SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria — Zan Kranjec became the first Slovenian skier to win a men’s World Cup giant slalom on Wednesday, less than two hours after countrywoman Ilka Stuhec won a women’s super-G in Italy.
Kranjec was more than a half-second off the lead in fourth after the opening run, but leaders Matts Olsson of Sweden and Manuel Feller of Austria both failed to finish their final runs.
“For sure, it’s good to know that. I am happy to be the one to achieve it,” said Kranjec, initially unaware of being the first Slovenian winner in the discipline. “I don’t know what happened. The first run was not bad, but I knew I could do more. I went to the limit and had a few mistakes.”
The 28-year-old Kranjec’s previous best result was third place in the Alta Badia giant slalom a year ago.
On Wednesday, he posted the 10th-fastest time in the final run but still overtook Loic Meillard of Switzerland, who was third after the opening leg, by 0.19 seconds. Mathieu Faivre of France was 0.50 behind in third.