Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) (AFP) - Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen won the men's World Cup slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday as several top names struggled to recapture their medal-winning form from the Winter Olympics.
Kristoffersen is the seventh different winner this season in seven slalom races on the World Cup circuit after clocking a winning time of one minute, 46.14 seconds.
"This is one closer to the goal and everything is still possible," said Kristoffersen.
His win leaves him just one point behind overall slalom World Cup leader Lucas Braathen with another race in the discipline to come Sunday in Garmisch.
Loic Meillard of Switzerland was second at 0.14sec back with Manuel Feller third at 0.51.
His fellow Austrian Johannes Strolz, who won Olympic silver ten days ago in the slalom, finished just off the podium at 0.76 in fourth.
The other slalom medallists from the Beijing Winter Games struggled in the warm conditions.
French Olympic champion Noel Clement paid the price for a conservative first run, after which he was 1.11 seconds off the pace, and then did not finish the second.
Norway's Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, who earned slalom bronze in Beijing, had already crashed in Saturday's opening run.
The soft snow in the Bavarian Alps also accounted for overall slalom World Cup leader Braathen, who failed to finish the first run.
Kristoffersen is now hoping for back-to-back wins this weekend as conditions suit him after salt was sprayed on the course to firm up the soft snow.
"Salt is my fortune, since we ski so much on salt in Norway in the spring, summer and fall, so I am not complaining for sure," added Kristoffersen, who was fourth in the men's slalom at the Olympics.
