Hirscher on World Cup Winning Streak

Overcoming limited visibility in foggy conditions, Marcel Hirscher of Austria maintained his winning streak as he claimed his third victory in succession in the slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland, on 8 January 2012, bringing his total wins for the season to five.

Overcoming limited visibility in foggy conditions, Marcel Hirscher of Austria maintained his winning streak as he claimed his third victory in succession in the slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland, on 8 January 2012, bringing his total wins for the season to five. With a combined time of one minute 58.66 seconds, Hirscher made history as the first skier to win both classic World Cup races in a weekend at the Adelboden Resort. The 22-year old skier beat defending champion Ivica Kostelic by a mere 0.27 seconds, with Stefano Gross of Italy taking third place on the podium.

In a post-race interview, Hirscher expressed his surprise at his success, noting that the weather conditions made the race like a rodeo and had him rocking all over the place. Having recovered from an injury suffered at the end of last season, Hirscher had not been expecting the success he has achieved in the current season. He was reported as saying that he has achieved the goals he set for himself this season, and was having fun with each race, enjoying his winning streak for as long as it lasts. He also noted, however, that he is glad for the break before the slalom set to take place in Wengen on January 15.

Kostelic conceded that he had been more cautious than usual in the manner in which he tackled the race, explaining that he has a history with the last ten gates on the Adelboden Chuenisbargli course where he has made mistakes in the past. Hirscher did not let anything hold him back as he took the victory. Both skiers agreed that weather conditions had been extremely difficult to deal with.

Although Ivica Kostelic of Croatia is 230 points behind Marcel Hirscher in the men’s World Cup championship, he has made it known that he is up for the challenge. He noted that what he likes about alpine skiing is that each race has skiers starting from scratch and he anticipated that Wengen will provide plenty of excitement, and Hirscher will have to show what he’s worth in speed events. Marcel Hirscher plans to skip the Super-Combined race scheduled for Friday and concentrate his efforts on Sunday’s Slalom.