Woman's tribute to Bryant upsets competitor at slalom
(Reuters) - A swimsuit-clad woman crossed the finish line holding a banner in memory of late NBA great Kobe Bryant at the Schladming World Cup slalom on Tuesday and sent racer Alex Vinatzer into despair.
The Italian celebrated taking the lead in the second run only to discover that the woman, whose banner read '24 RIP KOBE', had triggered the clock before he had crossed the line.
Vinatzer's time was corrected and instead of leading he found himself 0.13 seconds behind France's Clement Noel.
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen won the race in the Austrian ski resort with Vinatzer finishing sixth.
Bryant, one of the NBA's greatest players, was killed on Sunday aged 41 in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles along with his daughter and seven other people on board.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)
