Austria's Feller overcomes 1st-run deficit to win World Cup slalom in California
Beats Clement Noel of France by 0.28 seconds at Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley
Manuel Feller of Austria overcame a first-run deficit to win a World Cup slalom on Sunday, his fourth victory of the season.
Trailing by nearly a half-second entering the final run, Feller smoothly navigated the tricky course in Olympic Valley, Calif. He finished in a combined time of one minute 42.08 seconds to edge Clement Noel of France by a margin of 0.28 seconds. First-run leader Linus Strasser of Germany made a small mistake that cost him time and wound up third.
With the win, Feller extended his lead over Strasser to 204 points in the race for the season-long slalom crown. Feller has been consistent all year, finishing in the top five in all eight World Cup slalom races.
The 31-year-old Feller became the first man to capture four World Cup slalom wins in one season since fellow countryman Marcel Hirscher earned five in 2018-19.
Calgary's Erik Read, the lone Canadian, failed to qualify for a second run after finishing his first in a time of 56.63.
Jett Seymour was the only American to qualify for a second run. He finished 15th, 1.53 seconds behind Feller's time. Seymour won a slalom national title while competing for the University of Denver in 2019.
🏆 Manuel Feller 🇦🇹 did it again! 4th World Cup slalom victory this season! 👏🏻 Congratulations! <br>🥈 Clement Noel <br>🥉 Linus Strasser <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fisalpine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fisalpine</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ski?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ski</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wintersport?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wintersport</a> <a href="https://t.co/5ezJPlWeGh">pic.twitter.com/5ezJPlWeGh</a>
—@fisalpineThe difficult course design for run No. 2 led to five racers not finishing and five more winding up at least two seconds behind Feller.
Norway's Alexander Steen Olsen, the defending slalom champion at Palisades Tahoe, made a mistake in his first run and didn't finish in the top 30 to qualify for a second run.
On Saturday, Swiss standout Marco Odermatt sealed his third straight World Cup overall title by winning a 10th consecutive giant slalom race. Odermatt's win at the Palisades Tahoe resort gave him 1,702 points, with not enough races left in the season for anyone to catch him. Feller is second in the overall standings with 801 points.
Odermatt didn't compete in the slalom Sunday.
The men's World Cup circuit moves to Aspen, Colorado, next weekend for a pair of giant slalom competitions along with a slalom.
With files from CBC Sports
