He also became the champion of the Australian and New Zealand Cup giant slalom event and won third place overall. This is the first trophy won by a Lithuanian in stage-based competitions in history.
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In the second giant slalom race of the day – the final stage of the Australian and New Zealand Cup – A. Drukarovas outperformed all competitors, completing both runs in the exact same time – 54.81 seconds. His combined winning time was 1 min. 49.62 sec.
The second place in the second race of the day was taken by Italian Francesco Riccardo Zucchini (0.11 seconds behind), and third place by Dane Christian Borgnaes (0.41 seconds behind). A. Drukarovas’ teammate, Estonian Tormis Laine, finished 16th (2.50 seconds behind).
The 27-year-old Lithuanian’s victory was rated at 15.03 FIS points. This is his second-best career result.
A better score – 15 points – A. Drukarovas achieved only after winning the most important victory of his career so far – the European Cup stage in Austria in January 2025.
FIS points, calculated based on the competition level, the gap from the leader, and several other factors including participant strength, determine the place in the world ranking and thus more favorable start positions, which are especially important in top-level competitions. The fewer points, the better the result. In regional cup competitions – European, Australian and New Zealand, and North American stages – the lowest possible points to earn is 15. Only in the most prestigious stage competitions – the World Cup, as well as the world championship and the Olympic Games – is the winner’s result rated with zero points.
In the first race of the day, the Lithuanian alpine skier completed two giant slalom runs in 1 min. 46.27 sec. He was beaten only by Norwegian Storm Andre Hagen (1 min. 45.46 sec.). American Townsend Mikkelis finished third (1 min. 46.57 sec.). T. Laine was 17th (1 min. 48.80 sec.). The Lithuanian earned 22.76 FIS points for second place.
Today’s races were already the sixth and seventh in New Zealand, where the Lithuanian has been training with T. Laine since the end of July.
Previously, A. Drukarovas finished 7th (giant slalom), 11th (slalom), 7th (slalom) in the Australian and New Zealand Cup stages, and did not finish in another slalom stage the day before yesterday.
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