Skier's 2nd-place finish at Park City reinstated

An appeal filed by Austrian skier Rainer Schoenfelder has been upheld by the International Ski Federation, giving him a second-place World Cup finish.

In its ruling Tuesday, the FIS said the ski jury that disqualified Schoenfelder did not have that authority and, right or wrong, his results must be reinstated.

Kalle Palander of Finland won the World Cup men's slalom in America's Opening on Nov. 23 at Park City.

On his first run in that race, Schoenfelder claimed, an injured course worker distracted him and he fell.

The jury accepted his account of the fall and allowed him to make a provisional re-run. On that run he finished second behind Palander. Schoenfelder then made his required second run and finished second overall.

Ten countries, including the United States, filed a protest and, race director Gunther Hujara said, new evidence apparently showed Schoenfelder did not follow the rules. This resulted in the jury voting "unanimously to reject the first decision to allow a provisional re-run and make the run not valid and to take Schoenfelder off the results," Hujara said.

But the FIS said that having awarded him a provisional re-run, "it was not the appropriate body to rule on Schoenfelder's race results. . . . The jury was not empowered to rule on its own ruling."

This decision Tuesday bumped the rest of the field back one place in the final standings.

Originally, Manfred Pranger of Austria was second and Giorgio Rocca of Italy third. Pranger will now be moved to third. America's Tom Rothrock will be moved from eighth to ninth, and Chip Knight from 17th to 18th.

The 10 nations filing the protest now have the right to appeal the decision. Jesse Hunt, alpine director for the U.S. Ski Team, said he will not appeal. "It's a dead case. It's over."

The reinstatement actually helped U.S. skier Bode Miller in the overall World Cup standings. By pushing back the field, he gained 22 points because it erased Austria's Michael Walchhofer's 12th place in the race.

Walchhofer, who was 31st after the first race, was moved up to 30 and allowed to race. He moved up to 12th on his second run. Only the top 30 skiers are allowed to make second runs and qualify for World Cup points. Pushing him back to 31st means his race results will not count.

Miller fell in that race.

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