Men's Giant Slalom
Joel Chenal's dream came true in "wonderful" Alta Badia. "This is the most wonderful Christmas gift I could receive — I could not dream of something better," said an elated Joel Chenal after the dramatic giant slalom held today on the demanding "Gran Risa" course in Italy's Alta Badia.

	Joel Chenal

The Frenchman, who had just won the race, was surrounded by hundreds of excited spectators who jumped into the finish area after the arrival of the last racer from the second run. They were loudly celebrating Chenal's victory as it was an Italian victory.

"It's crazy, I can't believed it," said the winner with a broken voice and tears in his eyes. His teammates had carried him in triumph on their shoulders around the finish area. Suddenly it was too much for the Frenchman whose could no longer keep his emotions under control. This isn't surprising, since it was also his very first World Cup victory. He chose the perfect place to achieve his greatest dream.

"This is the most wonderful Christmas gift I could receive — I could not dream of something better..." — Joel Chenal (FRA)

For a giant slalom skier, winning a race at Alta Badia or Adelboden in Switzerland is like cracking the jackpot in Las Vegas on the biggest machine — it's almost a blessing. It's like winning Kitzbuhel's Hahnenkamm downhill for a speed specialist, or winning The Masters for a golfer, Wimbledon for a tennis player, or Paris Roubaix for a cyclist.

"Look at the list of winners here — and I'm so proud that my name will also be on it," added Joel at the prize ceremony. In fact, many names of past great ski heroes are on this list — from Sweden's legendary Ingemar Stenmark in 1985 to Michael von Grunigen last winter, and including, of course, Alberto Tomba, a triple winner here.

When "Tomba-la-Bomba" was at the start in the past, 15,000 - 20,000 spectators, mostly aficionados from all over Italy including Napoli, Bologna, Trieste or Turin, merged to this resort in a tiny valley of the beautiful Dolomites situated in the northeast of the country. It was really party-time for them and all the racers adored to compete in front of such a great crowd. Tomba, who celebrates his 33rd birthday today (and tonight also of course), is no longer racing on the World Cup tour, but the legend goes on here.

After loosing the race by such a small margin, Hermann Maier declared that he may that he may skip the downhill in Val Gardena in the future, to better prepare for this giant slalom which is so special. After winning the two previous GS races in Tignes and Beaver Creek, the Austrian was aiming for the hat-trick here, but his legs were not as explosive as usual.

"The first run was just a training run for me as I had to get used again to the shorter skis after four days on the longer downhill skis," he said. "I was more aggressive on the second leg, but I made a mistake a few gates before the finishing line. I lost my balance and touched the snow with a hand. It's tough but I guess I must be happy to be on the podium," said Maier.

He can also be proud to have reached the top-three in downhill in Val Gardena on Saturday and on Sunday in that giant slalom — an amazing and unique achievement in the history of these two races. The reigning GS Olympic Champion was one of the first to congratulate Joel Chenal after the race. It's quite possible that Maier has never given attention to the Frenchman, or seen him before. So far, Chenal never skied within the top-three in a World Cup race and he has never started with such a low number — 8 — in the middle of the elite, just behind his idol "The Herminator."

It was a good reason to be quite nervous before the start. "To beat Hermann is very special too," Chenal later confirmed. "I didn't sleep well at all last night and I was quite stressed before the race. I didn't try to beat the course which I respect so much. Here, you have to move with much feeling, especially when the snow is hard but not icy as it was the case in the second run.

"Power-skiing alone is not the best solution to handle this demanding course. It's a good hill for me as I always look to move with the terrain and not against it. I had fun racing here because I'm not a favorite. I can do my own race without being under pressure all the time."

	Maier

A member of the National team for five years, Chenal scored several top-10 places in his career — but his 5th place last year in Slovenia's Kranjska Gora was his best result until today. His season start was fine, but not extraordinary. Some top-15 to warm-up but it was enough to make him confident.

"We have trained well last summer and there is an excellent atmosphere in our group," he told the press during his press conference. "We all scored points in Tignes last October and this was a great boost for our morale. Something was happening, we were all feeling it," Chenal said.

A custom officer, like many other French racers, Chenal grew up in a lost little village situated on a treacherous pass going from France to Aosta, in the northwest of Italy — Le Petit St Bernard. The road is superb in the summer but closed in the winter because of avalanches. So there is nothing exciting to do for the kids except to ski — with the hope of becoming a member of the local, the regional and then the national ski team. "I wanted to be an Olympic Champion, but this is a good start to reach my goal," he said with a smile. "I'm 26, but some are still winning at 34!"

France has a strong tradition of slalom skiers and recently also some top downhillers like Luc Alphand, the 1997 Overall World Cup champion, or Jean Luc Cretier, the 1998 Olympic Champion. But only a few French skiers excelled in giant slalom - like Jean Claude "King" Killy in the 1960s or Patrick Russel in the early 1970s. The last French win in GS goes back to October 1993, when the 1988 super G Olympic Champion Franck Piccard won a race in that event in Austria's Sölden. In the last years, the event was dominated by Tomba, von Grunigen and Maier. Only one French skier has finished on a podium in Alta Badia — back in 1992.

It was quite emotional to see that while the French were celebrating Chenal's triumph in one corner of the finish area, the last skier on course in the second run was totally depressed by his misfortune. What a irony and what a parallel also...neither of the two skiers could understand the world anymore and both had wet eyes. Finland's Sami Uotila had been leading after the first run by 8/100 over Christian Mayer and he felt ready to celebrate a great revenge. Three weeks ago, he had been disqualified after his first run in Beaver Creek because the technical supervisor of the International Ski Federation found out that the plate of one of his bindings was 1.5 millimeters too high — not a big deal, normally. Uotila had just clocked the 8th best time but he was not allowed to start in the second run. Last week he won two Europacup races in France and he travelled with great motivation as well as anger to Alta Badia.

He felt that he had something to prove — and he did it in the first run. But the pressure was too much on him after the first run and he lost precious energy talking a long time to the press. He skied too wildly in the second run — and not as smoothly as Joel Chenal. He lost almost a second and a half on him in that leg, missing the podium by 29/100.

Finland has a slalom world champion, Kalle Palander, but has never won a World Cup race. It may come soon now. Joel Chenal proved that in skiing too, you can "believe in miracles."

The next presentation of the "Ski World Cup Tour" is planned for this Tuesday in Slovenia's Kranjska Gora. Don't miss it - Bode Miller, 12th today, said he feels able to win a slalom soon. He just need to finish one.

— Patrick Lang, MountainZone.com World Cup Correspondent