SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — Austrian skier Raphael Haaser ended the Swiss dominance in the men's events at the Alpine world championships by winning the giant slalom on Friday.
Haaser improved from fifth place in the opening run as the leading racers faltered in the second, and he finished ahead of three Swiss rivals.
The Austrian skier beat silver medalist Thomas Tumler by 0.23 seconds while Loic Meillard was 0.51 behind and took bronze.
Defending champion Marco Odermatt missed a medal by seven-hundredths in fourth.
“It's just such an unbelievable day. Really happy with this race,” said Haaser, whose best result in a World Cup GS is seventh. “I think I was capable to ski in the top 10 permanently, but stepping on top of the podium, didn't expect that.”
Haaser won silver in the super-G last week, in a race won by Odermatt. His gold is the third medal for the men’s team of host nation Austria after Vincent Kriechmayr placed second in the downhill.
First-run leader Timon Haugan of Norway had a big mistake early in his second run and finished a full second behind in seventh.
Meillard and Odermatt stood second and third after the first run, but both lost a place after making too many mistakes on a second-run course set by Helmut Krug, an Austrian coach working for the Swiss team.
The Swiss team had won all three previous men’s events.
Meillard paired with Franjo von Allmen to win the team combined event Wednesday, and Von Allmen took the downhill three days earlier.
Slipper crews had been working through the night to get fresh snow off the course, and snowfall during the first run caused flat light.
Skies cleared and the sun peaked through the clouds during the second run.
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The Associated Press
