PARK CITY, Utah, 25 November 2003 — Kalle Palander of Finland won a controversial opening slalom race of the men’s World Cup season on Sunday, edging out Austria’s Rainer Schoenfelder by two hundredths of a second.
However, Schoenfelder was later disqualified, meaning Austria’s Manfred Pranger was elevated to second with Giorgio Rocca of Italy snatching third.
World Cup slalom champion Palander produced a storming second run for a total time of one minute 35.91 seconds with Pranger clocking 1:36.60 and Rocca 1:37.01.
The second run was clouded by confusion after all but one of the teams lodged an appeal against Schoenfelder’s reinstatement in the first leg, saying he had been given an unfair advantage.
Schoenfelder had nearly completed his opening run when he lost control on the treacherously steep hill and skied out. He was granted a re-run by race officials after he claimed he was distracted by a course marshal laying injured on the snow close to the racing line. The Austrian then made full use of his escape, matching Palander’s fastest first leg time of 47.24 seconds.
American Tom Rothrock briefly raised home hopes by going quickest on the second run but after a rash of lead changes Palander, chasing his fifth World Cup career win, carved down the rutted course to dislodge Pranger.
Gunter Hujara, technical director for the international ski federation (FIS), explained why Schoenfelder was disqualified.
Earlier, there was disappointment for the home fans when double world champion Bode Miller failed in his bid to win the first three races of the Alpine skiing season.
