Neither the Swiss women nor the men are getting off to a good start in the slalom. The competition in Levi is leaving the teams that are used to success behind. A wake-up call at the start of the Olympic season.
17.11.2025, 06:11
24.11.2025, 14:18
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- The first slaloms of the Olympic winter took place at the weekend.
- From a Swiss perspective, there were disappointments in both the women's and men's races.
- SRF expert Didier Plaschy has clear words after the races.
The pictures from Saturday and Sunday are the same. Swiss athletes shake their heads after crossing the finish line. You won't find the white cross on a red background any higher than 8th place on this slalom weekend in Levi. Others shine in the overture in the pole forest. Mikaela Shiffrin dominates the competition at will and receives her ninth reindeer for her ninth victory in the north of Finland. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen ensures that the Brazilian anthem is played at an award ceremony for the first time in the Alpine Ski World Cup. Nations such as Albania and Finland also make it onto the podium. Only the Swiss flag will not be raised for once.
"There is a lack of willingness and breadth"
While Wendy Holdener made it into the top 10 in the women's event, the men's team didn't have a skier in the top 10 for the first time since the 2022 season finale in Courchevel/Méribel. "That's sport. Slalom is a strange discipline," said Tanguy Nef. The fact is that in no other discipline is the performance density as high as in slalom. Nowhere else are there so many specialists who focus exclusively on one discipline. Mistakes are mercilessly punished, even more so on a comparatively less selective course like Levi.
It remains to be seen whether the opening was just a slip-up or whether the poor results will continue throughout the Olympic season. The weekend was a wake-up call, said SRF expert Didier Plaschy. The man from Valais, who was active in the World Cup himself and won two races, pinpoints the problems in different areas. While he feels the women "lack the willingness to take risks, the men lack the breadth".
Levi is a difficult place
There were six podium places in the women's slalom last winter, three each for Wendy Holdener and Camille Rast, who also stood on the podium at the World Championships. In the men's event, world champion Loïc Meillard was responsible for all five top three finishes. If the figureheads have a bad day or, like world champion Camille Rast, who is struggling with hip problems, are not in full possession of their strength, others should step into the breach. This was not the case at the weekend in the person of Mélanie Meillard (22nd), who finished in the top 10 in eight out of ten slaloms in the previous season, and Tanguy Nef (21st), who has already sniffed the podium several times.
Encouragement for Swiss-Ski: Levi is generally a difficult place for Swiss athletes. There has never been a Swiss athlete on the top step of the podium at the World Cup venue in Lapland, and the Swiss flag has only been raised seven times in 38 races.
"The form of the day is crucial"
Next weekend, it's off to Gurgl, where a different course profile awaits, one that is more tailored to the skills of the Swiss. It's quite possible that the wind will change at the back of the Ötztal valley and there will be more pictures of cheering Swiss athletes. After all, the slalom moves very quickly from one direction to the other. Hardly anyone knows this better than Didier Plaschy, who said: "At this level, the form of the day is crucial."
