Hadalin wins silver in combined at Ski World Championship

The 23-year-old Slovenian was second only to Alexis Pinturault of France, while third place went to Marco Schwarz of Austria.

Hadalin was far back in 30th place after the downhill but had a superb performance in the slalom part of the event for what is by far his greatest career achievement.

His previous best at world championships was 10th place in the slalom in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 2017.

Hadalin was only 0.24 seconds behind the winner as he achieved the best time in the slalom. It was only the fifth medal for
Slovenian male skiers at world championships.

"I'm speechless... I don't know, I cannot say a word," Hadalin could not hide his excitement as he gave a statement to the national television after the surprise silver.

He added that he had taken the opportunity in the slalom after admittedly making a mistake in the downhill.