Manuel Feller led Austria to a sweep of the World Cup slalom podium for the first time since 2001 on Saturday after setting a blistering pace on his opening run in front of a delighted home crowd at Gurgl.

The 31-year-old Feller was nearly a second faster than the field on his first run before winning the race 0.23 ahead of Marco Schwarz. Michael Matt completed the Austrian hat trick in the first men's World Cup slalom ever held at Gurgl.

Feller's win in the season-opening World Cup skiing slalom was the first by an Austrian after 17 slalom races.

He was a career-best second in the overall World Cup slalom standings in 2022.

The race was missing last season's slalom crystal globe winner Lucas Braathen of Norway, who recently shocked the skiing world by announcing his retirement at age 23.

The women's downhill race in Zermatt-Cervinia in northwest Italy was called off earlier on Saturday due to strong winds.

(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Hugh Lawson)