Unheralded French skier Paco Rassat secured his maiden World Cup victory on Saturday in Gurgl, Austria, by clinching the second slalom of the Olympic season with a remarkable second run. This achievement followed his sixth-place finish in the season-opening slalom in Levi, Finland, just six days prior.
Expressing his disbelief, Rassat told Austrian TV, “I never imagined this was possible.” The timing of his breakthrough, less than three months before the Milan Cortina Winter Games, couldn’t have been better. “For sure, I want to be at the Olympics,” he stated. “My goal is to excel in the World Cup and secure a spot at the Olympics.”
Competing in cold but sunny conditions in the Austrian Alps, Rassat initially ranked 14th after the first run. However, he delivered an outstanding second run, finishing 0.07 seconds ahead of Armand Marchant from Belgium, who achieved his country’s first-ever podium in Alpine skiing’s World Cup. Atle Lie McGrath of Norway, the first-run leader, slipped to third place, trailing Rassat by 0.09 seconds.
Ecstatic about his victory, Rassat exclaimed, “This is insane! My dream just came true today, so this is amazing.” Coming from a skiing background with his father as his first coach, Rassat, who specializes in slalom, made his World Cup debut in January 2022. His parents witnessing the race was particularly meaningful to him. “My dad was my first coach, and my mother also worked at the club, so this is a big day for us, and I’m so, so happy to share it with them,” said Rassat, who celebrated his 27th birthday last week.
With this win, Rassat now leads the slalom and overall standings after three events. Notably, four-time overall champion Marco Odermatt, who won the season-opening giant slalom in Austria, does not participate in slaloms. The race saw Finnish skier Eduard Hallberg, who had shared second place after the opening run, lose his balance and fall before the finish. Hallberg had secured Finland’s first World Cup podium result in nearly 18 years the previous week in Levi.
The men’s World Cup will continue with a super-G in Copper Mountain, Colorado, following the women’s slalom scheduled for Sunday on the same hill.
