Kristoffersen beats McGrath to lead Norwegian 1-2 in last World Cup slalom before Olympics

SCHLADMING, Austria (AP) — Henrik Kristoffersen ended his wait of nearly 11 months for another World Cup win on Wednesday, triumphing in the last slalom before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Racing under the floodlights, Kristoffersen beat his Norwegian teammate and first-run leader Atle Lie McGrath by 0.34 seconds with an all-attacking, wild final run.

His 34th career victory could have hardly come in a more fitting place, as Kristoffersen lives in Salzburg, an hour-long drive from Schladming, where he also earned his first career win in January 2014.

“It’s a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I don’t cry a lot, and I never cry for pain or sadness, but today I cry for joy,” Kristoffersen said in a tearful course-side interview.

He hadn't triumphed since winning back-to-back races in one weekend in Slovenia in early March.

Kristoffersen won the traditional night race for a record fifth time, moving him one past Austrian standout Benjamin Raich, the two-time gold medalist from the 2006 Olympics who won the event four times between 1999 and 2007.

“Fifth time Schladming, I guess this is my house,” Kristoffersen said.

The victory also moved him within two wins of Norwegian record holder Aksel Lund Svindal, who took 36 career World Cups before retiring in 2019.

Defending Olympic champion Clément Noël posted the fastest second-run time and the Frenchman improved from eighth to third position, trailing Kristoffersen by 0.54 seconds.

The rest of the field, led by Lucas Pinheiro Braathen in fourth, was more than 1.5 seconds off the pace.

Loic Meillard, who beat Pinheiro Braathen to win a GS on the same hill Tuesday, skied out in the second run of the slalom.

Pinheiro Braathen lost his lead in the slalom season standings. Now on 451 points, he trails his former Norwegian teammate McGrath by a single point.

Kristoffersen, who became the seventh different winner in nine slalom races this season, climbed to fifth with 373 points.

There are two more slaloms scheduled in March.

The last men’s World Cup race before the Olympics is a downhill in Crans-Montana on Sunday.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, center, winner of an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, celebrates on the podium with second-placed Norway's Atle Lie McGrath, left, and third-placed France's Clement Noel, in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Norway's Atle Lie McGrath, second-placed in an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, back to camera, hugs winner Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen is overcome by emotion as eh celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen competes in an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, men's World Cup slalom, in Schladming, Austria, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee law has eased up on two longstanding financial hurdles for people with felony sentences who want their voting rights back, including a unique requirement among states that they must have fully paid their child support costs.

The Republican-supermajority Legislature approved the Democratic-sponsored change, which now lets people prove they have complied for the last year with child support orders, such as payment plans. The legislation also unties the payment of all court costs from voting rights restoration.

Advocates for years have sought various changes to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration system at the statehouse and in court. They say loosening these two rules marks the biggest rollback of restrictions to voting rights restoration in decades.

“This is huge and this is history,” said Keeda Haynes, senior attorney for the advocacy group Free Hearts led by formerly incarcerated women like her.

Most Republicans voted for it and Democrats supported it unanimously. The law took effect immediately upon Republican Gov. Bill Lee's signature last week.

“I think people are at a point where they want to just remove the barriers out of the way and allow people to be fully functional members of society,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a bill sponsor.

In 2023 and early 2024, the state shelved a paperwork process that didn’t require going to court and decided gun rights were required to restore the right to vote. Election officials said a court ruling made the changes necessary, though voting rights advocates said officials misinterpreted the order.

Last year, lawmakers untangled voting and gun rights. But voting rights advocates opposed some of the bill's other provisions, such as keeping the process in the courts, where costs can rack up if someone isn't ruled indigent.

Easing up on the financial requirements uncommonly split legislative Republicans. For instance, Senate Speaker Randy McNally voted against it, while House Speaker Cameron Sexton supported it, noting that people aren't getting forgiveness on making their payments.

“They need to continue paying that, and as long as they do, then there’s a possibility (to restore their voting rights)," Sexton said. "I really think that’s harder for people to argue against than maybe what something else was.”

Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett, who voted no, said in committee his vote would hinge on whether “there still can be an (child support) arrearage owed beyond that 12 months.”

For some, backed-up child support payments could reach hundreds or thousands of dollars, and court costs could be hundreds or thousands more, said Gicola Lane, Campaign Legal Center's Restore Your Vote community partnership senior manager.

Advocates credited their narrowed focus, omitting goals such as automatic restoration of rights, no longer tying restitution payments to voting rights, or offering a path for certain people to restore their right who are permanently disenfranchised, including those convicted of voter fraud or most murder charges.

The bill passed the Senate last year and the House this year.

Lawmakers gave the child support requirement final passage in 2006 within an overhaul bill that also created a voting rights restoration process outside of court. Critics said the child support rule penalized impoverished parents.

Democrats were then narrowly hanging onto legislative leadership in both chambers. Republicans held a slim Senate majority but GOP defectors voted for a Democratic speaker.

Last year marked the dismissal of a nearly five-year-old federal lawsuit over Tennessee’s voting-rights restoration system. Free Hearts and the Campaign Legal Center represented plaintiffs in the long-delayed case, which saw some election policy changes along the way.

Roughly 184,000 people have completed supervision for felonies and their offenses don't preclude them from restoring their voting rights, according to a plaintiffs expert’s 2023 estimate in the lawsuit. About one in 10 were estimated to have outstanding child support payments, and more than six in 10 owed court courts, restitution or both, the expert said.

Both Republican and Democratic-led states have eased the voting rights restoration process in recent years. Some states have added complexities.

In Florida, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 restoring the right to vote for people with felony convictions, the Republican-controlled Legislature watered that down by requiring payment of fines, fees and court costs.

Voting rights are automatically restored upon release in nearly half of states. In 15 others, it occurs after parole, probation or a similar period and sometimes requires paying outstanding court costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maine and Vermont, people with felonies keep their voting rights in prison, the NCSL says.

Ten other states including Tennessee require additional government action. Virginia ’s governor must intervene to restore voting rights of people convicted of felonies. In some states, including Tennessee, certain conviction types render someone ineligible.

However, Virginia lawmakers this year have passed a proposed state constitutional amendment to ask voters whether they want automatic voting rights restoration after someone is released from prison. Kentucky lawmakers have proposed a similar change for voters' consideration that would automatically restore voting rights after certain completed sentences, including probation.

FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)