Kjetil Jansrud edged ahead of his Norwegian teammate Aksel Lund Svindal to win a World Cup combined event that favoured downhill racers on Friday in Wengen, Switzerland.
Jansrud needed acrobatic recovery skills to avoid a near wipeout in the final slalom section to post a time that beat first-run leader Svindal by .04 seconds.
Crossing the finish line, Jansrud — who rarely skis slalom — raised both arms and punched the air with his left fist.
Adrien Theaux of France placed third, trailing .13 behind Jansrud's two-run time of two minutes, 37.61 seconds.
Broderick Thompson of Whistler, B.C., was the top Canadian finisher in 28th, 3.80 seconds behind Jansrud. Calgary's Tyler Werry was 37th (+5.97) while Erik Guay of Mont Tremblant, Que., did not start the downhill portion of the event.
Jansrud's second World Cup win this season and 12th of his career extended a remarkable run in Alpine racing for Norway, where cross-country skiing is more popular.
Norwegian racers have 10 victories in the 17 men's events this season.
Svindal got 80 World Cup points and trails 85 points behind overall standings leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who typically skips speed events. Svindal can take the lead on Saturday when he starts as favourite for the classic Lauberhorn downhill.
The combined event has been upgraded in status this season. The International Ski Federation will award a crystal globe trophy to the seasonlong standings winner for the first time since 2012.
A second combined event is scheduled next Friday at Kitzbuehel, Austria, and a third on Feb. 19 at Chamonix, France.
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