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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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Buraas wins Olympic men's slalom, Kimura 13th
 Hans-Petter Buraas |
9:30- Start
Up-and-coming Hans-Petter Buraas came from behind to lead a Norwegian 1-2 finish in the Nagano Olympic men's slalom event Saturday.
The 22-year-old Buraas, who dyed his hair red before going into the race, clocked a two-run combined time of 1:49.31 at the Mt. Yakebitai course in Shiga Kogen highlands for his first victory in a major international competition.
Buraas placed second after the first leg and then turned a 0.22-second deficit against Austrian Thomas Sykora into a convincing victory margin of 1.33 seconds.
Ole Christian Furuseth moved up from third to win the silver in 1:50.64. Sykora failed to cling to his first-round lead and settled for the bronze another 0.04 second behind.
Japanese slalom specialist Kiminobu Kimura failed to make up for his 10th placing after the first run and ended up in a disappointing 13th 2.84 seconds adrift of the winner.
Kimura, starting sixth in the second round, attacked the gates aggressively in the upper section of the 65-gate course but lost his momentum in a slower part later in the race.
Kimura, who stands in the fourth place in the current World Cup standings, could not live up to the high expectations of local fans who packed the stands in the finish area along with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.
Italian star Alberto Tomba, bidding to become the first Alpine skier to win medals in four straight winter games, withdrew from the competition after placing 17th in the first run. (Kyodo News)
Final results of Alpine skiing men's slalom Saturday in the 18th Olympic Winter Games at Mt. Yakebitai, Yamanouchi, Nagano Prefecture (course 607 meters, vertical drop 220 meters, first run 59 gates, second run 60 gates):
1. Hans-Petter Buraas, Norway 1 minute, 49.31 seconds (first run 55.28, second run 54.03)
2. Ole Furuseth, Norway 1:50.64 (55.53, 55.11)
3. Thomas Sykora, Austria 1:50.68 (55.06, 55.62)
4. Tom Stiansen, Norway 1:50.90 (55.70, 55.20)
5. Christian Mayer, Austria 1:51.09 (56.37, 54.72)
6. Thomas Stangassinger, Austria 1:51.25 (55.63, 55.62)
7. Finn Jagge, Norway 1:51.39 (56.06, 55.33)
8. Joel Chenal, France 1:51.51 (56.68, 54.83)
9. Kalle Palander, Finland 1:51.81 (56.37, 55.44)
10. Pierrick Bourgeat, France 1:51.82 (56.28, 55.54)
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13. Kiminobu Kimura, Japan 1:52.15 (56.53, 55.62)
20. Gaku Hirasawa, Japan 1:55.24 (57.74, 57.50)
21. Takuya Ishioka, Japan 1:55.69 (58.85, 56.84)
23. Hur Seung Wook, South Korea 1:58.01 (59.94, 58.07)
27. Arsen Haroutiunian, Armenia 2:15.11 (1:07.51, 1:07.60)
28. Kamil Urumbaev, Uzbekistan 2:18.85 (1:09.55, 1:09.30)
Kentaro Minagawa, Japan Did not finish
Byon Jong Moon, South Korea Did not finish
Levan Abramischvili, Georgia Did not finish
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun