In stark contrast to the postcard-perfect scene for the women’s slalom on the Levi Black slope in Levi, Finland, the men’s race on Sunday saw heavy fog roll in as racing action got underway in the morning. With last season’s World Cup slalom champion Henrik Kirstoffersen notably absent, Austria’s Marcel Hirscher returned to his winning ways as he took the 40th World Cup win of his career by an impressive 1.30 seconds over his compatriot Michael Matt in second. Italy’s Manfred Moelgg landed in third place, 1.31 seconds back for his first podium appearance since 2014.
Challenging visibility and a fast first run set with lots of rhythm changes caught a few racers off guard as Hirscher set the pace after run one. As is quite common in Levi, only 1.73 seconds separated Hirscher from 30th place, setting the stage for an action-packed second run.
A lightning fast second run set saw the margins draw even closer as the leaderboard was shaken up numerous times as aggressiveness was rewarded with huge leaps in the standings. That is, however, until Hirscher took to the course and blew the doors off the competition, building on his 0.21 second first run advantage at each interval and eventually crossing the finish line well over a second ahead of his fellow Austrian for the victory.
Hirscher has been a bit under the weather lately as a middle-ear infection nearly sidelined him from competing. Luckily for him and those of us watching, the superstar was able to shake the bug and put on yet another show, snagging the second Levi reindeer of his career, which he named “Leo.”
“The ear pain was horrific and I thought no race for today but I went to bed at 8 o’clock,” he explained. “So pretty early but I woke up at 6 o’clock in the morning and it was pretty good. No pain, no loss of strength so I thought, ‘Ok, I’m ready for the race.'”
And race, Hirscher did.
“I am very thankful that I am able to ski here today and compete in this race, but yesterday, it was not that good,” Hirscher continued. “Today, it was already in the morning clear that I can compete today, so this is amazing that I can be in this race and what is great is just to see my team colleagues so close by my side. … Congrats for that. I’ve seen that already during our last training, so I am thankful as well for them, for the great sparring we’ve had in the last week.”
For Matt, who is the younger brother of the now-retired Austrian World and Olympic slalom champion Mario Matt, today’s result is the young Austrian’s first career World Cup podium.
“It was amazing,” Matt said. “Training has gone really well. I was always fast and I’m really happy that I could show my good skiing on the race today. I’m more than happy with the second place. In the first run, I was a little bit more nervous. Second run, I felt that the skis were doing what I want and then if you can push and ski the way you want, then it’s not that difficult anymore. Watching Marcel and all them on the TV and now you’re in the middle of the ski World Cup, it’s amazing.”
Moelgg’s first podium in nearly two-and-a-half years was a welcome one for the 2008 World Cup slalom champion as he looks to return to that form as the season progresses. Missing out on a second-place finish by only 0.01 seconds stung initially, but the veteran was happy to return to the podium regardless of which step it was.
“It’s fantastic,” a happy Moelgg told reporters. “It’s been a long time and I’m happy to be on the podium. It was a tough race, always a tough hill, but I am happy about that and we will see about the next race. I had a little bit of a mistake in the last part and I saw one hundredth and was not so happy, but that was the performance so after that to stay on the podium is very nice. It’s very good.”
Great Britain’s Dave Ryding managed to snag a career-best sixth place finish, marking his first ever trip inside a World Cup top 10 and the first for a British man since Alain Baxter landed in fourth place in the slalom in Are, Sweden, in 2001.
Unfortunately for the American and Canadian contingents, either by way of skiing out or ill-timed mistakes, not a single North American skier managed to qualify for a second run.
The men’s race will be broadcast on Sunday, Nov. 13 on Universal HD at 2:00 p.m. ET. The men’s tour now heads to Lake Louise, Canada, for the opening downhill and super G races of the season on Nov. 26 and 27.
