SAALBACH, Austria – Austria’s Raphael Haaser kick-started a home party as he stormed to gold in the men’s giant slalom at the Alpine Skiing World Championships after a superb second run on Friday.
Switzerland’s domination of the championships was expected to continue with reigning world and Olympic champion Marco Odermatt the pre-race favourite.
But the 27-year-old Haaser jumped from fifth after the opening run raced in poor visibility to the top of the leaderboard with a rip-roaring second descent.
It was the biggest win of his career and delivered Austria’s second gold medal of the championships on home snow and the first in the men’s events.
When Haaser crossed the line for a combined 2:39.71, there were still four more racers to come including Odermatt and surprise first-run leader Timon Haugan of Norway.
Odermatt made too many mistakes, however, as his chance of adding to his super-G gold disappeared and he finished fourth.
When Haugan lost time in his second attempt, Haaser could start celebrating his first world title, having finished second behind Odermatt in the super-G.
Swiss Thomas Tumler finished 0.23 seconds behind in second place with teammate Loic Meillard in third place.
