Press release -
Atle Lie McGrath gets all he wanted for Christmas: Victory in the Slalom
If that's all Atle Lie McGrath wanted for Christmas, he wrapped it up in the last race before the break. The 25-year-old Norwegian athlete wins his fourth World Cup victory in the Slalom in Alta Badia on Monday. Lindsey Vonn finishes third in Val d'Isere on Sunday for her first podium in the Super-G since her comeback.
"Atle Lie McGrath's performance was excellent on the first run. What he did on the second run was superb," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "Winning on this slope is a very special achievement. You have to be able to do everything here. It starts off steep at the top, and then slants away at the bottom. He skied the toughest sections perfectly and is the well-deserved winner. After dropping out in Val d'Isère, he has now shown what's what. He is super fast. And winning here in the last race before Christmas makes it all the better. Hats off to Lindsey Vonn! I can hardly find the words to describe her performance."
"I love the snow and the atmosphere here"
For Atle Lie McGrath, who finished second on the first run, it was his fourth World Cup victory in the Slalom, following Flachau 2022, Courchevel 2022 and Wengen 2025. This is the Norwegian athlete's first victory this season. "It was a very good run. I was really sad after Val d'Isère, it was a difficult time for me. I told myself that from now on I'm going to ski at full speed. And here, I put in four good and aggressive runs, which have also produced top results. I won my first World Cup points here in Alta Badia, stood on the podium for the first time, and now I've finally won a race here too. I love the snow and the atmosphere here. This run is one of the most difficult. This is cool," said a delighted Atle Lie McGrath at the finish.
Top ten places for Paco Rassat and Oscar Andreas Sandvik
Paco Rassat raced to another great result. The 27-year-old French athlete finished the race in sixth place. Oscar Andreas Sandvik also landed in the top ten in ninth place. The top 30 included Dave Ryding from Britain in 15th place, Linus Straßer from Germany 17th, Laurie Taylor from Britain 18th, Albert Popov from Bulgaria 23rd, Armand Marchant from Belgium 25th, Matthias Iten from Switzerland 27th, and Jesper Pohjolainen from Finland in 28th place. Jesper Pohjolainen started with bib number 50 to pick up his first World Cup points.
Atle Lie McGrath just misses the podium in the Giant Slalom
In the Giant Slalom on Sunday in Alta Badia, Atle Lie McGrath finished fourth, just missing the podium by 24 hundredths of a second. It was the Norwegian athlete's second-best result in this discipline this season following his third place at the opening event in Sölden. World Cup points also went to Alexis Pinturault from France in 18th place, his compatriot Loevan Parand who finished 20th with bib number 53, Alexander Schmid from Germany in 22nd place, Tobias Kastlunger from Italy in 25th place, and Lukas Feurstein from Austria in 29th place.
Lindsey Vonn podiums in four out of five speed races
On the podium in the Super-G for the first time since her comeback, Lindsey Vonn finished third on Sunday in Val d'Isère. In St. Moritz, the 41-year-old American athlete just missed the podium in fourth place. Five speed races have been completed so far this season, and in four of them Lindsey Vonn finished in the top three. "I am satisfied. I lost some time on the first jump, but I'm happy with the rest of the run. I didn't make a big mistake like the day before. I've now podiumed in four out of five races. I'm happy with that," said Lindsey Vonn.
Eleven HEAD Worldcup Rebels in the top 18
The HEAD Worldcup Rebels once again produced a strong team performance. No fewer than eleven HEAD athletes finished in the top 18: Elena Curtoni from Italy was fourth, Cornelia Hütte and Ariane Rädler from Austria finished sixth and eighth, Keely Cashman from the USA and Emma Aicher from Germany were equal 11th, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway was 14th, Nina Ortlieb from Austria 15th, Laura Gauche from France 16th, Laura Pirovano from Italy 17th, and Magdalena Egger from Austria 18th. Points were also notched up by Tricia Mangan from the USA and Delia Durrer from Switzerland who clocked the same time in 24th place, and Nadine Fest from Austria in 29th place.
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