Linus Straßer shook his head in the finish area, his Swiss rival Luca Aerni tapped his forehead with his finger.
19 of the 61 planned starters had already struggled down the battered slope at the slalom in Zagreb before the race was canceled on Thursday.
The FIS World Federation decided that the slope was too soft.
The gate run should originally have taken place on Wednesday, but was postponed to Thursday due to the weather.
But the snow couldn't withstand the temperatures.
Which should particularly annoy Straßer, who has not yet cracked the national Olympic standard.
"The decisions in the last two days were really strange," said the frustrated Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen of the ARD. “The conditions on the slope are not good. Today is no better than yesterday. ”Everything is a“ chaos now ”. Especially since the alpine ski entourage has to travel quickly to Adelboden (Switzerland), where the next two men's technical races are scheduled for the weekend. It was particularly bitter for one: The French Olympic third Victor Muffat-Jeandet broke his ankle in a fall on the barely drivable slope, as his team announced in the afternoon.
Straßer, who was the only one of a total of five German athletes to have already crossed the finish line, was ninth at the time of the interruption - 2.16 seconds behind the leading world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag from Norway. "It felt like I went down as 60th and not 14th," said the athlete from TSV 1860 Munich. Nevertheless, he had shown a solid performance and a clear increase in performance compared to the last two slaloms in Val d'Isère and Madonna di Campiglio, in which he - weakened by a gastrointestinal infection and a cold - not for the second run had qualified.
To buy a ticket for the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th), you have to make it into the top 15 twice or once into the top 8 during the World Cup season. There are too many opportunities for Straßer, originally the greatest hope among German slalom drivers, after the Zagreb cancellation. "I usually like such conditions, but today I was no longer sure whether I would really be at the start in the World Cup," said Straßer on ORF.
The corona pandemic meanwhile also resulted in the first relocation in the Olympic winter in the Ski World Cup.
Due to the high incidence, the women's slalom scheduled for January 11th in Flachau has been postponed on the recommendation of the Austrian state of Salzburg.
The Austrian Ski Association announced this without naming a replacement location.
The ÖSV took "this recommendation very seriously and has therefore decided to postpone the race," it said.
An alternative venue is currently being sought “in close coordination with the International Ski Federation” (FIS).
Further World Cup events in the coming week in Salzburg are not affected.
The Ski World Cup will take place on 15./16.
January with two women's speed races in Zauchensee, the alpine snowboarders go on 11/12.
January in Bad Gastein.