Los Angeles (AFP) - Norway's Alexander Steen Olsen won the Palisades Tahoe World Cup slalom on Sunday, claiming his first World Cup win by five-hundredths of a second over compatriot Timon Haugan.
The 21-year-old had to wait an agonizingly long time to know whether his first career podium would be a victory as the race jury examined video to determine whether AJ Ginnis had in fact missed a gate on the way to the fastest combined time of the day.
Eventually Ginnis, who gave Greece a first ever alpine World Championships medal with his slalom silver at Courcheval a week ago, was indeed disqualified.
"It's so unbelievable and I just don't know what to say," Steen Olsen said."It's so crazy."
Bulgarian Albert Popov delivered a storming second run to jump from 25th after the first run to a share of third place alongside France's Clement Noel -- who had led after the first leg but ended up tied for bronze 24-hundredths back.
Wind-driven snow made things difficult all day, the weather only worsening as the second run wore on.
"Visibility was a challenge, but the conditions actually were pretty OK," Steen Olsen said."You've just got to believe in yourself and go."
The race didn't affect the top of the overall standings as Switzerland's Marco Odermatt and the man chasing him, Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, didn't compete.
Odermatt, who won two gold medals at the World Champinoships this month, remained 386 points ahead of Kilde with nine races remaining.
Norway's Lucas Braathen remained atop the slalom standings, his seventh-placed finish pushing his total to 466 points in the discipline, 32 ahead of compatriot Henrik Kristoffersen.
Palisades Tahoe, which hosted the Olympic Games in 1960 under its former name of Squaw Valley -- was hosting World Cup races for the first time since women competed there in 2017.
The men's circuit now heads to Aspen, Colorado, for two downhills and a super G next week.
