Totally abnormal: Daniel Yule’s crazy path to the top of the world in slalom

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What the hell is wrong with these Swiss?

That is the question asked on Sunday morning by the two ORF commentators Thomas König and Joachim Puchner, who, like our skiing companions, are staying at the four-star hotel Le Prieure in Chamonix. «We were amazed by the icy atmosphere in the breakfast room. “Almost every Swiss sat alone at the table,” says König.

After the first slalom run at the foot of Mont Blanc, the mood in the Swiss camp brightened somewhat for Loïc Meillard, who is fifth and very close to the podium.

But Daniel Yule is furious at half-time! After a serious mistake shortly before the finish, everything seemed to indicate for a long time that the Valais would miss qualifying for the second run. “I was really annoyed with myself and was already mentally packing my suitcase at the hotel,” the 30-year-old said later. But because Swedish top talent Fabian Ax Schwartz (19) with starting number 58 was five hundredths short, Yule only qualified for the final in 30th place, 1.93 seconds behind leader Clement Noel.

First Swiss double victory in slalom since Donnet and Lüscher

This means that he can open the decisive race, which is a very good omen given the spring-like conditions (15 degrees). And Yule actually managed to achieve a dream run, so that in the end even leader Clement Noel (Fr), second place at halftime Timon Haugan (Nee), three-time season winner Manuel Feller (Ö) and world champion Henrik Kristoffersen were behind the heroic fighters from La . despite their enormous lead, Fouly returned. Only Loïc Meillard (27) can keep up with his teammate for a long time, but he is also behind at the finish. And so Yule becomes the first athlete in the 57-year history of the World Cup to jump from 30th to 1st place in an individual competition!

Also historic: Yule and Meillard give us the first Swiss double victory in the slalom since Martial Donnet from Lower Valais triumphed in 1978 ahead of Peter Lüscher from Thurgau in Madonna di Campiglio. “It is a very nice feeling that I can celebrate the national anthem together with Loïc. But it is very clear that this time I benefited enormously from the track,” said Yule after his seventh World Cup victory.

The son of British immigrants grew up almost twenty kilometers as the crow flies from Chamonix in the border triangle of Switzerland, France and Italy. For a long time, the man with a degree in economics thought it was impossible that he would one day become the most successful slalom skier in Swiss ski history. “That’s why I got my high school diploma parallel to racing and then started distance learning. After my first two mediocre years at FIS, I told myself I would quit skiing if things didn’t improve in the third year. But then suddenly things started to get better.”

“Training with Loïc and Ramon is often depressing”

Daniel starts laughing out loud when he thinks back to his very first ski race. “I was five when the Erika Hess Open was held here in La Foully.” The gist of the story: “I immediately understood that I had to get from start to finish as quickly as possible in a ski race. Unfortunately I didn’t understand that I had to go through all the gates. So I drove past all the fences from top to bottom. At the finish I was sure that I had won and was convinced that this course could not be mastered any faster. I was therefore disappointed when I saw my name at the bottom of the rankings.”

Even in modern times, Yule still regularly occupies the bottom places – in the team’s internal training runs. «For me it is sometimes brutally depressing to train with Loïc Meillard or Ramon Zenhäuser. Even though I always do my best in training, I still lose a lot of time compared to them. Last winter I achieved one best training time. That was in Hinterreit, Austria, when I was training alone…»

The teacher’s descendants cannot explain why he can continually improve so dramatically in competition. But there is also an area where Yule is very weak in training and competition. What we mean is our national game. Yule: «I have participated in our ski club’s Jass tournament three times: once last and once second to last. My best ranking was third from last.” But in slalom, Yule will probably remain our strongest asset for a few more years. “If nothing happens, I want to continue my career at least until the World Cup at home in Crans Montana in 2027.”

Source : Blick