Kostelic wins Kitzbuehel ski combined

KITZBUHEL, Austria (AFP) –

Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic competes during the first round of the FIS World Cup men’s slalom race on January 27, 2013 in Kitzbuehel, Austrian Alps. Kostelic claimed a record fourth consecutive victory in the men’s World Cup combined event

Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic claimed a record fourth consecutive victory in the men’s World Cup combined event on Sunday.

The 2011 overall World Cup winner has been struggling with his problematic right knee, last operated on in February 2012, forcing him to skip large parts of his training regime

But the 33-year-old slalom specialist produced the goods on Sunday with a blistering second run, clocking 1min 45.27sec.

That time was added to his effort in Saturday’s downhill to hand him the combined title with a total of 3min 45.80sec, with French duo Alexis Pinturault and Thomas Mermillod Blondin at 1.26 and 2.56sec respectively.

The combined event will be replaced next season by a super-combined event, comprising a shortened downhill and one slalom run.

Norway’s Kjetil Andre Aamodt also won four combined titles in Kitzbuehel, but they were non-consecutive.

Kostelic also equalled Aamodt’s record of six consecutive podium showings in the combined event. Remarkably, it was the Croat veteran’s 10th overall podium in Kitzbuehel.