Raging cry and clenched fist, this "bubbling who hides his game", according to one of his coaches, exploded with relief as soon as his second round arrived, while there were still five opponents to pass.

The Vosgien might not be "completely sure it was very good", the air had already changed at the bottom of the "Ice River", the track of Yanqing bathed in sunshine: one rarely equals a Christmas in a such shape.

One by one, his rivals broke their teeth there, but it was not until the red mark in front of the name of Johannes Strolz, leader of the first race, that the certainty of a podium changed into gold, the first international medal for the 24-year-old Frenchman.

"I never projected myself with an Olympic medal, or to win World Cups, or anything," said this gifted, who has been carrying the hopes of the tricolor slalom for years.

"To clear the mind"

"It's unbelievable, it's a perfect race today, maybe the most important of my whole career. It's very rare that you can play an Olympic medal, it's a + one shot + once every four years”, he confided, putting aside his usual phlegm for a palpable emotion.

Frenchman Clément Noël, crowned Olympic slalom champion, at the Beijing Olympics, February 16, 2022 François-Xavier MARIT AFP

When he landed discreetly in the middle of last week at the Olympic Village, alone in a bus, the world No. 2 in slalom for the past three years could harbor doubts: was he going to find the imperial ski from the start of the season, which had knocked out the Val d'Isère stage, or reconnect with the frustrations of January?

"I knew I was in good shape. My races in January were not good, but I was very fast here in training," he explained, recounting having "cut" a week before starting. go to China.

"I think before the Games you have to clear your head. When I got back on the skis, I tried to be calm, relaxed, to find solutions," he explained.

In a discipline of crazy density, where about twenty skiers claim the podium, the Vosgien knew how to bring out the best he had to follow the destiny he had traced for himself by leaving the gentle reliefs of his native massif to go into exile in Val d'Isère.

Sixteen years after Dénériaz

Already victorious nine times in the World Cup, Noël engraved his name synonymous with celebration forever in the history of French sport, while the last tricolor title in alpine skiing, the downhill of Antoine Dénériaz in 2006, began to take the dust.

Frenchman Clément Noël, Olympic slalom champion, at the Beijing Olympics, February 16, 2022 Dimitar DILKOFF AFP

In the tradition of blue-white-red slalom, he joined Olympic champions Jean-Pierre Vidal (consecrated in 2002), Jean-Claude Killy (1968), Christine (1964) and Marielle Goitschel (1968).

Noël continues his love affair with the Olympic event.

He had shown himself at a very high level with a surprise fourth place in Pyeongchang in 2018. Since then, he has been world number two in the specialty three times (from 2019 to 2021).

Far from his joy, his teammate Alexis Pinturault, reduced to one shoulder, finished Wednesday in 16th place, and will leave the Games without an individual medal for the first time in his career.

There remains the mixed team event on Saturday at the world No.1 last winter to finish the Olympics on a smile.

Behind Christmas, the increasingly less surprising Austrian Johannes Strolz took silver at 61/100, six days after his title on the combined.

The Norwegian world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag was able to come back very quickly from a recent thumb injury to take bronze at 70/100, nine hundredths ahead of his compatriot Henrik Kristoffersen.

© 2022 AFP