Kristoffer Jakobsen was doing well for a while in the first slalom run in Italian Madonna di Campiglio. The Swedish veteran skied evenly with leading Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath until the two first intermediate times, but at the start of the slope, it was over for the 30-year-old.
Many crashed out
Jakobsen started the World Cup season by finishing eleventh in Finnish Levi and the following weekend, he took his fourth career podium when he finished second in Austrian Gurgl.
Since then, however, he has had three consecutive crashes in the first run. First in French Val d'Isère and Italian Alta Badia in December, and now in Madonna di Campiglio.
Jakobsen was in good company. Even Frenchman Clément Noël, Olympic gold medalist in slalom in 2022, and Norwegian Timon Haugan, who won last in Alta Badia, were among the 22 skiers who failed to complete the first run.
The crash festival continued in the second run – where 9 out of 30 skiers failed to reach the finish line. For example, leading Atle Lie McGrath, who skied out of a gate when he was the last man out on the course.
Swedish points
This meant that Bulgarian Albert Popov – eighth after the first run – could win. Popov was 44 hundredths ahead of Loïc Meillard, Switzerland, and another two hundredths ahead of third-placed Samuel Kolega, Croatia.
Even the blue-yellow duo Fabian Ax Swartz and Gustav Wissting managed to cross the finish line in the second run and finished 18th (+2.79) and 19th (+2.89) respectively. For Wissting, it was his first World Cup points in his second World Cup start.
