Clement Noel Takes Gold for France in WJC Men’s Slalom
On Wednesday, slalom served as the closing men’s event of the 2018 World Junior Championships in Davos, Switzerland. Frenchman and breakout World Cup youngster Clement Noel took the win by a massive 2.77 seconds in front of Italy’s Alex Vinatzer in seconds and 3.18 seconds clear of Joachim Jagge Lindstoel of Norway in third.
The winner of the first five races in Davos, Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, did not race the slalom.
Noel has proved he has the right stuff to compete at the World Cup level, twice finishing inside the top 10 in Schladming and Kitzbuehel where he finished sixth and eighth, respectively.
“Winning here in Davos is a big achievement for me,” Noel said. “It was a tough race with many athletes dropping out and I think my experience from World Cup level has helped me a lot to ski so well. I am really happy with this gold medal.”
The young men had a challenging day despite Wednesday’s great weather. The snow and the course setting got many athletes into trouble as the race track was injected with water but conditions did not turn out consistent throughout the whole track. Some sections had grippy snow where others had slick ice. At some gates the track even broke through and rutted up.
The course set proved to be the deciding factor on the day as the distances between gates was 10-11 meters, which is quite standard but courses swung considerably across the hill on the steep sections, which is not seen that often at the FIS level according to U.S Development Team coach Justin Jonson.
In the first run, 75 skiers did not see the finish.
Nevertheless, Jonson was satisfied with the performance of the men team in Davos. Two Americans, River Radamus and Jett Seymour, ended up ninth and 10th, respectively, and George Steffey placed 23rd. Luke Winters, Kyle Negomir, and Jimmy Krupka skied out in the second run.
“We have been able to start competitive racers for each discipline and have been ranked each day in the top ten,” Johnson explained. “About two years ago that was not the case.”
Jonson sees that the past work as payed off, but stopping right now is not an option.
“The program needs to continue and improve to produce World Junior medals,” he added. “And for the athletes who are about to leave us for the next level, NorAm or later World Cup, the process needs to go on. We need to go back to the basics, work on the fundamentals of skiing and being able to repeat them for about 50 turns in a row. Additionally, we need to train the skills of adjusting to steep hills, rolls, flat hills, soft and hard snow or ice, and really any course set possible.”
The German men’s team seems to be in a similar position as the Americans.
“In some disciplines we are able to compete,” said Andreas Ertl, former World Cup skier and now head coach of the development teams in Germany. “For men’s speed events we hope to have young skiers ready for top results at the World Junior Championships in maybe two years.”
In the end, it is important to not lose sight of the fact that World Juniors are simply a measurement of how each country is developing their junior athletes that hope to some day make it to the World Cup.
Switzerland still holds first place in the medal standings with 10 to Austria’s eight. The race for the prestigious Marc Hodler Trophy, on the other hand, is still wide open with Switzerland leading Austria by a mere seven points. The women’s downhill will take place on Thursday, Feb. 8, and will determine the winner of the team standings.
