McGrath defends Wengen Slalom crown as Kristoffersen claims 100th podium

Atle Lie McGrath (NOR/Head) won a thrilling Slalom race in Wengen on Sunday as Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR/Van Deer) claimed the 100th Audi FIS World Cup podium place of his career.

Kristoffersen was in second place behind Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA/Atomic) when he crossed the line with two athletes still remaining at the top of the piste; Loic Meillard (SUI/Rossignol) and McGrath.

Meillard was next out, but to the disappointment of the home crowd he was unable to better the time of Kristoffersen, which ensured that the 31-year-old would become the fourth man in history to record 100 career podiums. Kristoffersen is now only one podium finish behind Marc Girardelli (LUX) who is third on an all-time list led by Ingemar Stenmark (SWE) with 163 podiums.

Meillard's finish also meant Pinheiro Braathen was only one run away from notching a first Slalom World Cup victory in history for Brazil, with his close friend and former team-mate McGrath the only one able to stop him.

Sadly for Pinheiro Braathen, McGrath's strong form continued with a slick and comfortable error-free run down the course despite the pressure, crossing the line in a time of 1:45.99 to push Pinheiro Braathen down to second (+0.47) and Kristoffersen into third (+0.81).

McGrath also won last season's Slalom at Wengen, becoming the first athlete to win back-to-back Slaloms at the iconic venue since Clement Noel (FRA/Dynastar) achieved the feat in 2019 and 2020. Last season's race was a clean sweep for Norway, and it would have been the same on Sunday had Pinheiro Braathen not recently decided to switch to racing under the Brazilian flag.

"I can't believe it, I felt so nervous today," McGrath said. "Especially leading here again, it's incredible. The crowd here is insane.

"I saw some words that said 'Would you rather take ten risks and get nine of them, or take a hundred risks and get ten of them?'

"I'm skiing a hundred risks and today I got one of them.

"That was one of the best second runs of my career."

McGrath says he was aware of the impressive second run put down by Pinheiro Braathen before he went out.

"There's a speaker at the start so I knew that he took the lead by a lot," he said. "Not how much but just a lot.

"I know Lucas so well that I know when he skis good, he skis really good.

"So thinking back to the days when we were young and skiing together, how much I had to push, I just pushed everything I had and tried to be a bit tactical. I really skied like I had no lead."

McGrath said of his friend's influence: "Maybe there some Brazilian rhythm in my legs down the pitch there!"

After McGrath's first run, he was seen shouting into the camera "What up Marco, trying to make this my house as well!" in reference to a phrase enjoyed by Marco Odermatt (SUI/Stöckli) when winning races.

"It was more like asking Marco for permission to be a part of this house," McGrath said after his victory was confirmed. "For sure I'm really trying to make Wengen a place I love and to win here back to back is just incredible.

"It's one of the legendary races, so to do it with Lucas and with Henrik is just insane."

Pinheiro Braathen now has three Wengen Slalom podiums to his name, including a victory in 2022, and echoed McGrath's words about sharing the podium with a friend on the renowned slope.

"At the end of the day I'm trying to wake up every single day and ski with my heart and have fun out there," the Atomic skier said.

"That's easier said than done on a race day, especially on a classic like Wengen with so much pressure, so much potential success to be achieved.

"I managed to stay composed and follow my heart and ski for fun, and when I ski for fun I ski fast. That's what I was able to do today.

"I'm immensely proud, and what an honour it is to share the podium with my good friend Atle again."

For Kristoffersen, who now has nine Wengen podiums to his name - including three wins - the achievement of notching his century of World Cup podiums was all the better as he has been sick since his third-place finish in Adelboden last week.

"Wengen is a very nice hill to ski, you need to ski properly good. Both courses were quite nice actually," the Van Deer athlete said.

"I just tried to ski to be honest. Today it was just technical skiing because I had no energy, especially on the second run.

"It was very tough. I've been in bed for six days, I haven't been in the ski boots since Adelboden. I'll probably go back to bed tonight and stay there for a couple of days.

"In the end it's a big achievement for me. It's a very nice hill with a lot of spectators. I'm very satisfied with the day overall."

McGrath now leads the Slalom standings on 372 points following his victory, with Pinheiro Braathen in second on 351. Paco Rassat (FRA/Head) was the leader coming into the weekend, but has dropped to fourth (340) in the list following his DNF, one place and three points behind Clement Noel (FRA/Dynastar) who finished ninth in Wengen.

Check out the full results from the men’s Slalom in Wengen here, with the latest season standings in the race for the Slalom Crystal Globe here.

Also, do please head to Reuters Connect and Actionpress.de to view and purchase a wide selection of photographs from this race and from all FIS events.