Men's Slalom
An Italian victory was expected this weekend in Chamonix — but not in slalom. Kristian Ghedina, the dominating man in training, was the main favorite in yesterday's downhill but had to be content with 4th place behind three Austrians, led by his main rival, Hermann Maier. Bode Miller finished the first run in 33rd position and missed the cut by 31/100 of a second.

	Italian Angelo Weiss

In the slalom, Austria's dean Thomas Stangassinger and his younger teammate Benjamin Raich were the skiers to beat more than Switzerland's Didier Plaschy, who is suffering from a bad flu. But they missed success in this first slalom of the new year, won by an unknown Italian veteran who had never finished on the podium before.

Angelo Weiss, who will turn 31 in a month, surprised everybody (and himself) by beating Norway's Kjetil Aamodt by 44/100 and Slovenia's Matjaz Vrhonik, also 30, by 48/100. Top guns such as Stangassinger and Raich only finished 7th and 8th behind other little-known skiers while Plaschy skied out in the second run as Norwegians Finn Christian Jagge and Hans Petter Buraas.

"I have often dreamed of this. When I was up there, I thought back at all the difficult years which I faced in the past. I have been paid back..." — Angelo Weiss (ITA)

Kjetil Aamodt won the Kandahar combined for the second time, in front of Hermann Maier, who lost over six seconds on him in this slalom. But he missed his dream to win his first World Cup slalom. In his 10-year-long career, Aamodt has achieved the most prestigious performance: winning gold at Olympics and World Championships and clinching the Overall World Cup title before his 23rd birthday. Like Lasse Kjus and Marc Girardelli, he has amassed a total of 13 medals since 1991 but he also wanted to join another group of top champions, those who have triumphed in all World Cup events.

In 1993, he captured gold in slalom at the World Championships held in Morioka, Japan, but he also wanted to win a World Cup slalom. He was closer than ever today after clocking the fastest time in the first run. He was still in the lead at the intermediate time of the second run, but he didn't dare to take too many risks in the choppy bottom section.

This was his mistake because Angelo Weiss was not afraid to ski at his limits in this flat section where his short Dynastar skis (1,70m) allowed him to cruise faster than everybody else. Starting in 21st position, Angelo Weiss placed 7th after the first run, and he strongly believed in his chances to reach a World Cup podium for the first time.

"I had a good feeling before my second start and I gave my best to improve my position," he explained afterwards. "I was looking for a top-5 place as last season in Aspen. I didn't feel any pressure and I really skied perfectly from top to bottom. It was definitely an advantage today to ski with these short skis which I'm using since last spring. I'm really used to them now and I knew I was on the right way when I finished among the top-10 in Madonna di Campiglio. I skied out in Kranjska Gora but it didn't affect my confidence."

The Italian was obviously moved while standing on the upper step of the winners' podium next to Aamodt and Vrhonik— an incredible moment for him. "I have often dreamed of this," he said. "When I was up there, I thought back at all the difficult years which I faced in the past. I have been paid back." Weiss, racing since 1994 on the World Cup tour, became one of the most promising Italian slalom skiers when he finished 8th at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics. Two severe knee injuries slowed him down, but he never gave up his ambition to make it to the top.

	Aamodt

Weiss had a strong season start last winter with this 5th place at Aspen, but he injured himself again (this time his back) in January at Kitzbuhel. He underwent surgery for a herniated disc and came back to train in June. He was smart enough at that point to choose using the new short skis produced by Dynastar. Soon he was able to make the best out of them on snow training and he regained all of his momentum at the season start.

"It was for sure a good idea because now I really feel comfortable with them," said Weiss. "Most of the other skiers still have to train hard to get used to them but I have no problem at all. I hope I will also have fun in the coming weeks on the treacherous courses at Wengen an Kitzbuhel."

Kjetil Aamodt also raced with short, carving Nordica skis over Christmas. He was as pleased as surprised by them in the first run. "I was pretty tired after spending four days on the downhill and I didn't really expect too much before the race," he said. "But it was fine from the first gate and I really enjoy them. The course was rougher in the afternoon and I was not aggressive enough at the bottom. It's too bad because I was really close to getting this slalom win, for which I aimed for a long time."

"I like to compete in all events but it's difficult to excel in one of them," says Aamodt, "especially when the schedule is as crazy as in December when we had five races in six days in three specialties. January is much more relaxing — we have more time to prepare the races on the weekends and I hope to improve my level now. I like to compete in big events and I mostly skied well in Kitzbuhel. I don't think about the Overall World Cup for the moment — my first goal is to win again a real race."

Aamodt's last victory in a race goes back to his success in giant slalom in Adelboden in January 1997. In the past years, he has only won five combined, including two at the 1997 and the 1999 World Championships. His day may come this season in Wengen, Kitzbuhel or Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent