SCHLADMING, Austria, Jan 28 (Reuters) - An emotional Henrik Kristoffersen led teammate Atle Lie McGrath in a Norwegian one-two in the final men's World Cup Alpine skiing slalom before the Milano Cortina Olympics on Wednesday.
The win in the night race in Schladming was Kristoffersen's first of the season and 34th of his career and he achieved it by 0.34 of a second after trailing McGrath in the first run under the floodlights by 0.15.
France's reigning Olympic champion Clement Noel completed the podium with Norwegian-born Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen fourth after losing time on the lower part of the run.
McGrath took the leader's red bib in the slalom standings by a point from Braathen, with two slaloms to come after the Games in Italy.
"After all the stuff I've been through, people had probably written me off but I don't care," said Kristoffersen, 31.
He has had three third-place finishes this season and will be seeking a first gold at the Olympics next month after a giant slalom silver in 2018 and slalom bronze in 2014.
"As long as things are somewhat skiable, I can still do it. Today, especially in the second run, you had to be a proper skier," added Kristoffersen.
The win was his fifth in Schladming, a record, and it came 12 years after he won his first at a resort he said felt like home.
"This is my house," he said smiling, as a loud and lively crowd packed the finish area.
CONTENDERS FAIL TO FINISH
A string of contenders failed to finish the tricky second leg, including France's Paco Rassat and Switzerland's Loic Meillard -- both winners this season -- but Kristoffersen defended the course setter.
"It's not the course set that makes it challenging," he said. "It's the conditions that makes it challenging. I was on the limit a couple of times but in the end when it's difficult, the proper skiers come out."
There have now been seven different slalom winners in nine men's races this season, with McGrath and Rassat the only ones to repeat the feat.
McGrath said he was extremely relieved to get to the bottom, even if it was second at the end, after three recent non-finishes including Kitzbuehel last weekend.
"I'm super-proud of how I handled it and I kept my nerve," he said. "I really skied as well as I could. It was just make it to the finish and hope it was fast."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Clare Fallon)
