50th World Cup Win For Marcel Hirscher, 4th In Zagreb

An Incredible 3rd slalom win in a row for the Hirscher, who equals Alberto Tomba in third place of all time with 50 World Cup victories.

He also moves to joint-third on the all-time podium list among men and women with 114, leaving only Ingemar Stenmark and Lindsey Vonn ahead of him.

Marcel Hirscher came from behind in the second run to snatch victory away from his teammate Michael Matt, who finished second. Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen was third. Hirscher stretches his lead over Kristoffersen - still awaiting a first win this season - in the slalom standings to 59 points.

Mark Engel (Truckee, Calif.) matched a career-best FIS Ski World Cup slalom result in 24th on a soft, grooved and punchy course under the lights in the capital of Croatia Thursday night. But most importantly, he maintained a World Cup start position for USA.

For Engel, finishing was not only important from a team standpoint, but from a vindication standpoint too. Last year on the same course he finished third in the first run, only to crash spectacularly near the finish of the second run.

“I felt the pressure to finish here today because our team is going to run out of World Cup spots unless we make up some points,” said Engel, who almost repeated last year’s incident near the finish of Thursday’s first run.

“I’m so happy I made it through,” he said after his first run. “I had really tired legs down here and I got a little back seat, but managed to pull it off.”

In the second run, Engel attacked the course. Following the flat middle section, he charged the bottom with a smile on his face. “I’m really happy that my best split was down the last pitch, which has troubled me before,” he added.