Albert Popov gave the Bulgarian ski team its first World Cup win in 45 years with a win in the slalom on Wednesday as four favorites withdrew from the night race in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.
The victory commemorated Peter Bobanglov’s only victory for Bulgaria in Lengris, Germany, on January 8, 1980.
“A long time ago,” Popov said. “It means a lot and I want to see more kids skating in Bulgaria, I think this will do something big for them and they will start to believe that it is possible, and I think it is very important for our country.”
Popov was eighth after the opening round, putting together a brilliant second run at the Canalone Miramonte track and the 27-year-old threw his head back and let out a scream of joy after crossing the finish line in two stretches of time. 1 minute 45.22 seconds.
He then faced an anxious wait to see if that would be good enough for a second podium finish.
World Cup slalom champion Manuel Feller looked ready to challenge him, but lost his balance and crashed into a gate, failing to finish for the third time in five slalom starts this season.
Watch | Popov wins by 0.44 seconds over Loic Millard:
Bulgarian Albert Popov became the first Bulgarian to win the slalom at the FIS World Cup in 45 years with his victory in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. Popov won the event in a time of 1:45.22 to record his first FIS World Cup win.
Atle Lie McGrath dominated the first round, leading by more than half a second, and was hoping for a first win in nearly three years.
The Norwegian had a 1.21 advantage over Popov after the first split but squandered his massive lead as he stood on the gate.
“It’s a dream come true, and it will come a long time ago,” Popov said. “I have waited a lot and I am happy to be at Madonna di Campiglio. I love the race, I love the slopes, I love the people.”
Popov finished the race with a margin of 44-100 fractions of a second ahead of Swiss Loic Millard (1:45.66) and 46-100 fractions in front of Croatian Samuel Kuleja (1:45.68), who scored his first podium finish in the World Cup.
“A lot of work to get here”
“I’m really lost for words right now,” Kuleja said. “It’s been a lot of work to get here. There are a lot of people to thank for this. It’s not just me, it’s the whole team, a lot of people who have been behind me the whole time.”
“It’s not just about the podium for me today. I’ve never scored World Cup points on this hill before, and today was a huge achievement for me.”
Watch | Full replay coverage of Wednesday’s second round in Italy:
Watch the men’s slalom final from the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup stop in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy.
Olympic champion Clement Noël, who won the opening two slalom races of the season, and Norwegian skier Timon Hogan, who dominated the final slalom in Alta Badia, were eliminated in the first round.
Millard moved to the top of the discipline standings, 10 points ahead of world champion Henrik Kristoffersen and 85 points ahead of Noel.
“It’s definitely not the easiest race, it’s always a challenge here at Madonna,” Millard said. “There were some mistakes, but in the end, it’s another platform.
“At the moment, things are going well. When you get some good results, you also have confidence and you can push a little bit more.”
Three-time defending champion Marco Odermatt, who does not compete in slalom, remained at the top of the overall standings but his lead over Kristofferson was reduced to 116 points.
There’s another slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland in just three days, with a giant slalom the next day, and three more slaloms on the busy January calendar.
Calgary’s Eric Reid and Montreal’s Simon Fournier were the only two Canadians in the competition and neither made it into the top 30 to advance to the second round. Reid was 35th with a time of 54.56 seconds and Fournier was 46th (55.11).
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