It was a tight slalom all the way. After a rather crazy first round where 18 riders stood in one second, it was finally the Norwegian Kristoffersen who won the title at the Courchevel Worlds, the last race of the French fortnight, after a fabulous comeback. Greek AJ Ginnis finished second in the race.
The Frenchman Clément Noël, 7th after the first run, finished in 4th place after a better second run, insufficient however to confirm his title of Olympic champion acquired last year in Beijing.
The Blues leave their Worlds with only two medals, won by Alexis Pinturault (combined gold, super-G bronze) in the first week. “Pintu” only took 20th place in the slalom on Sunday.
Only 16th in a very tight first run, Kristoffersen (28) achieved the best time on a second tricky course to win his first crown of slalom world champion, after 23 victories in the discipline on the world circuit. He had won the giant world title in 2019 in Are (Sweden).
Behind him, AJ Ginnis (28) created a huge sensation by giving Greece its first podium at the World Alpine Skiing Championships.
This “second zone” skier at world level had announced his great form with a second place in the Chamonix slalom two weeks ago, there also a first Greek podium on the world circuit.
Born to an American mother and a Greek father, Ginnis grew up in Greece and learned to ski on the slopes of Mount Parnassus.
Greek skier since 2020 after having worn the United States jersey for a time, he had a career cut short by six knee operations, the last of which was in August 2021.