The rebirth of a champion. At the bottom of the track in Yanqing, China, Clément Noël, bib number 4, can raise his arms. In full doubt this winter, the 24-year-old alpine skier achieved an exceptional second run to win the gold medal. He succeeds Sweden’s André Myhrer, Olympic champion in the discipline in 2018.
“I don’t know if I’m still realizing,” he said after his coronation, in tears at the microphone of France TV. “I thought it was possible. It was tight, we were all in a very short time. If I wanted to get on the box, I had to pull out a really big sleeve. I knew I could ski fast when I got here. »
Sixth after the first run of the slalom at 38 hundredths behind the Austrian Johannes Strolz, crowned six days ago in the alpine combined and who finally finished second, Clément Noël is therefore reaching his Olympic dream, he who had failed at the foot of the podium Four years ago. Only 4 hundredths from the bronze medal.
The 4th title for France in Beijing
It is a culmination for one of the prodigies of French skiing, who had nevertheless been lacking in confidence for several weeks. After a World Cup slalom victory in Val d’Isère on December 12, his 9th on the world circuit, the Frenchman had been sailing in doubt for several weeks with very disappointing outings. “My month of January had gone very badly”, he always recalled at the microphone of France TV.
He had thus fallen on the last gate of the World Cup slalom, in Madonna di Campiglio (Italy), on December 22, when victory was in his arms, then was again eliminated in Adelboden (Switzerland), on December 9. January, after riding in the first part of the slalom. But today’s race was very open since the six winter slaloms had been won by six different skiers.
Successor to Killy and Vidal
In the big book of French exploits, Clément Noël, who won the 13th medal for the Blues in Beijing and the 3rd in the alpine after Johan Clarey’s silver in downhill and Mathieu Faivre’s bronze in giants, succeeds Jean-Pierre Vidal, crowned in 2002 in Salt Lake City on a historic double day (Sébastien Amiez had finished 2nd). The Vosgien, who offered France its fourth title at these Games (2 for Fillon Maillet in biathlon and 1 for Papadakis and Cizeron in ice dancing), is the 3rd Olympic men’s tricolor slalom champion after Jean-Claude Killy in 1968 and Vidal in 2002.
No miracle for Pinturault
Eleventh in the super-G, hit in the right shoulder during the alpine combined after a fall and fifth on the giant, Alexis Pinturault, far from his best level since the start of the Olympic Games, failed to dispel doubts. Fifteenth after the first heat at 1′20 from the leader, he made a second technically clean passage, but insufficient to hope for anything (16th).
The winner of the big 2021 crystal globe can still save his Games with a possible participation in the team slalom on Saturday.