Olympic ski champion Noel leads the first World Cup slalom of the season; Hirscher fails to qualify for the second point

LEVI, Finland (AP) — Olympic champion Clement Noel posted the fastest time Sunday in the opening run of the first men’s World Cup slalom of the season, and eight-time overall champion Marcel Hirscher failed to qualify for the second run.

Noel overcame what seemed a costly mistake when he had to brake in the steep middle section of the Levi Black course to beat Swiss all-rounder Loic Meillard by 0.02 seconds.

Noel’s French teammate Steven Amiez was 0.21 behind in third place.

“It was tough, the snow is tough – sometimes there’s grip, sometimes there’s no grip,” Noel said. “I hope I can do a better second run, I made quite a few mistakes in the first.”

Noel is aiming for his eleventh career World Cup victory and the first since triumph in a night race in Austria in January 2023 – his only victory since winning Olympic gold in Beijing.

Meillard, who is the season opening giant slalom three weeks ago, after pinching his back during warm-ups, he was second to Swiss teammate Marco Odermatt in the overall standings last season.

Odermatt does not compete in slaloms.

Manuel Feller, the defending World Cup slalom champion, had 1.18 seconds to make up in the second run later Sunday.

Hirscher, a three-time winner in Levi, finished 2.59 off the lead and outside the top 30 in his first slalom race in 2,072 days.

The Austrian great, now starting for the Netherlands, returned to World Cup racing this season after retiring in 2019.

“The first time I thought it went well, but then it turned into one of the worst slalom runs of my life relatively quickly,” Hirscher said.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, another racer who returns and starts for Brazil since leaving the Norwegian federation a year ago, started 33rd but finished 0.86 behind in 10th.

Finnish skier Eduard Hallberg, wearing number 40, delighted the home crowd by posting the eighth fastest time, six-tenths behind leader Noel, in just his fourth race at World Cup level.

While Levi is an annual stop on the Women’s World Cup circuit, with Mikaela Shiffrin wins on Saturdaythe men had not ridden in Finnish Lapland since 2019.

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