Top 10 Finishers
- Marcel Hirscher (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Michael Matt (AUT) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- Manfred Moelgg (ITA) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
- Feix Neureuther (GER) – Nordica/Nordica/Marker
- Manuel Feller (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Dave Ryding (GBR) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
- Mattias Hargin (SWE) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Luca Aerni (SUI) – Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
- Fritz Doofer (GER) – Nordica/Nordica/Marker
- Jonathan Nordbotten (NOR) – Head/Head/Head
Official Results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Diff. | FIS Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 53831 | HIRSCHER Marcel | 1989 | AUT | 53.11 | 51.56 | 1:44.67 | 0.00 | |
| 2 | 26 | 54170 | MATT Michael | 1993 | AUT | 53.74 | 52.23 | 1:45.97 | +1.30 | 8.94 |
| 3 | 17 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 53.72 | 52.26 | 1:45.98 | +1.31 | 9.01 |
| 4 | 6 | 201702 | NEUREUTHER Felix | 1984 | GER | 53.53 | 52.55 | 1:46.08 | +1.41 | 9.70 |
| 5 | 20 | 54063 | FELLER Manuel | 1992 | AUT | 54.23 | 51.92 | 1:46.15 | +1.48 | 10.18 |
| 6 | 21 | 220689 | RYDING Dave | 1986 | GBR | 53.57 | 52.67 | 1:46.24 | +1.57 | 10.80 |
| 6 | 10 | 501111 | HARGIN Mattias | 1985 | SWE | 53.85 | 52.39 | 1:46.24 | +1.57 | 10.80 |
| 8 | 28 | 511983 | AERNI Luca | 1993 | SUI | 54.21 | 52.09 | 1:46.30 | +1.63 | 11.21 |
| 8 | 2 | 202462 | DOPFER Fritz | 1987 | GER | 54.00 | 52.30 | 1:46.30 | +1.63 | 11.21 |
| 10 | 24 | 421860 | NORDBOTTEN Jonathan | 1989 | NOR | 54.12 | 52.23 | 1:46.35 | +1.68 | 11.56 |
| 11 | 15 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 54.53 | 52.01 | 1:46.54 | +1.87 | 12.86 |
| 12 | 66 | 502015 | JAKOBSEN Kristoffer | 1994 | SWE | 54.48 | 52.07 | 1:46.55 | +1.88 | 12.93 |
| 12 | 29 | 421669 | HAUGEN Leif Kristian | 1987 | NOR | 54.24 | 52.31 | 1:46.55 | +1.88 | 12.93 |
| 14 | 27 | 501116 | LAHDENPERAE Anton | 1985 | SWE | 54.77 | 51.90 | 1:46.67 | +2.00 | 13.76 |
| 15 | 34 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | 54.20 | 52.58 | 1:46.78 | +2.11 | 14.51 |
| 16 | 31 | 511127 | GINI Marc | 1984 | SUI | 54.49 | 52.30 | 1:46.79 | +2.12 | 14.58 |
| 17 | 23 | 501101 | BYGGMARK Jens | 1985 | SWE | 54.78 | 52.15 | 1:46.93 | +2.26 | 15.55 |
| 18 | 19 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 54.71 | 52.39 | 1:47.10 | +2.43 | 16.72 |
| 19 | 9 | 511996 | YULE Daniel | 1993 | SUI | 53.75 | 53.42 | 1:47.17 | +2.50 | 17.20 |
| 20 | 16 | 193967 | MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor | 1989 | FRA | 54.44 | 52.74 | 1:47.18 | +2.51 | 17.27 |
| 21 | 14 | 290732 | THALER Patrick | 1978 | ITA | 54.15 | 53.08 | 1:47.23 | +2.56 | 17.61 |
| 22 | 25 | 511902 | ZENHAEUSERN Ramon | 1992 | SUI | 54.35 | 52.90 | 1:47.25 | +2.58 | 17.75 |
| 23 | 12 | 51395 | DIGRUBER Marc | 1988 | AUT | 54.20 | 53.07 | 1:47.27 | +2.60 | 17.88 |
| 24 | 13 | 191459 | LIZEROUX Julien | 1979 | FRA | 54.21 | 53.09 | 1:47.30 | +2.63 | 18.09 |
| 25 | 40 | 290095 | BALLERIN Andrea | 1989 | ITA | 54.47 | 53.08 | 1:47.55 | +2.88 | 19.81 |
| 26 | 42 | 511908 | SCHMIDIGER Reto | 1992 | SUI | 54.81 | 53.02 | 1:47.83 | +3.16 | 21.74 |
| 27 | 65 | 512138 | SIMONET Sandro | 1995 | SUI | 54.54 | 53.35 | 1:47.89 | +3.22 | 22.15 |
| 27 | 46 | 53889 | HIRSCHBUEHL Christian | 1990 | AUT | 54.84 | 53.05 | 1:47.89 | +3.22 | 22.15 |
