Mitja
Kunc's Turn
Yong Pyong, Korea
February 26-27, 2000
Men's Slalom
Slovenia's World Cup veteran Mitja Kunc became the eighth
skier this season to celebrate a first success in a slalom
today, winning a gate race held in polar temperatures
in Korea's Yong Pyong top ski resort.
Mitja Kunc
Taking impressive risks in his second run, the 28-year-old
Slovenian clocked a total time of 1:31:97 at the end of
the second run, beating Norway's dean of skiing, Ole Kristian
Furuseth, the winner here in 1998, by 73/100 of a second.
Furuseth led the first run by a .10-second advance on
Kunc, but he wasn't able match the Slovenian's blistering
second run.
"I have gained great confidence and momentum in the
past weeks and I'm lucky to be part of such a strong technical
team. We train hard, yet we enjoy life together...."
— Mitja Kunc (SLO)
"I can't believe it, it's the greatest day in my
life. I have fought so hard and so long for this,"
said Kunc, a policeman in civil life.
"I felt it could be my day," he added. "I
have gained great confidence and momentum in the past
weeks and I'm lucky to be part of such a strong technical
team. We train hard, yet we enjoy life together."
In 1994 and 1995, Kunc was twice 2nd in giant slalom,
as well as 4th in slalom at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.
But he was plagued by health problems afterwards, and
had not placed among the top 10 in the past five years.
He slipped to 188th in the World Cup standings in 1998,
but fought back to 58th position last winter. Now he can
aim for a final ranking among the top-20 at the finals
in Bormio, Italy. On Saturday, Kunc was 4th in the giant
slalom won by Austria's Benjamin Raich, who didn't finish
today's race.
"The trip to Korea was worth it, I guess — I
like this country a lot and hope to come back soon,"
a smiling Kunc, who won 45,000 Swiss Francs over the weekend,
added.
It's the second consecutive win for Slovenia this month.
A week ago, his teammate Matjaz Vrhovnik won his first
race at Adelboden, in Switzerland.
FurusethAustria's most promising slalom talent, Mario
Matt, reached the podium again, placing 3rd. After his
spectacular success at Kitzbühel, the 20-year-old
Matt skied among the top-4 in all of the following slalom
races, becoming one of the most spectacular athletes among
the slalom dancers this season. (Teenagers seem to like
him most for his colored hair and the two rings he wears
in his ears.)
Another Mario, the so-called "Super-Mario" Reiter
achieved his best performance since his Olympic success
in combined at Nagano in February 1998, reaching an unexpected
4th place today, which should help him remain on the Austrian
team for another season.
Finland's reigning slalom World Champion, Kalle Palander,
achieved his best result on the World Cup tour today,
coming in 5th — also the best mark for his team ever
on the World Cup circuit.
Japan's Kentaro Minagawa confirmed his talent and his
strong Kitzbühel result, taking 6th place today,
in front of the only two-time slalom winner of the season,
Switzerland's Didier Plaschy. Today was the first time
Plaschy finished a race since his success in Kranjska
Gora, in December.
It was also a good day for America's Erik Schlopy a former
pro skier who decided to come back on the US Ski Team
to try to qualify for the 2002 Olympics at Salt Lake City.
Norway's Kjetil Aamodt, 7th in the first run, slid to
14th place while Vhrovnik move up from 22nd to 16th place.
He made a major mistake on the icy and treacherous first
run, but it didn't costs him too many points.
After this ninth slalom of the season, Aamodt only leads
the standings by 52 points, just three more than before
the race. There are two more slaloms scheduled in the
coming weeks in Schladming, Austria, and at the Finals
in Bormio, Italy.
"I could not give more, the conditions were really
demanding," said Aamodt, who didn't make the top
10 here in Korea. "It will be a tough battle until
the end."
His teammate Ole Kristian Furuseth was not too disappointed
by his loss. "I'm having a great season, I reached
much more than I hoped in December," he said. "My
skis are so good that they have carried me smoothly to
the finish line in each race since Chamonix; I guess I
can't stop now. There are still many more important races
to come, including the 2002 Olympics. I'm only 33 and
Thomas Stangassinger has proved that one can be an excellent
skier at 35. And it's fun to challenge the young guys."
Hermann Maier made the right decision by not coming to
Yong Pyong, where he finished 3rd in 1998 in a giant slalom.
He is still the strong leader in the giant slalom and
the Overall World Cup standings. He will return to the
circuit next weekend in Norway, where the men's World
Cup will resume with three speed events. |
