![Loïc Meillard finishes 5th in the night slalom in Schladming](https://production-livingdocs-bluewin-ch.imgix.net/2025/01/29/93fffb9d-1250-4a5c-8382-e8e0f3acd071.jpeg?w=994&auto=format)
The Austrian slalom racers managed a major breakthrough in front of their home crowd in Schladming, but a Norwegian prevented a double victory.
Timon Haugan won the night slalom in Styria ahead of Manuel Feller and Fabio Gstrein.
Haugan came second after the first run, 20 hundredths ahead of Feller and 67 hundredths ahead of Gstrein. Linus Strasser, who was leading after half the race, as he did in his triumph last year, and could have given Germany their first win of the season, dropped back to 4th place.
Haugan's courage to take risks and Austria's redemption
For the Austria team, these were the first podium places of the season in the slalom just in time for the home World Championships. The 28-year-old Haugan, who was already on the top step of the podium in Alta Badia in December (ahead of Meillard), won for the third time in the World Cup. His aggressiveness is currently paying off: In the last ten slaloms, Haugan has been eliminated six times, but when he has finished, he has won three times and finished second once.
Like Linus Strasser, Loïc Meillard lost crucial positions in the second run. The skier from Neuchâtel was in 3rd place at the halfway point and slipped out of the top 3 in the highly twisting and unrhythmic second run, just like the day before in the giant slalom. After 4th place on Tuesday, he now had to settle for 5th place. "Top 5 twice is great. But to be just off the podium twice is also annoying," said Meillard in the SRF interview after the last slalom before the World Championships.
Marc Rochat misses World Championship target
With Tanguy Nef (11th) and Daniel Yule (14th), two other Swiss racers finished in the top 15. Marc Rochat, who would have had to finish in the top 15 to meet Swiss-Ski's World Championship selection criteria, missed the target by six places. Luca Aerni, who also failed to qualify, finished last of the 25 finalists after a time-consuming mistake.
The technicians will now head to the World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, where the giant slalom is scheduled for February 14 after the speed races, followed by the slalom two days later. The downhill racers will be competing in the World Cup downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Sunday.
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