SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria — Austrian skier Raphael Haaser made waves at the Alpine World Championships by breaking the Swiss winning streak in the men’s giant slalom event on Friday. Haaser, who started the race in fifth place, capitalized on errors made by top competitors in the second run to secure the victory with a stunning performance.
Haaser, who finished the first run 0.61 seconds behind the leader, expressed his excitement, stating, “Just crazy, super. I told myself, I have nothing to lose.” He achieved a remarkable comeback, overtaking three Swiss competitors to clinch the gold medal, finishing just 0.23 seconds ahead of silver medalist Thomas Tumler, while Loic Meillard claimed the bronze, trailing by 0.51 seconds.
Notably, defending champion Marco Odermatt came in fourth, narrowly missing a medal by just seven-hundredths of a second. Haaser reflected on the result, commenting, “It’s just such an unbelievable day. Really happy with this race.” Despite having only achieved a best World Cup giant slalom finish of seventh previously, Haaser exceeded expectations by standing atop the podium.
This victory adds to Haaser’s silver from the super-G event held last week, which was won by Odermatt. Overall, the Austrian men’s team is celebrating three medals, highlighted by Vincent Kriechmayr’s second-place finish in the downhill event. The women’s team has also secured three medals, including a gold earned by Stephanie Venier in super-G, though it was a hard day for Haaser’s sister, Ricarda, who suffered a knee injury during the same race.
Haaser’s journey has not been without its challenges, as he made a comeback just two weeks before the championships following a six-week recovery from a knee injury. “The worlds have always been my goal; I knew I would be able to make it here,” he shared. “The only question was whether I could do a World Cup race before and qualify for the team.”
Timon Haugan, the first-run leader from Norway, encountered a major mistake that hindered his second run, leaving him in seventh place overall. “I felt like I’d lost everything anyway, so I just tried to go for it in the middle section. It was still possible,” Haugan acknowledged, admitting to feeling nerves leading a giant slalom race for the first time.
Both Meillard and Odermatt, who were second and third after the first run, experienced difficulty in the second run, making errors on a course set by Helmut Krug, the Austrian coach for the Swiss team. Odermatt, a three-time World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist in giant slalom, acknowledged that even with a flawless second run, defeating Haaser would have been a challenge. “He must have been amazing today,” he remarked.
The Swiss team had previously dominated the first three men’s events of the championship, with Meillard and teammate Franjo von Allmen winning the team combined event on Wednesday and von Allmen placing first in downhill just days prior. Snow crews worked tirelessly to prepare the course, with flat light conditions from snowfall during the first run clearing up as the sun broke through the clouds for the second run.
Looking ahead, the next event scheduled at the championships is the women’s slalom set to take place on Saturday.
