The start referee at the Adelboden World Cup slalom on January 7 did not realize Alexander Steen Olsen held the lead after the first run. Steen Olsen, the last skier at the start, actively argued with the start referee about his leading position before finally being allowed to race. Next, Steen Olsen caught an inside ski after only a few gates and did not finish the race.

Everyone who knows ski racing knows that top performances require complete focus at the start, especially right before pushing out of the gate. Everyone also knows that the racers in the top 30 after the first run start in reverse order in the second run, with the first-run leader starting last. So, what happened at the Adelboden slalom?

Excitingly tight race

The first slalom run in the Adelboden classic in Switzerland set the scene for an exciting second-run fight for the victory. Norway’s Steen Olsen led the race only 5/100 of a second in front of teammate Atle Lie McGrath, closely followed by the rest of the field.

When Lie McGrath finished his second run, Austria’s Manuel Feller led by only 2/100 of a second, eventually securing Feller the victory. Lots of excitement and emotions soared in the finish area while everyone waited for the first-run leader, Steen Olsen. Unbeknownst to anyone, the Norwegian youngster was actively convincing the starter that he held the lead after the first run and should be granted permission to race.

Page 2: What on earth happened?

During the first run, Benjamin Ritchie of the USA and Joaquim Salarich of Spain tied for 30^th place. Hence,  31 – not 30 – racers participated in the second run.

The official start list fits only 30 racers on the first page, while race leader Steen Olsen’s name ended up on page 2. According to the Swiss newspaper Blick.ch, on January 9, 2024, the start referee did not have the second page and was unaware of who led the World Cup race after the first run.

FIS Director will make replacements

FIS Race Director Markus Waldner intervened on the radio, clearing up the misunderstanding after a minute. Steen Olsen, finally granted permission to start, skied out after reaching only the sixth gate.

Waldner confirmed to the Swiss newspaper that this misunderstanding took place at the Adelboden Chuenisbärgli slalom start and stated firmly: “I must be able to expect a trained start referee to know which racer is in the lead after the first run, even without a start list. The man who did a superb job at the Chuenisbärgli start last year was the finish referee this year. Next year, he will be the start referee again.”

Apology

Jean-Francois Jond of Rossignol, Steen Olsen’s ski brand, shared the shocking start-house drama this Tuesday at the World Cup downhill training in Wengen.

“The start referee didn’t want to let Alexander ski because he thought that the race already was over,” Jond said. Jond asserts that the discussion with the official FIS start referee distracted Steen Olsen, as reported by Blick.ch. “If one of our servicemen uses a binding plate that is 0.1 millimeters too high, the athlete will be disqualified by the FIS. But if the FIS starting referee makes a big mistake, as was the case with Steen Olsen, nothing happens. And that simply can’t be the case,” Jond continued.

The Norwegian national team’s technical coach for the men, Ola Masdal, also confirmed the story, according to the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.no.

“We were quite critical. I stood along the racecourse. After the race, we were critical towards the organizer and FIS. This is not supposed to happen at this level. It can happen, but it should not have happened at this level,” Masdal told Dagbladet.no on January 9, 2024.

Masdal continued: “We met with the chief of race. The whole race organization is sorry about what happened and apologizes.”

What if…?

There are a lot of “what ifs” in life. You never know what might have happened if the circumstances were different in any situation. Certainly, in Steen Olsen’s case, if he would have been able to start without engaging in an argument with the starting referee about his position as the race leader. It was probably an unwelcome distraction to his run. But it’s important not to dwell on the “what ifs” in life. Strong minds move forward.

Regrettably, Steen Olsen has faced delays at the start while aiming for a top result in a World Cup second run before. In the November World Cup slalom in Gurgl, Austria, Steen Olsen had to wait for approximately 15 minutes at the start gate. This wait was due to the removal of climate activists who had stormed into the finish area. Steen Olsen tied with Marco Schwarz, Austria, for fifth place after the first run and finished the race 18^th. Just like in Adelboden, Feller won the Gurgl slalom.

Victorious

Steen Olsen has already proven to be victorious. Last season, at age 21, the young Attacking Viking captured his first-ever World Cup victory at the Palisades Tahoe, USA, slalom competition. In 2022, he won both the slalom and the giant slalom titles at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Panorama, Canada.

You can read more about Steen Olsen’s route to becoming one of the World Cup’s top contenders in this article: Young World Cup Winner: Alexander Steen Olsen’s Story

Sources: Blick.ch, Dagbladet.no