Schladming World Cup Night Slalom
Often overlooked in favour of the classic downhill races at Kitzbuhel and Wengen, Schladming has made a name for itself
as one of
the must-see events, not just in skiing, but in the sporting world, and not just for the spectacle of the
skiers battling it out through the slalom gates, but also because of the spectators who line the side of the hill
and generate the sort of atmosphere that is rare to see at any sporting event in the world.
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This race is like the skiing equivalent of an English Premiership team travelling to Turkey for a European Champions League match against
Galatassary - absoltuely mental ! The legendary atmosphere at this race has turned it into one of the biggest sporting events in Austria, with
over 50,000 people cramming onto the side of the floodlit slopes of the Planai mountain to watch the night-time slalom race and literally scream
on the world's top slalom skiers.
Even people like ourselves who prefer the downhill to the slalom cant help to be drawn into the incredible atmosphere that this race conjures up.
You do get a lot of fans travelling to it from the other neighbouring alpine nations, but the majority are Austrian and they make the
race quite partisan in favour of their skiers, as you'd expect, with the decibel level almost deafening if one of their own go down the course
and take the lead. Giant flags, red flares (no, not trousers, but the kind you wave around dangerously in the air) and airhorns are not what
you'd normally associate with a world cup ski competition, but then this is no ordinary event.
The race itself is actually part of a three day party bonanza, with lots of live acts, dj's and shows now involved in the lead up to it, giving it
one hell of a reputation.
If you never get the chance to get out there then consider watching it live on Eurosport, the atmosphere really comes across - I'll never forget
the first time I came across it, wondering how on earth they'd managed to get what looked like Liverpool's Kop set into the gradient of a ski
slope !
But if you can arrange your annual pilgrimage to the slopes around the Styria area of Austia and fancy seeing how much noise 50,000 drunken
Europeans can make on a wintry night in January, then get yourself over there, it's an experience you'll never forget.
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The Austrians have been dominating the race in recent years, and have even come close to a 1-2-3 during a
couple of seasons. Britain's best performance at the the race came in 2001 when Alain Baxter finished
9th.
Anyway, the list of winnners of the Slalom since the event was first run at night in 1997 are as follows:
| Year | Winner | Nationality | 2nd Place | Nationality | 3rd Place | Nationality |
| 2011 | Jean-Baptiste Grange | France | Andre Myhrer | Sweden | Mattias Hargin | Sweden |
| 2010 | Reinfried Herbst | Austria | Silvan Zurbriggen | Switzerland | Manfred Pranger | Austria |
| 2009 | Reinfried Herbst | Austria | Manfred Pranger | Austria | Ivica Kostelic | Croatia |
| 2008 | Mario Matt | Austria | Jean-Baptiste Grange | France | Manfred Moelgg | Italy |
| 2007 | Benjamin Raich | Austria | Jens Byggmark | Sweden | Mario Matt | Austria |
| 2006 | Kalle Palander | Finland | Akira Sasaki | Japan | Benjamin Raich | Austria |
| 2005 | Manfred Pranger | Austria | Benjamin Raich | Austria | Andre Myhrer | Sweden |
| 2004 | Benjamin Raich | Austria | Manfred Moelgg | Italy | Kalle Palander | Finland |
| 2003 | Kalle Palander | Finland | Benjamin Raich | Austria | Hans-Petter Buraas | Norway |
| 2002 | Bode Miller | USA | Jean-Pierre Vidal | France | Ivica Kostelic | Croatia |
| 2001 | Benjamin Raich | Austria | Hans-Petter Buraas | Norway | Mitja Kunc | Slovenia |
| 2000 | Mario Matt | Austria | Ole-Christian Furuseth | Norway | Thomas Stangassinger | Austria |
| 1999 | Benjamin Raich | Austria | Pierrick Bourgeat | France | Kjetil Andre Aamodt | Norway |
| 1998 | Alberto Tomba | Italy | Thomas Sykora | Austria | Hans-Petter Buraas | Norway |
| 1997 | Alberto Tomba | Italy | Thomas Stangassinger | Austria | Sebastien Amiez | France |
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Local legend Benjamin Raich is the man for the night slalom, having won it 4 times between 1999 and 2007.
And don't discount him winning it a few more times yet.
It's a relatively modern event so it;s good to see one of the all-time greats Alberto Tomba 2nd in the
list, having won the first two events back in 1997 and 1998.
| Number of Titles | Name | Nationality | Years |
| 4 | Benjamin Raich | Austria | 1999 2001 2004 2007 |
| 2 | Alberto Tomba | Italy | 1997 1998 |
| 2 | Kalle Palander | Finland | 2003 2006 |
| 2 | Mario Matt | Austria | 2000 2008 |
| 2 | Reinfried Herbst | Austria | 2009 2010 |
| 1 | Bode Miller | USA | 2002 |
| 1 | Jean-Baptiste Grange | France | 2011 |
| 1 | Manfred Pranger | Austria | 2005 |
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The home nation has dominated this, winning more than two-thirds of the races by 2010.
Their big rivals Switzerland have yet to win the event, whilst Bode Miller's victory back in 2002 for the
USA is the only time a non-European nation has claimed victory.
| Number of Titles | Nation | Years |
| 9 | Austria | 1999 2000 2001 2004 2005 2007 2008 2009 2010 |
| 2 | Finland | 2003 2006 |
| 2 | Italy | 1997 1998 |
| 1 | France | 2011 |
| 1 | USA | 2002 |
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Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange broke the host nations's four-year grip on the night slalom to take victory
with a great 2nd run - overhauling a 1st leg deficit of 0.85 seconds from 2nd placed
Andre Myhrer of Sweden. A great night then for the French, but also the Swedes, as Mattias Hargin took the
final place on the podium with 3rd, whilst Axel Baeck finished 6th and Jens Byggmark 7th. The same can't be said for the Austrians,
with 4-time Night Slalom champion Benni Raich their highest placed skier back in 9th. They had a number of
skiers well placed for a 2nd leg charge but one by one they dropped out of contention: Marcel Hirscher
was flying through the smoke from the crowd's red flares but incredibly straddled the last gate when he would
have taken the lead, Manfred Pranger made some mistakes in the tricky lower section and finished 12th, whilst
Reinfried Herbst, aiming for a hat-trick of victories lost an edge near the mid-section, leaving the near
50,000 crowd who'd packed out both side of the Planai bitterly disappointed to say the least.
The atmosphere had been as good as ever, probably at it;s best when Marcel Hirscher was flying down, with
flares being set off on both sides, and some delays needed as the organisers waited for the smoke to clear.
With snow falling, the conditions on the bottom of course became trickier as the night went on, which then favoured some
of the earlier races in the 2nd run. Current slalom leader Ivica Kostelic seemed to take a steady approach to
his 2nd run and finished in 5th.
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Keywords:
: FIS Alpine Ski World Cup List of Men's Slalom Champions Schladming
: alpine ski racing annual night competition schladming austria
: list of best slalom skiers and ski racers in schladming night-time race history
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