Before the Wengen slalom on Sunday – 38 years of waiting are enough – sport

No Swiss has won the Lauberhorn slalom since 1987. Will salvation finally follow on Sunday?

When Joël Gaspoz celebrated his 7th World Cup victory at the slalom in Wengen in 1987, he would hardly have guessed that this success would still be talked about 38 years later. Since the last triumph of the “Mozart of skiing” there has never been a Swiss at the top of the podium in the slalom on the Lauberhorn.

The closest people came to “replacing Gaspoz” were Daniel Yule and Loïc Meillard, who, with their second places, also secured the only Swiss slalom podium in Wengen this millennium. In 2022, Yule was 22 hundredths of a second behind Lucas Braathen, who was still starting without “Pinheiro”. A year later, a Norwegian also stood in front of Meillard: Henrik Kristoffersen distanced the Valaisan by 2 tenths.

In Adelboden, of all places, “Mr. Constance»

This year too, Meillard is one of the favorites to win the day. Despite the cancellation in Adelboden and the recurring back pain, he arrived feeling good. No wonder, as the 28-year-old had previously been the personification of consistency in Stangenwald. This is underlined by the ranks 2, 2, 3, 5 and 2, which in the meantime earned him the red starting number.

Meillard sees it as the result of continuous good work over the past few years. He knows: “It doesn’t happen from one day to the next. Step by step. Confidence comes with good results, with good runs. When you have confidence, it’s easier to accelerate.” In the Super-G he already scored a few points in 23rd place.

Hope for Zenhäuser?

And the other Swiss technology cracks? While Yule and Tanguy Nef are still hoping for a race with two optimal runs, Marc Rochat broke his streak of bad luck in Adelboden after five zeros. Luca Aerni seems to be feeling more comfortable in the giant slalom at the moment. With Ramon Zenhäuser the shape curve goes in the other direction. After finishing 20th and 30th in the first two slaloms, he failed to get any more points.

And yet there is hope for the 2-meter man: “We’re not talking about just any racing driver here. We’re talking about someone who has won medals and races, who knows what it takes to get there and who knows what he’s worth,” said slalom boss Matteo Joris to Valais messengers
. “So we are still talking about an extraordinary athlete. I don’t think there’s much missing. Ramon is probably the most sensitive driver I know.”