Worlds 2023 | Men’s Slalom | Henrik Kristoffersen world champion, Clément Noël 3 hundredths from the podium

It’s the end of a curse that had lasted too long. Never crowned so far in slalom, at the world championships as well as at the Olympic Games, Henrik Kristoffersen has finally won the gold medal, by winning the world title in Courchevel.

Yet very far at the end of the first round (16th), the Norwegian took advantage of a very difficult second track to let his genius speak. Despite a few faults, there was speed in his skiing and this allowed him to achieve a crazy comeback towards his 3rd victory of the season. But this one is worth gold. As if to add to it, the podium is completed by the unexpected AJ Ginnis (+ 0 “20), the first Greek medalist at the Worlds, and by the Italian Alex Vinatzer (+ 0 “38). Frustration for Clément Noël, who finished at the foot of the podium.

As always, Feller cracked

He warned: “This second round reminds me of the 2014 Olympics”. In Sochi, he had risen from 15th to 3rd place. He kept his word. He even did better than that. Sixteenth at the end of the first heat, Henrik Kristoffersen knew he was going to have to take all the risks to make up his 0”91 deficit on Manuel Feller. So he got involved, even if it means making mistakes. Because his second round is not perfect, far from it. The Norwegian made three mistakes in the wall but he never lost his concentration, managed to keep up the speed and let his skis live, like a quadruple managed to perfection. Author of a stratospheric low, Kristoffersen then crushed the time of Sebastian Holzmann (5th in the end) but blamed himself for his faults.

He thought then that it risked costing him the podium. It didn’t even cost him the title. All the others are at fault and even more than him. The main thrill came from his compatriot Lucas Braathen (7th), passed nine tenths ahead at halfway but guilty of a big fault on the bottom as the gold was reaching out to him. And when Manuel Feller, as usual (4 retirements in 5 gate closures), cracked in the second run, Henrik Kristoffersen was able to let his joy and emotion explode. This title is the end of frustration in major events for the Norwegian (4th in the 2022 Olympics, 4th in the 2015 and 2017 Worlds), never crowned so far. It is now done.

A mistake that will leave regrets at Christmas

Revelation of the month of February, AJ Ginnis did not crack during the second round. Very calm, calm, the American of origin kept his 2nd place (+ 0 “20) and adorned himself with a magnificent silver medal, the very first for Greece at the world championships. A crazy story for one who has been through the operating table so often. Twelve years after that of Manfred Moelgg in Garmisch, the bronze medal once again goes to an Italian with 3rd place for Alex Vinatzer (+ 0″38), who had not been on the podium in a slalom since Madonna in December 2020. He is a mere hundredth ahead of the frustrated of the day: Clément Noël.

Guilty of a big mistake in the first round, the Vosgien was still in the game for the medal on condition of signing THE round. So the Frenchman got involved, after the first wall. But the damage was already done. A little shy in the wall, the Habs made two small mistakes that forced them to correct their line to get back on the track. A section where he lost half a second to Kristoffersen, a tenth more than his delay at the finish (+0″41). however, a bitter chocolate medal, after that of the 2018 Olympics. 29th place (+ 2”94) for Leo Anguenot.