Hirscher Finds Rhythm in the Disco Sticks

Six-time World Cup overall winner Marcel Hirscher stands five feet and six inches tall, but the word small does not accurately describe him. His eyes are a piercing blue–almost aggressively so. When he won the slalom in Val d’Isere and removed his helmet during the Austrian national anthem, his brown hair moved into a distinguished, yet disheveled style that is uniquely Hirscher. He looked happy.

The Austrian’s win was his first podium in the discipline this season. It came nearly a month after his return to the World Cup circuit in November at Levi, Finland, where he was 17th. Fans may recall Hirscher fractured his ankle back in August and missed valuable pre-season training time.

After the first run, it appeared Sunday may not be his day when he came down in eight place. The frustrated athlete left the finish area quickly after his run and used the break in between starts to reset mentally and switch to a new pair of skis.

“If you’re a racer, 100 percent, you want to win,” Hirscher said. “That is for sure, and if you are not performing great or what you expecting, I mean, it is disappointing and so I tried to refocus myself, and watch videos, analyze them and I was looking for what was wrong. I change something and adjust something as well as my skiing, I tried to improve. More clean turns were needed, so that was good second run.”

Val d’Isere is a tough place to ski clean. The slope infamously challenges even the best athletes as fans saw in Saturday’s GS, and the nonstop snowfall on Sunday made visibility and snow conditions even tougher. This was not light, fun snowfall. Mother Nature dropped huge flakes from 6 a.m. onward. Officials estimated 10 centimeters fell during the first run alone. By the end of the day it was said that 60-70 centimeters (or about 2 feet) had fallen since the early morning.

Hirscher said snowy days like this are what you dream about as a kid, but when it comes to racing, it’s not ideal. He adamantly thanked the more than 150 volunteers who helped keep the course in shape throughout the race. Without them, his win would not have been possible.

He was joined on the podium by rival Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway. The Attacking Viking took second place, a repeat of his finish in Levi, and his consistency gave him the red bib heading into Madonna di Campiglio later this month. However, like Hirscher, Kristoffersen can not be satisfied with second place even if he is pleased to be on the podium. He always looking for the win, and after the race, he explained what has been missing in these first two races.

“In Levi, I was a little sick, so I didn’t have my best day there. Especially the second run, I felt terrible.” he said. “Today, parking ticket on the first flat before the second split there. I think I skied fast in sections in the second run, but I had two, three big mistakes. Pretty happy to only be 39-hundredths [out] in second place today. Could have been no place. Could have been out, so I managed that and I’m pretty happy.”

Kristoffersen was the highlight of great day for the Norwegian squad. All four athletes landed in the top 15. Jonathan Nordbotten, a former University of Vermont Catamount, earned a career-best fifth place result.

Andre Myhrer rounded out the podium in third place, marking the Swede’s first podium of the season and his first ever at this venue.

“Really happy with the outcome here,” Myhrer shared. “It was important for me to gain some points, and I know that Val d’Isere is normally not the best hill for me. Therefore, I’m really happy with the podium.”

Unfortunately, it was a tough day for the Americans with no athletes earning World Cup points. David Chodounsky was 18th after the first run, but took a spill just a few gates from the finish line. No other Americans qualified for a second run.

Slalom can go wrong very, very quickly…

As @usskiteam star David Chodounsky just found out ? pic.twitter.com/b87A4bZZ9t

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) December 10, 2017

The women now leave St. Moritz–where the last day of racing was canceled–and take the men’s place in Val d’Isere for a series of speed races. The men head off to Val Gardena for their own speed events.

Top 10

1. Marcel Hirscher (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
3. Andre Mhyrer (SWE) – Head / Head / Head
4. Michael Matt (AUT) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
5. Jonathan Nordbotten (NOR) – Head / Head / Head
6. Stefano Gross (ITA) –  Volkl / Dalbello / Marker
7. Fritz Dopfer (GER) – Nordica / Nordica / Marker
8. Mattias Hargin (SWE) –  Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9. Sebastian Voss-Solevaag (NOR) – Volkl / Dalbello / Marker
9. Marco Schwarz (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic 

Official Results