Official Results
Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Diff. | FIS Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 6 | 6190403 | NOEL Clement | 1997 | FRA | 52.02 | 53.29 | 1:45.31 | 6.00 | |
2 | 12 | 6293171 | VINATZER Alex | 1999 | ITA | 54.30 | 53.78 | 1:48.08 | +2.77 | 24.94 |
3 | 3 | 422546 | LINDSTOEL Joachim Jagge | 1997 | NOR | 54.35 | 54.14 | 1:48.49 | +3.18 | 27.74 |
4 | 16 | 54444 | GSTREIN Fabio | 1997 | AUT | 54.23 | 54.40 | 1:48.63 | +3.32 | 28.70 |
5 | 13 | 512274 | BISSIG Semyel | 1998 | SUI | 54.15 | 54.77 | 1:48.92 | +3.61 | 30.68 |
6 | 33 | 422729 | BRAATHEN Lucas | 2000 | NOR | 55.25 | 54.18 | 1:49.43 | +4.12 | 34.17 |
7 | 22 | 202908 | HIMMELSBACH Fabian | 1999 | GER | 54.55 | 55.03 | 1:49.58 | +4.27 | 35.19 |
8 | 30 | 6190467 | PIOLAINE Simon | 1997 | FRA | 55.55 | 54.04 | 1:49.59 | +4.28 | 35.26 |
9 | 9 | 6532084 | RADAMUS River | 1998 | USA | 55.38 | 55.05 | 1:50.43 | +5.12 | 41.01 |
10 | 4 | 6532163 | SEYMOUR Jett | 1998 | USA | 55.12 | 55.48 | 1:50.60 | +5.29 | 42.17 |
11 | 29 | 380377 | KOLEGA Samuel | 1999 | CRO | 56.04 | 54.90 | 1:50.94 | +5.63 | 44.49 |
12 | 42 | 512303 | BOISSET Arnaud | 1998 | SUI | 56.18 | 54.94 | 1:51.12 | +5.81 | 45.72 |
13 | 71 | 512273 | SPARR Maurus | 1998 | SUI | 55.80 | 55.38 | 1:51.18 | +5.87 | 46.13 |
14 | 55 | 202873 | PFOEDERL Nikolaus | 1998 | GER | 56.58 | 54.91 | 1:51.49 | +6.18 | 48.25 |
15 | 28 | 104488 | FOURNIER Simon | 1997 | CAN | 55.72 | 55.84 | 1:51.56 | +6.25 | 48.73 |
16 | 44 | 6292404 | BLENGINI Alberto | 1997 | ITA | 56.53 | 55.30 | 1:51.83 | +6.52 | 50.58 |
17 | 47 | 561369 | RUPNIK Matevz | 1997 | SLO | 57.29 | 55.06 | 1:52.35 | +7.04 | 54.13 |
18 | 61 | 92721 | TODOROV Yoan | 1997 | BUL | 57.06 | 55.59 | 1:52.65 | +7.34 | 56.18 |
19 | 27 | 104529 | MULLIGAN Sam | 1997 | CAN | 56.52 | 56.28 | 1:52.80 | +7.49 | 57.21 |
20 | 78 | 6301077 | AIHARA Shiro | 2001 | JPN | 57.98 | 55.37 | 1:53.35 | +8.04 | 60.97 |
21 | 34 | 481897 | ALEKHIN Nikita | 1998 | RUS | 58.35 | 55.44 | 1:53.79 | +8.48 | 63.98 |
22 | 81 | 230728 | TZIOVAS Nikolaos | 1997 | GRE | 1:00.11 | 58.58 | 1:58.69 | +13.38 | 97.48 |
23 | 21 | 6531963 | STEFFEY George | 1997 | USA | 1:01.88 | 57.66 | 1:59.54 | +14.23 | 103.29 |
24 | 77 | 20442 | RIUS GIMENEZ Alex | 1998 | AND | 1:00.63 | 58.94 | 1:59.57 | +14.26 | 103.50 |
25 | 97 | 40624 | ADAMS Jack | 1998 | AUS | 1:01.24 | 59.11 | 2:00.35 | +15.04 | 108.83 |
26 | 69 | 6300673 | WAKATSUKI Hayata | 1999 | JPN | 1:09.52 | 56.78 | 2:06.30 | +20.99 | 149.51 |
27 | 103 | 230733 | MANTSIOS Vasileios | 1998 | GRE | 1:07.06 | 1:05.73 | 2:12.79 | +27.48 | 193.88 |
