Skiing | Neureuther wins men’s World Cup slalom in Japan

Felix Neureuther of Germany

Felix Neureuther of Germany won the men’s World Cup slalom in Japan yesterday, edging Andre Myhrer of Sweden.
Neureuther, fifth after the first run, clocked a time of 56.96 seconds in the second run to finish 0.05 seconds ahead of Myhrer. Marco Schwarz of Austria was third, 0.24 off the pace.
“It was a tough race today,” said Neureuther. “It started raining in the second run. You guys were so unlucky with the weather, one meter of fresh snow and then it became so warm and you guys did a really great job.”
Neureuther’s father Christian was on the podium here 41 years ago.
“It’s of course a very, very good feeling,” said Neureuther.
With his first slalom World Cup win of the season, Neureuther moved into third place in the standings with 323 points, 393 behind leader Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, who was seventh.
Alexis Pinturault of France, who won Saturday’s giant slalom at the same venue, was disqualified during the second run.
Overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria was disqualified for straddling a gate during the first run.
Myhrer earned his first podium since December’s giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy.
“It was a tough day,” said Myhrer. “First run was good visibility and second run we had really bad visibility and water on the goggles and didn’t see much. I’ve been struggling for a while in slalom and I feel happy to be back on the podium.”
The next World Cup event will be a downhill and alpine combined in Chamonix, France. AP