analysis
The 47th Ski World Championships in Courchevel and Méribel left behind an unusual list of medals and historic Greeks and Norwegians. However, the posh ski area was not able to create a party atmosphere like a few hundred kilometers further east in the Alps.
The German slalom skier Sebastian Holzmann stood in the finish area of Courchevel on the last day of the Alpine World Ski Championships, the people around him were reflected in his sunglasses. A few centimeters below his teeth came to light, Holzmann couldn’t get the smile off his face that afternoon on Sunday (02/19/2023). He finally said: “That’s gigantic.”
Gigantic: He was far from the only one with this feeling during these two weeks of the World Ski Championships in France’s luxury ski resorts of Courchevel and Méribel. In this case, Holzmann actually only meant his result in the World Cup slalom. But basically this word stood for so much of what happened at the 47th World Ski Championships in the Savoy Alps. The sports show expert Felix Neureuther said simply: “It’s really gigantic.”
Neureuther and Holzmann rave about the ski area
Because so much was gigantic in France: On the one hand, there was the huge ski area, which Neureuther again mentioned, with about 600 kilometers of pistes, almost unimaginable from a German point of view, and well – in the case of Courchevels maybe too well/icy – prepared race tracks. “This landscape, this area here, it is the most beautiful and greatest thing on this planet”, said Neureuther. Holzman said: “Anyone who has a passion for skiing really has to come here.”
And then there was the weather, which the Allgäu native had also rated as “gigantic” a few days earlier and which perhaps strengthened his and Neureuther’s assessment even more. Because that meant it particularly well with the ski racers and their spectators, who were allowed to be part of a major skiing event again for the first time without corona restrictions. No rain, no snowfall, always sunshine – a winter World Cup with the risk of sunburn.
Norway gets the most medals
And with the built-in podium danger from Norway. Henrik Kristoffersen finally won the slalom on Sunday – his country has collected the most medals at the World Championships with nine. The Scandinavians have never done that before. However, at the top of the medal table was Switzerland, which collected the most gold plaques (three).
Speaking of medals: For the first time in 30 years, the Germans finished a World Ski Championships ahead of the Austrians, who won seven medals but left without a gold for the first time since 1987. The DSV team was sixth, the ÖSV team eighth, an unusual final result. The skiing superpower is threatened with uncomfortable weeks and months, there is currently no exceptional talent like Marcel Hirscher recently.
World Champion Alexander Schmid, Lena Dürr takes bronze
Exceptional athletes are few and far between at the German Ski Association (DSV). Nevertheless, the DSV Alpine board member Wolfgang Maier draws the conclusion: “It’s been okay.” He didn’t want to give a grade, but after the two medals he realized: “We said we wanted to win a medal for each gender. We also provided a world champion. It’s actually exceeding the target.”
Compared to the 2021 World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, from a German point of view it was about: In Italy, the speed drivers won three medals and the technical team one. Now the two medals won: the new parallel world champion Alexander Schmid from SC Fischen and the slalom skier Lena Dürr from SV Germering bronze. The German team also brought back memories of 1987 in Crans-Montana. When the DSV provided a technology world champion for the last time – in the slalom driver Frank Wörndl also an Allgäu. And the German and Austrian teams weren’t the only ones with memories of 1987: Marco Odermatt, the World Cup athlete, too. He was the first Swiss since Pirmin Zurbriggen to win two gold medals. For women, Mikaela Shiffrin was the most successful athlete with one gold and two silver medals.
Alexander John Ginnis’ feat of silver
In the slalom, however, she gave up an almost certain lead over the sensational winner Laurence St. Germain. Yes, there were also the Canadians in Courchevel and Méribel: the surprise men and women of this World Cup. Alongside St. Germain, James Crawford raced to gold in Super-G without a World Cup win and Cameron Alexander was third in downhill.
An equally big sensation was Alexander John Ginnis’ feat at the end, which marked a historic high point: the 28-year-old fooled everyone in the slalom except for Kristoffersen and won silver. It was the first Greek World Ski Championships medal ever.
Alexis Pinturault wins two medals at home
Local hero Alexis Pinturault from CS Courchevel also provided a nice story. In the first week of the World Championships he secured gold in the combination and bronze in the super-G. How proud the entire region was of Pinturault could also be seen from the fact that the words “Well done Alexis” popped up on LED advertising walls along with the combined winning photo.
As he made his way down the slope, the fans would wave their France flags, it was the moment when there was the best atmosphere in the finish stadium in every race. The clapping and screaming in the stands also increased for the last runners of the slalom and giant slalom, but then quickly subsided. Instead, in Courchevel and Méribel one experienced relaxed hosts of a major event, with the volunteers looking after the guests calmly and carefully.
“In terms of organization, it was definitely one of the best World Cups I’ve seen so far”, says Maier. In terms of sustainability, this also included buses and gondolas that brought the fans to their places of accommodation. After all, the “Les 3 Vallees” ski area is very ramified. Only the early end of the gondola ride in Méribel was worthy of criticism. Anyone who wanted to see Alexander Schmid’s award ceremony missed the last descent.
No Halligalli party atmosphere like in Kitzbühel or Schladming
At the posh ski resort, where the doner kebab at the finish stadium cost 12.90 euros and the Belgian waffle eight euros, for example, and the food in the adjacent restaurants was significantly more expensive, there was no Halligalli party atmosphere like in traditional World Cup locations such as Kitzbühel or Schladming . “This is something different. I’ve never seen so many people in a ski area like here”says Neureuther. “But the World Cup is playing a bit of a supporting role, you have to be honest.” In Austria, everything in the ski area would be based on the World Cup instead.
This will be observed at the next, the 48th Ski World Championships in Saalbach/Hinterglemm in two years time. In the Pinzgau it will definitely be a step louder in the spectator stands. Presumably more supporters and more fan clubs will arrive there as well as in Méribel (Austrian Marco Schwarz was one of the few who stood out there). The 2025 World Cup could then also be gigantic for skiers – but certainly in a different way than those in Courchevel and Méribel.