Skier from Zug achieves Olympic qualification

The day after Marco Odermatt's triumph in the downhill, the slalom marked the traditional end of the ski festival in Wengen. Top-notch entertainment was guaranteed: and a skier from Zug achieved the qualification for the Winter Olympics.
 

At the Lauberhorn run, the slalom is always somewhat overshadowed by the downhill spectacle of the previous day. This was certainly the case again this year, following Marco Odermatt's brilliant victory. However, this year the technical specialists are also providing top-class entertainment – and that has a lot to do with two Swiss athletes.

When Matthias Iten from Zug started the second run in 23rd place and crossed the finish line exactly 52.66 seconds later, even the layman could see: that was an impressive run! But the fact that the following 17 (!) racers struggled to beat the Zug native's time and that no one could complete the second run faster than him – no, that was not foreseeable at this point.

Matthias Iten remained in the leader box until the top five of the first run were announced, with his expression becoming increasingly incredulous as skier after skier failed to beat his time. Some Swiss ski fans were already dreaming of a big coup, before Iten was finally relegated to sixth place.

But there was no reason for the 26-year-old to be downhearted, as he not only achieved his best career result in Wengen, but has also now secured a starting place in the Olympic slalom. Although the Swiss Ski officials will not name the four starters per discipline until 26th January, he can pack his bags with confidence, given that only Loïc Meillard and Tanguy Nef have also met the criteria in the slalom.

Matthias Iten achieved a slalom exploit   Photo: Anthony Anex
 

After his leap to the top of the world rankings, Matthias Iten, who was previously unknown to the general public, was almost speechless. ‘Unbelievable! Amazing,’ he exclaimed, overcome with emotion, adding: ‘Before the season, I never even dreamed of the Olympics. I skied at my limit in the second run, with my heart in my mouth.’ To put this into context: he qualified for a second run in Wengen for only the third time in his career; a week earlier, in Adelboden, he missed out by a long way, finishing 50th.

Frustration for Meillard, helplessness for Zenhäusern
Although he finished the race in fourth place, two places ahead of Matthias Iten, Loïc Meillard's mood at the finish line was very different. ‘That was really bad,’ he grumbled about his second run. At the halfway point, he was still in second place, fuelling hopes of Switzerland's first slalom victory in Wengen since Joël Gaspoz in 1987.

The next setback: Ramon Zenhäusern misses out in the second slalom run
The mood of another defeated Swiss skier, Ramon Zenhäusern, was quite different. It was not anger but perplexity that emanated from the Valais native, who had shown strong signs of life in his long crisis with a 15th place finish in Adelboden, only to fall back into familiar territory in the next race. He had no chance in the second run – and afterwards made some revealing statements: "At first, I thought the timing was wrong. It didn't feel slow, but it was really slow. I probably wanted too much, with all the thoughts in my head, including about the Olympics, which became a topic again after the race in Adelboden. But nothing worked. The only thing worse would be if I didn't have it in my legs, but I'm fully on board in training. I'll keep trying, maybe it will work again, maybe not. Life goes on."

From the valley of tears to the top of the slalom world, where the Norwegians set the tone. Six of them were in the second run, with Henrik Kristoffersen (3rd) and winner Atle Lie McGrath ending up on the podium. And with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who has been competing for Brazil since 2024, the third member of the trio is also a native Norwegian. In 2025 and 2026, the Vikings take all the top three places in the Wengen slalom.

Henrik Kristoffersen even celebrated his 100th World Cup podium finish in Wengen, a feat previously achieved only by Ingemar Stenmark, Marcel Hirscher and Marc Girardelli. The next person who is very likely to join this exclusive circle very soon is Swiss, has 98 podium finishes to his name and is called Marco Odermatt.