28 | 119 | 130040 | HO Ping-Jui | 1998 | TPE | 1:10.73 | 1:08.53 | 2:19.26 | +33.95 | 238.11 |
29 | 121 | 690763 | GONCHARENKO Artem | 1999 | UKR | 1:11.74 | 1:12.14 | 2:23.88 | +38.57 | 269.70 |
30 | 124 | 340576 | SAMAHA Georges | 2001 | LBN | 1:18.86 | 1:20.26 | 2:39.12 | +53.81 | 373.90 |
Did not finish 2nd run | ||||||||||
80 | 110449 | HOLSCHER Diego | 2001 | CHI | ||||||
79 | 6532116 | KRUPKA Jimmy | 1998 | USA | ||||||
63 | 104539 | SEGER Riley | 1997 | CAN | ||||||
58 | 6532123 | NEGOMIR Kyle | 1998 | USA | ||||||
38 | 104818 | MCCORMACK Declan | 1999 | CAN | ||||||
20 | 6300451 | KATO Seigo | 1998 | JPN | ||||||
18 | 60261 | MAES Sam | 1998 | BEL | ||||||
17 | 6531936 | WINTERS Luke | 1997 | USA | ||||||
14 | 430762 | JASICZEK Jedrzej | 1997 | POL | ||||||
7 | 54447 | RUELAND Simon | 1997 | AUT | ||||||
2 | 92719 | ZLATKOV Kamen | 1997 | BUL | ||||||
1 | 104468 | READ Jeffrey | 1997 | CAN | ||||||
Did not start 2nd run | ||||||||||
118 | 690777 | SEMEN Marian | 2001 | UKR | ||||||
Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
123 | 340569 | HADDAD Issam | 2001 | LBN | ||||||
122 | 890009 | SHRESTHA Saphal Ram | 1998 | NEP | ||||||
120 | 240157 | SAFRANKA Bela | 2000 | HUN | ||||||
117 | 340495 | ARNOUK Cesar | 2000 | LBN | ||||||
116 | 270082 | ROMAN Zachary | 2000 | IRL | ||||||
115 | 660029 | STARAZHENKA Dzmitry | 2000 | BLR | ||||||
114 | 660026 | ZVERNIK Vlad | 1998 | BLR | ||||||
113 | 270080 | REILLY Garreth | 1999 | IRL | ||||||
112 | 690775 | PODOBEDOV Maksymilian | 2001 | UKR | ||||||
111 | 550099 | LOSS Daniels | 2000 | LAT | ||||||
110 | 240154 | MAROTY Matyas | 2000 | HUN | ||||||
109 | 660025 | CHERTSIN Uladzislau | 1998 | BLR | ||||||
107 | 250399 | GUDMUNDSSON Bjorn Asgeir | 1998 | ISL | ||||||
106 | 240158 | TAUSZ Andras | 2001 | HUN | ||||||
105 | 360045 | CASTERMANS Max | 1998 | LUX | ||||||
102 | 660023 | CHERTSIN Daniil | 1997 | BLR | ||||||
101 | 690753 | KARPUSHYN Mykhailo | 1998 | UKR | ||||||
100 | 110420 | LEON Diego | 1999 | CHI | ||||||
99 | 481824 | VORONOV Aleksandr | 1997 | RUS | ||||||
98 | 60286 | GRANDJEAN Eliot | 2000 | BEL | ||||||
96 | 430810 | MICHALIK Michal | 2000 | POL | ||||||
95 | 60273 | LAHAYE Eric | 1999 | BEL | ||||||
94 | 221318 | INNES Iain | 1998 | GBR | ||||||
92 | 6532350 | BENEY William | 1999 | GBR | ||||||
91 | 390041 | LUIK Juhan | 1997 | EST | ||||||
89 | 240149 | NAGY Bence | 1998 | HUN | ||||||
88 | 151203 | BENC Patrik | 1997 | CZE | ||||||
87 | 561404 | BOZIC Borut | 2000 | SLO | ||||||
86 | 151253 | OUVIN Jan | 1999 | CZE | ||||||
85 | 60287 | LEFEVRE Basile | 2000 | BEL | ||||||
84 | 430802 | PYJAS Pawel | 1999 | POL | ||||||
