Hadalin wins silver in combined at Ski World Championship
Aare, 11 February - Štefan Hadalin won the silver medal in the combined at the Alpine World Ski Championships in Sweden's Aare on Monday in what is the first medal for Slovenian male skiers since Mitja Kunc's bronze in the slalom in 2001.
Kranjska Gora
Slovenian Alpine skier Štefan Hadalin
Photo: Stanko Gruden/STA
The 23-year-old Slovenian was second only to Alexis Pinturault of France, while third place went to Marco Schwarz of Austria.
Hadalin was far back in 30th place after the downhill but had a superb performance in the slalom part of the event for what is by far his greatest career achievement.
His previous best at world championships was 10th place in the slalom in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 2017.
Hadalin was only 0.24 seconds behind the winner as he achieved the best time in the slalom. It was only the fifth medal for
Slovenian male skiers at world championships.
"I'm speechless... I don't know, I cannot say a word," Hadalin could not hide his excitement as he gave a statement to the national television after the surprise silver.
He added that he had taken the opportunity in the slalom after admittedly making a mistake in the downhill.
This is the second medal for Slovenia at the World Championships in Sweden after Ilka Štuhec won gold in the women's downhill on Sunday.