| 29 | 45 | 202451 | STRASSER Linus | 1992 | GER | 54.33 | 53.72 | 1:48.05 | +3.38 | 23.25 |
| Disqualified 1st run | ||||||||||
| 44 | 6291574 | SALA Tommaso | 1995 | ITA | ||||||
| 4 | 501017 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | ||||||
| Did not qualify for 2nd run | ||||||||||
| 85 | 54106 | BREITFUSS KAMMERLANDER Simon | 1992 | BOL | ||||||
| 84 | 660021 | DANILOCHKIN Yuri | 1991 | BLR | ||||||
| 82 | 180666 | TORSTI Samu | 1991 | FIN | ||||||
| 81 | 550066 | ZVEJNIEKS Miks | 1995 | LAT | ||||||
| 80 | 561244 | KRANJEC Zan | 1992 | SLO | ||||||
| 77 | 180718 | HENTTINEN Jens | 1993 | FIN | ||||||
| 75 | 430633 | JASICZEK Michal | 1994 | POL | ||||||
| 74 | 320293 | KYUNG Sung-hyun | 1990 | KOR | ||||||
| 73 | 60253 | MARCHANT Armand | 1997 | BEL | ||||||
| 69 | 6190403 | NOEL Clement | 1997 | FRA | ||||||
| 68 | 501873 | LUNDBAECK Gustav | 1993 | SWE | ||||||
| 67 | 180567 | RASANEN Joonas | 1989 | FIN | ||||||
| 63 | 512182 | MEILLARD Loic | 1996 | SUI | ||||||
| 60 | 194664 | RIZZO Maxime | 1993 | FRA | ||||||
| 58 | 54252 | RASCHNER Dominik | 1994 | AUT | ||||||
| 55 | 202520 | HOLZMANN Sebastian | 1993 | GER | ||||||
| 54 | 934502 | ANKENY Michael | 1991 | USA | ||||||
| 52 | 103676 | BROWN Phil | 1991 | CAN | ||||||
| 51 | 561322 | HADALIN Stefan | 1995 | SLO | ||||||
| 43 | 380334 | VIDOVIC Matej | 1993 | CRO | ||||||
| 41 | 302982 | OHKOSHI Ryunosuke | 1988 | JPN | ||||||
| 39 | 291318 | TONETTI Riccardo | 1989 | ITA | ||||||
| 37 | 320266 | JUNG Dong-hyun | 1988 | KOR | ||||||
| 36 | 301709 | YUASA Naoki | 1983 | JPN | ||||||
| 35 | 930160 | KELLEY Robby | 1990 | USA | ||||||
| 22 | 201896 | STEHLE Dominik | 1986 | GER | ||||||
| 18 | 293098 | RAZZOLI Giuliano | 1984 | ITA | ||||||
| 1 | 480736 | KHOROSHILOV Alexander | 1984 | RUS | ||||||
| Did not finish 2nd run | ||||||||||
| 3 | 54320 | SCHWARZ Marco | 1995 | AUT | ||||||
| Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
| 83 | 170151 | DYRBYE NAESTED Casper | 1996 | DEN | ||||||
| 79 | 180808 | HANDOLIN Juho | 1997 | FIN | ||||||
| 78 | 180705 | PIRINEN Eemeli | 1993 | FIN | ||||||
| 76 | 700868 | FALAT Matej | 1993 | SVK | ||||||
| 72 | 180627 | MALMSTROM Victor | 1991 | FIN | ||||||
| 71 | 501351 | JOHANSSON Emil | 1988 | SWE | ||||||
| 70 | 422300 | EIDE Peder Dahlum | 1994 | NOR | ||||||
| 64 | 202437 | LUITZ Stefan | 1992 | GER | ||||||
| 62 | 194207 | THEOLIER Steven | 1990 | NED | ||||||
| 61 | 6531063 | GINNIS AJ | 1994 | USA | ||||||
| 59 | 491879 | SALARICH Joaquim | 1994 | ESP | ||||||
| 57 | 550054 | ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps | 1992 | LAT | ||||||
| 56 | 54093 | STROLZ Johannes | 1992 | AUT | ||||||
| 53 | 511947 | BRUEGGER Matthias | 1993 | SUI | ||||||
| 50 | 511899 | ROCHAT Marc | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
| 49 | 192506 | MISSILLIER Steve | 1984 | FRA | ||||||
| 48 | 481327 | TRIKHICHEV Pavel | 1992 | RUS | ||||||
| 47 | 934523 | ENGEL Mark | 1991 | USA | ||||||
| 38 | 103865 | PHILP Trevor | 1992 | CAN | ||||||
| 33 | 103729 | READ Erik | 1991 | CAN | ||||||
| 32 | 700830 | ZAMPA Adam | 1990 | SVK | ||||||
| 30 | 194262 | BUFFET Robin | 1991 | FRA | ||||||
| 11 | 422082 | FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian | 1991 | NOR | ||||||
| 8 | 534508 | CHODOUNSKY David | 1984 | USA | ||||||
| 7 | 293797 | GROSS Stefano | 1986 | ITA | ||||||
About the Author: Sean Higgins
