Palander returns to winning ways in Schladming slalom

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In the final FIS World Cup slalom before next month's Olympics in Torino, Kalle Palander scored his first slalom victory for nearly two years last night, clocking runs of 53.51 and 48.83 for a combined time of 1:42.34, enough to finish 0.79 seconds ahead of surprise runner-up Akira Sasaki of Japan, with Austria's Benjamin Raich taking 3rd spot.
      Palander led on the first run, but his margin over 2nd-placed Giorgio Rocca of Italy was perilously thin at only 0.12 seconds. Rocca, who had stormed to victory in the first five slalom events of the season and was looking very fast now, nevertheless repeated his errors from Kitzbühel and crashed out just before the finish of his second run. After appearing completely invincible, the Italian is suddenly going into the Olympics on the back of two less-than-inspiring performances.
     
But for Kalle Palander, the skiing under floodlights clearly agreed with him, as he was also second-fastest on the second run, edged only by the overall World Cup leader Raich, who extended his lead over his main rivals with this result. He pulled himself up from tenth to 3rd with a blistering second run, and was only a fraction behind Sasaki, who secured only his second-ever podium finish.
      Another to crash out on the icy track was Bode Miller of the United States, who is having a miserable season so far in the slalom. He has failed to finish in five of seven outings.
     
Palander admitted it had been a long wait: the 28-year-old last tasted victory in March 2004, in a season where he won four slalom races and two giant slaloms, and eventually finished runner-up in the table in both disciplines. This was Palander's second win in Schladming; in January 2003 he scored his second-ever World Cup victory here.
      "I've started to get nervous and put pressure on myself", Palander confessed to reporters after the race. "This is like a deliverance for me."
      The win, his 11th on the World Cup circuit, boosts him to second place behind Rocca in the slalom standings, with 366 points to the Italian's 500, and also elevates him to 7th overall. Palander also has 200 giant slalom points, entitling him to 5th place there, and is clearly coming into form at the right moment.
     
The next time Kalle and the other slalom specialists will be in action in earnest is at the final Alpine event of the Winter Olympics, on February 25th.
      Palander also goes in the giant slalom, held five days earlier, weather permitting. Those races will be held over the Sestrieres track, the location in 2004 of his previous victory before Schladming.


Links:
  FIS: Kalle Palander

Helsingin Sanomat