a lot of speed this year but he had bad luck with the finishing."

After completing his second run Saturday, Janyk got plenty of air time on TV as he watched the remaining skiers come down from his position in the top-three.

"Standing there is certainly an experience," said Janyk, who is hoping to follow up two strong performances with a podium next week in Kitzbühel, Austria. "The results will come if I can just take what I did in my second run."

Next up for the men's team is the World Cup stop in Kitzbühel, which will include downhill, super-G, slalom and super-combined..

S-Magazine

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Wengen men's World Cup slalom results