Kostelic wins slalom at Beaver Creek

BEAVER CREEK, Colo., Dec. 8 (UPI) -- Defending World Cup overall champion Ivica Kostelic won the first slalom event of the World Cup season Thursday.

Kostelic put together a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 50.20 seconds to conquer a Beaver Creek course that had given him trouble in the past.

Cristian Deville finished .14 of a second behind Kostelic, earning the first podium finish of his career. Marcel Hirscher was third, .48 of a second behind the winner.

Kostelic has had three surgeries since 1999 following crashes at Beaver Creek. One of them came during the 1999 downhill at the world championships.

"I had a feeling like today was the day," Kostelic said. "Today was the moment for settling some old issues with this course."