Kristoffer Jakobsen snaps poles after latest ‘mind-boggling’ DNF in the Alpine World Ski Championships slalom
Published 16/02/2025 at 11:38 GMT
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Swedish skier Kristoffer Jakobsen was caught on camera taking his frustrations out on his equipment after yet another ‘did not finish’ - this time in the men’s slalom, the closing event of this year’s Alpine World Ski Championships. Jakobsen did not make it to the end of his opening run in Saalbach after straddling a gate, and released his disappointment at the bottom of the slope.
Furious Jakobsen snaps his poles after Saalbach slalom DNF
Video credit: TNT Sports
This year’s Alpine World Championships have thrown up some classic performances as well as a few surprises, but sadly for Kristoffer Jakobsen it has ended in yet another disappointment.
The Swedish skier already had four ‘did not finish’ results from this season, and added another in the men’s slalom - the closing event of the championships.
He missed a gate high up on his opening run, breaking one of his poles in two shortly after. But the time it took for him to leisurely ski to the bottom of the course was not enough for the Swede to cool off, as witnessed by his antics at the finish line.
Skiing to the corner, he proceeded to angrily snap his other pole on his thigh, no mean feat given they are made to endure and it certainly did not look like an easy task to complete.
"Oh he’s not happy," was the description from the Eurosport commentary box.
"Unsurprisingly, you can definitely see the frustration. He’s so frustrated - just not able to put the ski down. He broke one pole on the hill, one at the bottom," the co-commentator added.
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Jakobsen suffers DNF in first run at Saalbach
Video credit: TNT Sports
Jakobsen has a string of World Cup podiums to his name, but he is gaining a reputation as a man who misses the mark more often than not.
He was up on the time of his quickest rival when he made his mistake, but paid the price for the smallest of errors.
"That’s such a shame. He’s had such a good start there, so solid and you see here, just tries to set himself up nicely in that steep part and it’s just millimetres," added the commentators when Jakobsen made his mistake.
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"What do you do if you are his coach? You don’t want to fundamentally change how he races. You need to find a way to get him to the finish more often.
"It’s so tough on him as well. He’s incredibly quick; you saw it in the team combined and today on that top section… I just don’t know. It is mind-boggling because he is so quick. He just can’t find that finish enough."
The damning praise continued for Jakobsen, who was then called "the highest profile, the quickest guy who makes it to the finish the least."
This is his fifth DNF of the season, to go with five from last season and six the one before that. His worst run was back in 2022, when he managed five in a row, including in the slalom at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
"There’s nothing wrong - he’s very accurate with his feet, he’s very close to the gates, releases his skis nice and early… It’s millimetres, but it is millimetres the wrong side unfortunately," concluded the commentary team.
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