83 | 410412 | DERWIN Colbey | 1997 | NZL | ||||||
82 | 151186 | STRAKA Jan | 1997 | CZE | ||||||
76 | 110409 | HORWITZ Kai | 1998 | CHI | ||||||
75 | 54481 | TRANINGER Manuel | 1998 | AUT | ||||||
74 | 40612 | SCOTT Alec | 1997 | AUS | ||||||
73 | 481841 | OVCHINNIKOV Aleksey | 1997 | RUS | ||||||
72 | 561371 | NAPOTNIK Jan | 1997 | SLO | ||||||
70 | 492192 | ORTEGA Albert | 1998 | ESP | ||||||
68 | 422732 | MCGRATH Atle Lie | 2000 | NOR | ||||||
67 | 390044 | LAINE Tormis | 2000 | EST | ||||||
66 | 54471 | DORNER Thomas | 1998 | AUT | ||||||
65 | 221290 | POTH Robert | 1997 | GBR | ||||||
64 | 54483 | OPETNIK Moritz | 1998 | AUT | ||||||
62 | 512353 | ITEN Matthias | 1999 | SUI | ||||||
60 | 502298 | HEDSTROEM Tobias | 1998 | SWE | ||||||
59 | 550086 | GEDRA Zaks | 1998 | LAT | ||||||
57 | 380379 | NIKIC Leon | 1999 | CRO | ||||||
56 | 492197 | GARAY Aingeru | 1998 | ESP | ||||||
54 | 422558 | SANDERBERG Olav Engelhardt | 1997 | NOR | ||||||
53 | 180817 | SJOBERG Marlon | 1997 | FIN | ||||||
52 | 400301 | ROSSUM VAN Max | 1998 | NED | ||||||
51 | 60256 | VERBEKE Tom | 1997 | BEL | ||||||
50 | 180812 | AHO Saku | 1997 | FIN | ||||||
49 | 502417 | JONSSON Carl | 2000 | SWE | ||||||
48 | 280034 | BIRAN Itamar | 1998 | ISR | ||||||
46 | 40621 | MUHLEN-SCHULTE Louis | 1998 | AUS | ||||||
45 | 6292768 | CANZIO Pietro | 1998 | ITA | ||||||
43 | 6292914 | CANINS Matteo | 1998 | ITA | ||||||
41 | 561364 | SPILAR Zan | 1997 | SLO | ||||||
40 | 104697 | WALLACE Liam | 1999 | CAN | ||||||
39 | 561360 | KRALJ Zan | 1997 | SLO | ||||||
37 | 481875 | RIABITCA Konstantin | 1997 | RUS | ||||||
36 | 6190628 | ANGUENOT Leo | 1998 | FRA | ||||||
35 | 422670 | VOELLO Gustav Rosberg | 1999 | NOR | ||||||
32 | 502278 | VENNERSTROEM Filip | 1998 | SWE | ||||||
31 | 6300464 | KOYAMA Yohei | 1998 | JPN | ||||||
26 | 221320 | VINTER Zak | 1998 | GBR | ||||||
24 | 180808 | HANDOLIN Juho | 1997 | FIN | ||||||
23 | 30388 | BIRKNER DE MIGUEL Tomas | 1997 | ARG | ||||||
19 | 6292401 | GORI Francesco | 1997 | ITA | ||||||
11 | 92720 | POPOV Albert | 1997 | BUL | ||||||
10 | 202808 | MEISEN Adrian | 1997 | GER | ||||||
8 | 54445 | HAASER Raphael | 1997 | AUT | ||||||
5 | 422572 | BRUDEVOLL Bjoern | 1997 | NOR | ||||||
Disqualified 1st run | ||||||||||
25 | 502319 | BRAENDHOLM Jesper | 1999 | SWE | ||||||
15 | 180820 | MANKINEN Miikka | 1997 | FIN | ||||||
Did not start 1st run | ||||||||||
108 | 590039 | ALMEIDA Samuel | 1997 | POR | ||||||
104 | 250411 | THORDARSON Georg Fannar | 1999 | ISL | ||||||
93 | 110383 | VON APPEN Sven | 1997 | CHI | ||||||
90 | 410425 | RICHARDS Ben | 2000 | NZL |