This Sunday, the giant slalom in Beaver Creek, Colorado, featured many surprises. The course was steep, demanding, hard, icy, and long. The skiers who ended on the podium had to perform completely fearless, straightforward, and perfect runs to aim so high. So, both runs brought thrilling spectacles.
Thomas Tumler (SUI) went down the slope with bib number 3, performed superbly, and sat in the red chair comfortably with a massive lead.
Nobody came close to him for long until Zan Kranjec (SLO), bib number 6, managed to shorten at least the gap between the first and second to 0,5 seconds. Everybody expected Marco Odermatt (SUI) to answer the challenge using his usual style. Only he did not. He made mistakes, was too careful, and was visibly tired after two full days of racing (including downhill training). We must say, however, that no athletes who had taken all three races here in Beaver Creek performed well on Sunday; the course was too demanding. However, this is the beginning of the season, and the overload of races did not bother Odermatt in the past. Then, the young Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath came close enough to make Tumler worry. But still, the gap was significant.
And then came the Brazilian (former Norwegian) Lucas Pinheiro Braathen with bib number 29. Even though the course was not in its best state after 28 racers on the bright sunny day, Braathen came close to the leaders and finished fourth.
And then the exciting second run started. First, Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) skied down the slope with his usual blend of grace and aggression and proved again that he could nail the second run. Only with the gap of 1,42 seconds to the leader, it is usually not enough. Henrik needs to rediscover once more how to put two solid runs together. We know he can do it; he just needs to remember.
Marco Odermatt went down the second run unusually early, with six racers to follow him. That is unusual, but we have seen him winning after having messed up his first run. Not today. With an awed roar from the spectators, the Swiss missed the fourth gate after losing his outside ski in the turn. There is obviously some demon of self-doubt that sits on this guy´s shoulder every time he puts on his GS skis. Yes, Odermatt had come first and second on Saturday and Friday. But his speed runs contained more mistakes than we are used to seeing him do. Odermatt used to smash the competition; either the competition grew and messed with his head, or he simply needed to pull together and show us what he could do.
Let us let his case rest so that he can do just that, and let us watch the winners of this giant slalom.
First, Pinheiro Braathen demolished Kristoffersen´s time and built himself a 0,93-second advantage. His best friend, Atle Lie McGrath (NOR), came home with a 0,59 seconds loss on the leader. Those two were still happy for each other, and it seems that McGrath´s joy in racing had grown since Braathen returned, even though they race under different flags. Zan Kranjec tried hard and only held the second position because Braathen´s run was so good. But Thomas Tumler had over one-second lead. He held his nerves, risked precisely as much as needed, and nailed it. Thus, Thomas Tumler, at 35, achieved his first-ever World Cup win.
This, along with Kranjec coming second, gaining podium place after a not-very-good season, and a Brazilian gaining a podium place for the first time in the history of Alpine Skiing, made the medal ceremony fascinating. Those who blame Pinheiro Braathen for pragmatism, as he switched nationalities, should watch him waving the Brazilian flag and dancing samba with tears in his eyes. It undoubtedly means a lot to this young man to bring medals to his mother´s homeland.
Thus, the Beaver Creek weekend came to an emotive end. Two matadors gained their first World Cup win after over a decade of training, trying, and watching younger athletes clutching prize after prize. It marked miraculous comebacks after injury for Sarazzin (FRA) and Pintirault (FRA), who performed very well in super-G. It featured young talents, like Austria´s Lucas Feuerstein, who was third in super-G. And it was thrilling, even on TV, as the local camera drone operators were in a class of their own.
