Atle Lie McGrath wins the Slalom Crystal Globe

What a finale for Atle Lie McGrath. The 25-year-old Norwegian athlete keeps his nerve on Wednesday in the Slalom at Hafjell, the final race of the season, and clinches the Crystal Globe in this discipline by finishing eighth. In the Giant Slalom on Tuesday, Atle Lie McGrath finished third to stand on the podium once again. Emma Aicher kept the World Cup overall ranking on a knife-edge right up to the last run. Finishing third in the Slalom on Saturday and 12th in the Giant Slalom on Sunday in Hafjell, the 22-year-old German athlete is ultimately only 87 points behind first place, just missing out on what would have been a sensation. Wendy Holdener finishes second in the Slalom to celebrate a podium finish at the finale.

"The Crystal Globe won by Atle Lie McGrath goes down in company history. This is the first Crystal Globe for HEAD in the men's Slalom," said HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "Atle's skiing ability is immense. It was also brilliant how he put what happened at the Olympics behind him and shortly afterwards went on to win in Kranjska Gora. This win is well deserved, and he has got a lot back from what he went through in February. He has proved himself on all kinds of slopes. He has more than earned this Crystal Globe. What Emma Aicher achieved is incredible. She is the most capable all-rounder of all the women athletes. She has shown what she can do in all four disciplines. The only podium that is missing is in the Giant Slalom, and even there, she has come close. This season has been an outstanding achievement for her."

"They were the most complex emotions in my life"

With three victories this season in Alta Badia, Wengen and Kranjska Gora, Atle Lie McGrath laid the foundations for his overall success. In Hafjell, eighth place was enough for the Norwegian athlete to win the Crystal Globe in the Slalom for the first time. "They were the most complex emotions in my life. The second run wasn't perfect. At the finish line, I thought it might just be enough. When Lucas dropped out, I thought: shame for Lucas, but Noel and Henrik are still to come, anything is possible. Once it was certain, it was a bit too much for me, a bit too much emotion," said Atle Lie McGrath. In the World Cup ranking, Atle finished the season in third place overall. Linus Straßer from Germany finished eighth in the Slalom, while Laurie Taylor from Britain was 14th.

Alexis Pinturault finishes his career

In the Giant Slalom on Tuesday, Atle Lie McGrath podiumed in third place. In the overall ranking in this discipline, the Norwegian athlete finished sixth. Anton Grammel from Germany achieved his best World Cup result to date by finishing seventh. Alexis Pinturault finished 11th in his final race. This race marks the end of his illustrious skiing career: the 35-year-old French athlete won both the overall World Cup and the Giant Slalom World Cup in 2020/21. In addition, six Combined event World Cup titles and one Parallel Slalom World Cup title. He won 34 World Cup victories and claimed three World Championship titles: the Team event in 2017 in St. Moritz, and in the Combined event in 2019 in Aare and 2023 in Courchevel. Olympic medals won by Alexis Pinturault are Bronze in the Giant Slalom in 2014, Silver in the Combined event in 2018, and Bronze again in the Giant Slalom in 2018. "Today's race was very special. I wanted to ski as well as I could one more time and was delighted when I saw the green light at the finish. The first stage of my life in skiing has now come to an end, and I enjoyed it very much. I hope the second stage with my family will be just as cool," said Alexis Pinturault on leaving.

Six HEAD World Cup Rebels in the Slalom World Cup top ten

With Wendy Holdener from Switzerland in second place and Emma Aicher third, there were two HEAD World Cup Rebels on the podium on Tuesday at the final women's Slalom of the season. With this third place, Emma Aicher kept the outcome in the World Cup overall ranking open until the final race: "I would never have believed it in my life. A year ago, I was still a long way from that. But it’s cool that I can keep the pressure on right up to the last race." Five more HEAD World Cup Rebels picked up points: Anna Swenn-Larsson, Sara Hector and Cornelia Öhlund from Sweden finished sixth, seventh and eleventh, Camille Rast from Switzerland was 13th, and Dzenifera Germane from Latvia finished 15th. In the Slalom overall ranking, no fewer than six HEAD World Cup Rebels feature among the top ten: Camille Rast finished second, Wendy Holdener third, Emma Aicher sixth, Anna Swenn-Larsson eighth, Lena Dürr from Germany ninth, and Sara Hector tenth.

2nd and 3rd place for HEAD in the women's Giant Slalom World Cup

In the final Giant Slalom on Wednesday, Sara Hector was the best of the HEAD World Cup Rebels, finishing fourth. The Swedish athlete started the second run in second place. Behind her, Stephanie Brunner from Austria finished fifth, and Camille Rast was sixth. Vanessa Kasper from Switzerland also landed in the points in 10th place, as did Emma Aicher in 12th place and Estelle Alphand from Sweden, who was 14th. Emma Aicher was in third place after the first run. In the Giant Slalom World Cup, Camille Rast finished second and Sara Hector third. Emma Aicher said about her final race of the season: "It would have taken a miracle today. But I'm really very pleased with the way this season turned out. That one mistake today was just daft, but my Giant Slalom is also heading in the right direction. I reckon I can take a break and feel good about it."