Men's Slalom
On the demanding slalom course near Kranjska Gora, in skiing-crazy Slovenia, bib number one brought luck to Switzerland's Didier Plaschy. After a tough fight against Austria's shooting-star Benjamin Raich, Plaschy celebrated his second win of the season, becoming the first Swiss to win a World Cup slalom here. Plaschy won by 9/100 of a second ahead of Raich. Austria's Thomas Stangassinger was 74/100 behind the winner, reaching 3rd place for his third consecutive time this season.

	Didier Plaschy

Just last week, Plaschy crashed and suffered a knee injury in Madonna di Campiglio where he raced with bib number one. He wasn't happy when he drew that number again before the slalom on Monday evening, which affected his confidence before the race. Plaschy was still suffering from an injury to his left leg from training two weeks ago, and he had to cut the upper part of his boot to relieve the pain. If this wasn't enough, Plaschy crashed again during slalom practice. So he was not in the best mood going into the start. Fortunately, he found his momentum cruising through the gates in the first leg of the race.

"This win today is fine, but I put it in a wider perspective. A 10th place would have made me happy too if I felt that I gave my best...." — Didier Plaschy (SUI)

Plaschy was able to remain focused during the second run and out of reach of a determined Raich, who aims to win his first race before the end of the year.

"The second run was a tough battle. The course was in pretty bad shape," added Plaschy. "There were a lot of ruts in the lower part, and it was difficult to see them because of the darkness. It's great to win again; I wanted to prove that my victory in Colorado was not a fluke. The Stockli skis were perfect again as well as my attitude. You can only go for it if you are serene, in peace with yourself. I was not well focused in Madonna after my crash in training the previous week. Here I was more lucky."

	Plaschy

A unique athlete who likes to follow his own way, Plaschy, 26, is known for his kindness and his sometimes extravagant actions. Last winter, he wore a kilt and played the bagpipes during the bib draw at Ofterschwang — in Bavaria! He started to learn Swedish because he likes the musical sound of the language. He already speaks German, French, Italian and English. He was married last April to his wife, Stefania, who is a lawyer. Plaschy struggled at the start of his international career and had decided to stop racing to study economy, but then some of his friends moved in to help him out.

"I didn't want to be a charge for my mother, and I tried to learn a job," Plaschy explains. "But the people in my small village, mainly wine growers, wanted me to keep on racing. They got together and gave me enough money to focus on skiing. I was moved and very motivated too. From then on, things went up again and I was able to join the Swiss team. Now I'm making enough money to have a good life."

"But I don't want to forget the people who supported me, and we will all have a great New Year's party. Ski racing is exciting ad fun, but there are other, more serious and important things in life which count," Plaschy added. "The day after my first success in Beaver Creek, I lost my grandfather, who was a big fan too. So I could not really enjoy my success. This win today is fine, but I put it in a wider perspective. A 10th place would have made me happy too if I felt that I gave my best. On Sunday, my friend Tom Stiansen injured himself badly in a crash in Alta Badia, and he may be out for the rest of the season. I think of him right now and also about all the racers who got injured last week in the downhills at St. Moritz."

	Raich

Benjamin Raich, 21, has enough time to have these kinds of philosophical thoughts in his future. For the moment, last winter's "Rocky of the season," with three wins so far, is battling for another success.

"It was great to be back on this course which brought me my first place on the podium last January," Raich said. "I was pretty confident after being 2nd in Campiglio, but I was not aggressive enough in the first section. You can't win if you are not giving your best from the first to the last gate. I will remember this in tomorrow's giant slalom in Saalbach. I feel as strong in GS as in slalom. It's just too bad that I skied out in the slalom in Beaver Creek. I would been closer to the leaders in the slalom standings."

Kristinn Bjornsson was the hero in the second run. After clocking a disappointing 29th time in the first leg, the Scandinavian set by far the fastest time in the second run to move up to an excellent 4th place. Two years ago, he scored two 2nd places in slalom, but wasn't able to confirm these promising results with any wins.

Slovenia's Jure Kosir, the winner here in January, finished in 7th place after finishing 3rd in the opening run. Norway's Kjetil Aamodt finished a far 12th, only 4/100 behind teammate Hans-Petter Burras. Their friend Finn Christian Jagge, the season's first slalom winner on short skis last week in Madona di Campiglio, skied out in the second run. He was 5th in the first run.

World Champion Kalle Palander was 15th. No US skier scored point any point today. Bode Miller, 22nd in the first run, two seconds behind the leader, skied out of the second run after taking hard risks. Sacha Gros was only 43rd in the first run and Drew Thorne Thompson 47th.

With eight slaloms left on the World Cup program, it's not over yet. "Each of us wish to win the first slalom of the new Millenium," Plaschy said.

Thomas Stangassinger agrees. "I have to be pleased by this third consecutive podium, but today I was aiming for more," said the Austrian veteran. "I have been racing for 15 years here and I finished several times among the top-3. It was maybe my last chance to win this prestigious race."

"I'm in good shape but I was not moving at my limits this time," Stangassinger added. "It's tough when you have the World Cup title in the back of your mind. In the second run, the course was quite rough despite the great job done by the organizers. The skis went fine too. I think the intermediate length was a good choice here, but I will test the new shorter models during the next break. Salomon has worked hard to produce new skis for the men using part of the technology which brought so much success on the women's tour. Jagge used the 1.76m skis and I had the 1.86m skis. An in-between solution could be the best choice on demanding slopes. But I will also take some time to enjoy life with my family — my oldest daughter who turns six soon is a good skier."

The next men's event, a giant slalom, will take place on Wednesday in Saalbach, southwest of Salzburg. The site of the 1991 Ski World Championships has hosted a fascinating battle between Herman "The Herminator" Maier and Alberto Tomba. Maier, who is always motivated when racing in Austria, will be hard to beat.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent