Manuel Feller ensured that Austria’s ski men’s winning streak in the slalom continued. On Sunday in Adelboden, the Tyrolean came fifth following halftime, just two hundredths of a second ahead of the Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath. A strong sign of life also came from his close compatriot Dominik Raschner: The parallel vice world champion improved from 16th to third place (+0.23 seconds) and achieved his first top 15 finish in a slalom.
Feller had already won the opening slalom in Gurgl, Marco Schwarz triumphed in the night slalom classic in Madonna di Campiglio shortly before Christmas. The 31-year-old Feller also took over the red jersey of the World Cup leader in the discipline. “It’s a dream come true. Adelboden is one of my favorite slopes, if not the favorite slope,” he said in the ORF interview following an exuberant cheer.
Hundredth finally on his side
Feller explained that the hundredths were finally on his side. “I’ve often had it the other way around. It was a brutal fight, the visibility was no longer good, the slope was no longer easy either. There were a lot of fast people on the hill.” The veteran now has a total of four World Cup victories to his name, all of which were slalom races. In Adelboden it was Feller’s first victory.
Alexander Steen Olsen, the leader following the first round, slipped on the inside ski early in the decision. He started 0.45 seconds ahead of Feller, but the 22-year-old Norwegian’s nerves didn’t hold up.
“It’s always cool” to stand next to a teammate on the podium, Feller remarked to Raschner. “This is my greatest success. I’ve invested a lot in my slalom skiing. It’s fantastic that it’s worked out like this,” he said following his fastest running time in the final earned him his second World Cup podium place. In November 2021, Raschner was second at the parallel event in Lech/Zürs – as was the case a year and a half later at the World Championships in Courchevel. “I have now trained a lot in slalom and have found my setup and also the confidence in myself,” said the 29-year-old.
The other Austrians were not able to use their full potential and did not make it into the top 15. Johannes Strolz was 18th, exactly two seconds behind, Adrian Pertl (+2.41) came in 22nd. Michael Matt, who was tenth at half time, dropped out in the second round following the first split. Fabio Gstrein, like Joshua Sturm and Simon Rueland, missed qualifying for the final following a serious mishap on the finish slope. The Carinthian Black, who would have started with the red jersey in Adelboden, is known to be out for the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury.
