Austria's Hirscher Wins Slalom Amid Allegations of Cheating SCHLADMING, Austria - The annual ski-racing extravaganza known as Nightrace Schladming drew more than 40,000 fans to this small village Tuesday evening. They got to see one of their countrymen win the famed World Cup slalom competition under stadium lights, just as he is coming under intense criticism in a debate that is roiling the sport. Marcel Hirscher, a 22-year-old Austrian, reasserted himself as the king of slalom, finishing with a combined time of 1 minute 43.01 seconds to edge Stefano Gross of Italy by .22 seconds. As Hirscher fell to the ground in the finish area, the crowd erupted in cheers, horns blared and flares shot up over the slopes. It was his first win on home soil. "As a little boy, I dreamt of wining here," he said. And fortunately, today the dream came true. But not everyone was celebrating Hirscher's performance. Hirscher is facing allegations of cheating and unsportsmanlike gamesmanship. The issue? Straddling, a violation that occurs when a racer does not clear a gate with both skis and is grounds for disqualification. If a skier suspects that he has straddled a gate, he is supposed to stop, and ski out of the race. If he does not take himself out of competition, he is disqualified and subject to a fine - about $1,000, levied by the sport's world governing body. The infraction is difficult to see with the human eye because of the speed of the skiers and the snow that is turned up as they cut around the gates. Straddling is often detected only in high-resolution video, which is examined if a judge flags a gate for a possible infraction or a national team files a protest with the governing body, known as F.I.S. Hirscher was disqualified and fined at the last two slalom competitions, in Wengen, Switzerland, and Kitzbühel, Austria, for straddling and continuing through to finish the race. Opponents have accused him of straddling gates at two other events, though ski officials have cleared him of wrongdoing at those. On Sunday, Ivica Kostelic of Croatia denounced Hirscher, claiming that he had knowingly straddled gates and continued skiing in recent competitions. Kostelic is in first place in the World Cup standings in both the slalom and the overall, and Hirscher is second in both. "That struck me deeply," Kostelic said after winning the super combined and placing third in the slalom in Kitzbühel on Sunday. I was very disappointed and it motivated me highly. It is just one race, but the shame last forever. Kostelic's comments instigated a furor in the ski world. Though Kostelic and Hirscher publicly made amends here on Monday night, race officials feared violence might erupt between Austrian and Croatian fans at Tuesday night's race. Additional police were brought in from around the country to patrol the event. When Kostelic stepped into the gate for his second run, a line of officers moved to fortify the gate that separates the athletes from the crowd. At night's end, the police had not reported any incidents among fans, though the debate lingered. Kostelic's remarks had prompted F.I.S. to review Hirscher's recent victories in Adelboden, Switzerland, and Zagreb, Croatia. Hirscher has placed in the top three in 8 of the season's 13 technical races, including Tuesday's night's race. He has rejected accusations that he knowingly committed infractions, but several racers and coaches said it was unlikely that Hirscher was unaware that he had straddled a gate. "It's clear that Hirscher is continuing even when he straddles," said Sasha Rearick, the coach of the United States men's ski team. "He doesn't care about the 999 CHF fine," he added, referring to the amount of the fine in Swiss francs. All athletes know when they straddle. Out of 99 straddles, 98 times they know they've straddled and maybe two times there's a question out of 100. They feel the gate hit the inside ski. They know. Brad Spence, a Canadian racer, said: "The racers who say they don't know they straddle, I have a really hard time believing that. We're professionals and we know what we're doing. When you straddle, you feel it. It's tough to see competitors try to get away with it because we're trying to have a fair sport here. Ted Ligety, an American who finished sixth Tuesday, did not seem as convinced. "Sometimes you feel it and sometimes you don't," he said. Sometimes it's obvious, but sometimes it's subtle and hard to feel. At a meeting on Monday night, the F.I.S. race chief Gunther Huajara tried to defuse the issue by showing team captains and journalists high-resolution video of Hirscher's runs in Adelboden and Zagreb. The video seemed to show that Hirscher skied the gates cleanly. Hirscher had a three-race winning streak in January, and it ended with the two disqualifications for straddling at the last two slalom races. On Tuesday, he was back atop the podium, amid the nighttime glow and a snowy sky. "It means a lot to me, especially after this," he said, referring to the accusations of cheating. It's been the hardest time in my career. It's been pretty tough; maybe I made some small mistakes. It's a new situation for me. To have another victory here in Schladming, I live 30 minutes by car away from here. I thank everyone from my nation; what a wonderful feeling it is.