Olympic slalom champion Matt seeks turnaround before worlds

SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) — Olympic champion Mario Matt has one last chance to get his slalom season on track before the Alpine skiing world championships.

The Austrian wants to use Tuesday’s night race for a turnaround in fortunes. He failed to finish the first five slaloms of this World Cup campaign before placing 19th in Wengen last week and 12th in Kitzbuehel on Sunday.

A poor run of results usually doesn’t unsettle Matt. He didn’t finish three of the last four World Cup races before taking gold at the Sochi Games.

But less than three weeks before the slalom at the worlds in Beaver Creek — likely his last major event — the 35-year-old Matt says “I’ve been fast in training all season. But you need some results in races to free your mind.”