Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) charged to his first World Cup win of the 2025-26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season in Alta Badia, Italy. He posted a time of 1:44.50 in the scintillating slalom that contained three lead changes between the last five athletes to compete in Run 2.

“After the really rough weekend at Val d'Isère last week, I had an eight-hour car drive to Italy and decided that the rest of the season, every World Cup, I'm just gonna go for it,” an exuberant McGrath said afterward. 

“What I did this weekend to come in and see the green light after being so close so many times, this feels absolutely insane.”

Look up the meaning of “feast or famine” and you might see the 25-year-old referenced as an example. This season, he’s collected three podiums and a wooden spoon, but then also two DNFs (did not finish) and a DNQ (did not qualify). Consistency is the key that unlocks greatness, and if McGrath, who was born in Burlington, Vermont and raised in Norway, can find it, he’ll find himself firmly in the Olympic medal contention conversation.

The victory was his fourth in World Cup competition.

Clement Noel (FRA) had an opportunity to eclipse McGrath’s pace as the final racer of Run 2 and earn his 10th career Cup win, but couldn’t quite catch the Norwegian. Ultimately, Noel took second (+0.30). 

Still, the runner-up finish was a welcome outcome for the Frenchman who DNF’d in Sunday’s giant slalom. With his performance, he climbed to second in Cup points for the discipline, trailing only Timon Haugan (NOR). 

Rounding out the podium was Loic Meillard (SUI), who powered through a couple of early mistakes in his second run to claim third. 

Meillard, the reigning slalom world champion who started the season slow, has been an elite racer in his last five contests. Each resulted in a top-10 finish, three of which were podiums and one a win in Val d'Isère.

American Jett Seymour collected his first points of the 2025-26 campaign (3) with a 28th place finish. The other U.S. competitors — Cooper Puckett (41st), Stanley Buzek (60th) and Benjamin Ritchie (DNF, run 1) — failed to qualify for a second run. 

In four slalom races in 2025-26, only three American skiers have placed within the top 30. Six have DNF’d and four failed to reach the top 50. That means the Americans are greater three-times more likely to DNF or fall outside the top 50 than score Cup points in the discipline. 

Marco Schwarz (AUT), Sunday’s giant slalom winner, looked to be closing in on another strong performance, but missed the penultimate gate in his second run, resulting in a disqualification. 

Haugan, the discipline’s points leader coming into and out of Alta Badia, took the wooden spoon, and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA), who started his 100th Cup event and finished as Sunday’s runner-up, came in fifth.

The next time the men are in action will be a super-G event in Livigno, Italy on Saturday.