Wengen Village salutes Ivica Kostelic of Croatia, winning the World Cup Slalom

The Vancouver Sun reports:  Ivica Kostelic of Croatia proved the master of Wengen yet again Sunday, winning a World Cup slalom to close the gap on overall standings leader Marcel Hirscher, who was disqualified for straddling a gate.

Kostelic was almost flawless in the second run to finish 0.85 seconds ahead of Andre Myhrer of Sweden. Fritz Dopfer of Germany was third.

Bode Miller was the only American of six to complete the first run. However, Miller did not qualify for a second run after his time trailed Matt by 2.39 and finished outside the top 30.

Teammate Ted Ligety, who attempted to move from fourth in the overall race, skied out at the fourth gate.

Kostelic has won five of the last seven World Cup events raced at the storied Swiss venue since January 2010. His 22nd career World Cup victory cut Hirscher's lead to 30 points.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Ivica+Kostelic+wins+WCup+slalom+Hirscher+gets/6000247/story.html#ixzz1jwRnEzqP

The party in the village was an excellent way to end a fabulous three days of sun and snow.

Sunday afternoon awards ceremony for the FIS World Cup Slalom in Wengen