Braathen, who won the slaloms in Adelboden and Val d’Isere this season, went into the last slalom with a lead of 32 points. In the end, the 22-year-old was 52 ahead of Kristoffersen with a total of 466 points. As the third Norwegian after Kjetil Andre Aamodt (2000) and Kristoffersen (2016, 2020, 2022), Braathen won the slalom World Cup classification. Overall, the Norwegian finished six of the ten slaloms on the podium.
“It’s incredible, I don’t know what to say. It was such a long and difficult road. It’s been the reward for work since I started training with my dad when I was nine. It’s such a long road with so many victims, I’m happy that nine-year-old Luca can now see this ball, ”explained an emotional Braathen, who didn’t let an appendix operation before the World Cup in February throw him off course , in the ORF interview.
Kristoffersen, who missed his fourth slalom shot, congratulated his compatriot on his first. “Chapeau for Lucas. Super slalom season. Lucas is a great skier, first bullet that’s not bad. I think it was a good season with my new material, it’s difficult for everyone. This season has been a bit up and down in slalom. I’m looking forward to next season, that’s for sure,” said the 28-year-old.
Best result of the season for Pert
A mixed winter ended for the ÖSV men with the best result of the season for Pertl. The 26-year-old from Vorarlberg improved by ten places in the decision. “Like the whole season, the first run was prone to mistakes, in the second round I used the good track, that was okay. It was a happy ending. I’m satisfied and I hope that I can do even better next season,” explained Pertl, for whom it was a comeback season after the cruciate ligament rupture.
Gstrein was 0.55 seconds behind the leader Zenhäusen after the first round and was aiming for his first podium finish of his career. At the penultimate split time, the 25-year-old Tyrolean was still 0.12 seconds ahead of Kristoffersen and was therefore on course for the podium. After that, however, Gstrein was drafted and had to bury his hopes of a strong end to the season.
Black has a positive balance as eleventh
Marco Schwarz finished his 35th race of the season in eleventh place. The 26-year-old from Carinthia was 1.68 seconds behind the winner, Zenhäusler. “The two rounds were another clever fight today, but I fought my way down,” explained Schwarz, who landed on the podium in Soldeu in the Super-G and in the RTL.
Schwarz was happy that a strenuous but successful season had come to an end. “Now I need a few days off, then a few ski tests and races at the Austrian Championships, then vacation. Overall I have to be happy, especially with the giant slalom, the first Super G podium, the medals at the world championships. From that point of view, I’m already positive,” explained Schwarz.
The best Austrian in the slalom world cup was Manuel Feller with 345 points. The 30-year-old Tyrolean, who still had chances for the podium at half-time, fell back eleven places in the decision and finished 15th (1.96). In the end there were two second places for Feller this season. For the entire ÖSV team there were a total of 25 podium places with seven victories – only twice in the 57-year World Cup history were there fewer.