KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — From Olympic despair in a course-side forest to a joyous win in the World Cup.
Atle Lie McGrath ’s emotions came full circle Sunday when he protected his first-run lead to win a tough and sun-baked World Cup slalom by just 0.01 seconds.
“Today is just about luck,” McGrath said after winning the first men’s slalom since his emotional exit at the Milan Cortina Olympics three weeks ago when he skied out of the race he was set to win.
Then, the Norwegian racer famously hiked across the mountain side to cool off alone beneath the trees lining the course in Bormio, Italy.
On Sunday, McGrath was greeted in the finish area by his teammate Henrik Kristoffersen, runner-up by the minimum margin, and his childhood friend Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who was third by just 0.04 one day after winning a giant slalom.
At the Olympics, McGrath's slalom misstep ensured Kristoffersen got the bronze medal, and Pinheiro Braathen won the giant slalom for Brazil.
Dedicated to his grandfather
McGrath’s emotions were heightened at the Olympics because his grandfather had died in the week the games opened. He dedicated this victory to him.
“To bounce back like this after the Olympics, I think he has something to do with it. He was looking over me today,” the Vermont-born racer said. “I love him so much and he has helped me with so many things in life.”
McGrath also extended his lead in the season-long slalom standings over Pinheiro Braathen to 41 points ahead of a decisive race on March 24 at the course where they raced as kids in Norway.
“Me and Lucas we grew up skiing together in Hafjell,” McGrath said. “So it has a lot of special memories and it’s going to be a pretty cool fight.”
Snow-melting heat
It was a heated battle Sunday in snow-melting temperatures that hit 11 Celsius (52 Fahrenheit) in the early afternoon. The toughest conditions were left for the first-run leaders who get the latest start times second time down.
McGrath’s second run was just the 27th fastest of the 29 skiers who completed the race, with his skis sending sprays of wet spring-like snow trailing behind him.
McGrath’s sixth career World Cup win, all in slalom, was his third this season. He also has two runner-up results and a third place as the most consistent slalom racer.
Slalom title race
Four men can still win the World Cup slalom title though it shapes up as a duel between McGrath and Pinheiro Braathen, who won the crystal trophy in 2023 before switching to represent his mother’s nation Brazil.
Clément Noël, the 2022 Olympic champion, trails by 77 points ahead of a final race that offers 100 to the winner. Noël placed sixth Sunday, though just 0.12 slower than McGrath, and thrashed the snow with a ski pole on seeing his time.
Kristoffersen trails McGrath by 99 and needs an unlikely scenario in Norway where he wins and all three above him in the standings fail to score.
The Olympic and world champion in slalom, Loïc Meillard, is no longer in the chase after he skied out in the first run Sunday.
Overall standings race
Pinheiro Braathen’s 60 points earned Sunday also closed the huge gap in the overall standings to four-time defending champion Marco Odermatt, who effectively has the giant crystal trophy secured.
Odermatt leads by 572 with seven races left though Pinheiro Braathen and third-place McGrath do not race in downhill or super-G.
The men’s World Cup circuit moves to French resort Courchevel for three speed races starting Friday that should confirm Odermatt’s overall win, and likely his latest titles in downhill and super-G.
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