Swiss men disappoint at Italian World Cup event
Switzerland's male skiers put on a disappointing performance at the World Cup slalom event in the Italian resort of Sestrières. Norway's Hans-Petter Buraas won the event with Austria taking some of the other top spots.
For Buraas, Monday’s slalom was a memorable victory as it was the first World Cup win in his career.
However, the night in Sestrières was overshadowed by controversy after the Austrian skier, Heinz Schilchegger, was disqualified by race stewards. All this happened despite him being the overall leader after two runs.
The stewards watched a tape of his second run in slow motion, which led to the disqualification.
Austria, whose winning streak in World Cup skiing events ground to a halt on Monday, has protested against the decision. Its skiers, Kilian Albrecht, and Florian Seer came second and fifth.
Only one Swiss skier was able to complete both runs. Michael Von Grünigen managed to finish 11th.
His compatriot, Urs Imboden, had a nasty fall in the first run. Didier Plaschy pulled out of the event after the first race.
Finally, Daniel Defago was disqualified shortly before moving on to the second leg of the event.
The Swiss technical coach, Patrice Morisod, said: “With a bit of luck we could have had two of our boys finish in the top three places. Unfortunately, you only get one shot at doing well. It’s deeply frustrating for us as we only came away with Michael Von Grünigen’s 11th place”.
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