Felix Neureuther of Germany won the World Cup parallel slalom here on Friday in an event staged on an artificial slope to help promote Russia’s readiness to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

France’s Jean-Baptiste Grange was second with American superstar Bode Miller taking third ahead of compatriot Ted Ligety in a competition held in the shadow of the Kremlin.

“I feel great,” Neureuther said. “It’s natural to feel great when you win.

“It was very interesting to compete on this artificial ramp. It’s completely different to a natural slope, but still a really challenging and interesting experience.”

The 24-year-old Neureuther defeated Bernard Vajdic of Slovenia in the opening round, Austria’s Mario Matt in the quarter-final and Ligety in the semis before beating FIS World Cup slalom section leader Grange in the deciding races.

Neureuther won the first leg of the final and finished even with the Frenchman in the second.

The referees decided to give the finalists the third deciding attempt but Grange missed his chance as he fell in the middle of the distance.

A special 200m artificial ski slope, with a 56m drop in height, was constructed within the campus of Moscow State University specially for the event.

The organisers however had to bring to Moscow a caravan of refrigerators with more than 3,000 cubic metres of natural snow from Siberia to provide the competitors with a top-class surface that fit strict FIS demands.

from: google.com