Skiing: Kostelic crowned
Croatian returns home on a private jet for treatment on knee injury
Last Updated: February 13, 2012 9:23am
Ivica Kostelic is congratulated after clinching the super-combined World Cup in Sochi
Ivica Kostelic clinched the super-combined World Cup on the Olympic course in Sochi, though victory may have come at a price for the Croatian.
After an unspectacular run in the morning downhill, Kostelic returned in the afternoon to dominate in the slalom, finishing with a combined time of two minutes and 50.21 seconds.
However the defending overall World Cup champion, whose career has been hampered by knee and back operations, limped away with a knee injury before flying home in a private jet for treatment.
It was Kostelic's second win in succession in the super-combined discipline, while he has also now increased his lead in the overall title to 70 points.
Beat Feuz remains his nearest challenger, the winner of Saturday's downhill finishing second, 1.16 seconds behind.
The Swiss was quick to offer his best wishes to his rival after hearing the news about Kostelic, who did not appear at the post-race press conference.
"I'm very sorry to have heard this news. I hope it's not so bad and he will return as quickly as possible," he said. "He's a big champion, and I would be sorry if he has a serious injury."
France's Thomas Mermillod-Blond, who ended up 1.77 off the pace, completed the podium by taking third place.
American Bode Miller pulled out of the slalom run after only a few gates due to a problem with his ankle.
