Queenstowner Hadley wins first national Grand Slalom title

Sam Hadley has been crowned men’s New Zealand Giant Slalom National Champion for the first time in his career today at Coronet Peak.

The Queenstown 20-year-old says: “It feels great, it was tricky conditions today and I was pretty nervous before my first run because we were racing on The Hurdle, it’s a difficult slope and we were racing for the National title.

"It’s a pretty insane feeling [racing down The Hurdle], especially today starting from the top, you carry more speed into it, there’s a lot of terrain and it happens pretty fast."

Hadley, who took home the Giant Slalom National Junior Alpine Skiing Championship title last year, held his own in the hugely competitive field today with 75 men representing 18 nations. He finished in eleventh place in the FIS overall race as well as taking the National title.

Hadley had a blinder of a first run, leading the Kiwi men with a time of 51.91, -1.34 ahead of his closest compatriot William Cashmore of Auckland. In the overall FIS race Hadley was sitting in 18th equal, +2.84 behind run one leader Harry Laidlaw of Australia after run one.

After a quick reset, slip and inspection the course was ready for run two. Hadley made quick work of his second run, flying down The Hurdle. He took the National Title by an impressive -1.49 ahead of second place finisher Sam Woods of Auckland. Cashmore rounded out the National Title podium in third.

Today’s race was also a FIS race, with an international field taking on The Hurdle. Australian athletes Harry Laidlaw and Louis Muhlen-Schulte went one, two on the podium, just nine hundredths of a second apart. Mattias Roenngren of Sweden rounded out the FIS overall podium in third.

Tomorrow we will see a break in the programme as the team at Coronet Peak set up ProAm for the Alpine National Championships Slalom races set to be held on Sunday, 18 August.