The Frenchman got his first career win using the fastest run in slalom to finish 0.96 seconds ahead of Pavel Trikhichev of Russia.
Trikhichev, who also got a career-best result, had been 29th after the morning downhill, earning use of the best snow surface in slalom when the top 30 start in reverse order.
”Combined is always a crazy day,” Muffat-Jeandet said. ”You have to fight to stay in the top 30 in downhill.”
Peter Fill of Italy was the best of the downhill specialists, placing third 1.15 behind Muffat-Jeandet after being fourth fastest in the morning. Fill edged Kjetil Jansrud of Norway off the podium by 0.01.
Trikhichev’s previous World Cup best was 16th last Saturday in a giant slalom at nearby Adelboden.
”Surprised, I was really shocked,” the Russian said of his runner-up performance which earned 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,600) in prize money. ”I (thought I) could be top 10 but podium is just http://www.dallascowboysteamonline.com/ezekiel-elliott-jersey ;, `Wow.”’
First-run leader Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria started his slalom run with 2.55 in hand over Muffat-Jeandet but quickly skied out.
World champion Luca Aerni of Switzerland also failed to finish the slalom when holding a 0.40-second lead over Muffat-Jeandet from downhill.
When Aerni won the gold medal on home snow at St. Moritz last February, he was 30th in downhill and got a first run on a clean slalom surface. The 2015 world title was also won by the 30th fastest downhill racer, Austrian star Marcel Hirscher.
The field on Friday was weakened by the winner of the previous combined this season, Alexis Pinturault of France, opting not to start to focus on training for a slalom on Sunday.
Pinturault’s absence allowed Jansrud to close the gap on his third place in the overall World Cup points standings led by six-time defending champion Hirscher who will next race Sunday.
Though men’s and women’s combined are on the Olympic program at the Pyeongchang Games next month, the event’s long-term future is in question.
A mixed gender team event in parallel slalom debuts at the Olympics and the more dynamic, television-friendly racing format is being promoted by the International Ski Federation.
Muffat-Jeandet suggested there would be no World Cup combined event next year at Wengen, where he got a first career podium finish in 2015.
”It’s a little bit of a shame because maybe I will not be coming back in downhill because there will not be a combined,” he said.
The highlight of the three-race meeting is the storied Lauberhorn downhill on Saturday over 4.3 kilometers, the longest course on the World Cup circuit.
On a shorter 2.9-kilometer course on Friday Jack Johnson Jersey , the fastest speed of 146.97 kph (92 mph) was clocked by Dominik Paris of Italy. He placed fifth overall, 0.03 behind teammate Fill.
Clear blue skies are forecast on Saturday for Switzerland’s favorite Alpine race which was cancelled last year because of poor weather.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera may have figured out the only way to avoid injuries to key players in training camp.
”Not practice,” Rivera said after Wednesday’s practice.
The Panthers are less than a week into training camp but have already lost two key players to potential season-ending injuries.
Right tackle Daryl Williams, a second-team All-Pro last season, dislocated his patella and tore his medial collateral ligament during blocking drills on Saturday. Two days later, cornerback Ross Cockrell broke two bones in his leg while trying to break up a pass in the end zone during 11-on-11 team drills.
The Panthers aren’t the only team hurting.
The Green Bay Packers have lost inside linebacker Jake Ryan and safety Kentrell Brice to severe leg injuries, while Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Jason Verrett also went down. Other teams have lost important players to injuries, too.
It’s nothing new, of course.
Injuries happen every year in training camp, a reminder of the fine line coaches must walk between preparing their team for the physicality of the regular season and avoiding injuries to key players that can derail a season.
”If you look at what happened (with our injuries) the truth of the matter is there is nothing you can do about it Chris Kreider Jersey ,” Rivera said. ”That was a freak injury for Ross where the receiver was falling to the ground and he happened to step into it and got rolled up. Daryl was kick-sliding and turned his ankle and came down on it.”
Rivera said injuries are the ”unfortunate nature of this game.”
Still, as a coach he is always looking for ways to prevent them, constantly telling players to ”be smart” on the field.
He did that prior to Wednesday morning’s practice on a slick field at Wofford College following overnight rain.
”I told the defensive backs and the linebackers, `Hey, let’s be smart about the receivers crossing because we don’t want to catch anybody in a bad spot,” Rivera said.
Some injuries can be prevented.
That’s why Rivera and his assistants were unhappy with rookie safety Rashaan Gaulden earlier this week he knocked wide receiver Jarius Wright to the ground in the back of the end zone with a vicious blow to the upper body – one that might have collected a fine from the league had it happened in a game situation. Wright remained on the ground for almost a minute before getting up.
He returned to practice a short while later.
Panthers wide receiver Devin Funchess immediately yelled at Gaulden after the play, saying ”that’s what we talked about – you have to know better.”
Coaches later called Gaulden aside to reprimand him.
”Hey, that’s going to be very suspect because it falls right into the ram, butt and spear idea of using the helmet,” Rivera said. ”So we’ve got to make sure these young people understand it.”
Overall Joel Armia Jersey Kids , Panthers left Matt Kalil said that ”sometimes you just can’t control” injuries.
”You want to play aggressive out here and you want to go full speed and get a game-time simulation,” Kalil said. ”We want to be smart. I think what we can do as veterans, and as players, is we have a guy who is about to fall we want to keep him up and keep him off the ground. But it’s hard because there are a lot of guys flying around out here.”
Panthers cornerback James Bradberry said there is a contact on every play.
”It’s very tough because one of the key components of making a Super Bowl run is having everybody healthy. And when you have prominent guys go down, it’s tough,” Bradberry said. ”You’ve just got to have that next-man-up mentality. And that’s what we have here.”
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