KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) — German skier Linus Strasser got down on his knees and kissed the snow on an Austrian slope he has known since he was a child, with his wife Maria and their one-year-old daughter watching from the stands.
Returning to the place where he learned to ski as a young boy, Strasser won the men’s World Cup slalom at the classic Hahnenkamm races Sunday for his first win in two years.
“Incredible, the circle is complete. I am so connected to Kitzbuehel, to Austria," Strasser said. "Without the fanaticism of the people here, I would never have made it onto the World Cup.”
Strasser moved up from fourth position by posting the fastest second-run time to beat Kristoffer Jakobsen by 0.14 seconds. The Norwegian, wearing bib 20, had edged the pre-race favorites to lead the first run.
Switzerland's Daniel Yule, who won the race last year and in 2020, trailed by 0.20 in third.
Strasser was born in Munich but grew up in Kitzbuehel.
“I learned to ski here, my parents (moved) here, had my first race here. I always dreamed to come back as a World Cup skier and win the World Cup,” he said.
It was Strasser’s fourth World Cup win but first since triumphing at a night race in Schladming in early 2022.
“Races in Austria are special because of the atmosphere, the organization, the myth. This is were ski racing history was written and you can still feel it in 2024. Now I’m missing only two more classics, then I would be completely happy: Wengen and Adelboden," said Strasser, referring to two iconic races in Switzerland traditionally held in the first half of January.
Strasser became the first German winner of a Hahnenkamm event since Thomas Dressen won the downhill in 2018. Dressen ended his career after Saturday's race on the Streif course.
No German had been on the slalom podium in Kitzbuehel since Fritz Dopfer finished third eight years ago.
Manuel Feller, who leads the discipline standings after winning three slaloms this season, placed fourth as the Austrian ski team failed to make a slalom podium for the first time this season.
Two years after triumphing here and becoming the first British winner of a World Cup race, Dave Ryding improved from 10th to fifth place.
In the first run, Jakobsen was not among the fastest starters but had an all-attacking run on the rest of the demanding Ganslern course.
“I was almost feeling easy all the way,” Jakobsen said. “I tried to go clean into the turns and that apparently was pretty good.”
Jakobsen failed to finish the opening run in his previous three slaloms, having started the season in November by placing 11th at another resort in the Austrian Alps, Gurgl.
“My goal is just to make the finish line today,” he said before the second run.
It was Jakobsen's third podium result from 85 World Cup starts, having finished second and third in two slaloms in December 2021.
Toronto's Justin Alkier, Calgary's Erik Read and Liam Wallace of Banff, Alta., failed to qualify having not finished the first run.
The men's World Cup stays in Austria for a GS and a slalom on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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The Associated Press
