Joël Chenal
Joël Chenal ( born October 10, 1973 in Moutiers ) is a French former alpine skier. He competed in the disciplines of giant slalom and slalom and won at the 2006 Winter Olympics silver medal in the giant slalom.
Career
First international experience gained Chenal at the Junior World Championships in 1991, where he, however, only reached the 70th place in the downhill. A year later, the results were better, both in the giant slalom and Super-G, he finished in eleventh place. In the European Cup he won in the 1996/97 season equal on points with team-mate Richard Gravier, and only one point ahead of Pierre Violon, also from France, the slalom standings.
His first start in the World Cup had Chenal in November 1995. A year later, he took on 22 December 1996 giant slalom in Adelboden with rank 22 his first World Cup points. In the 1997/98 season he reached already regularly finishes in the top ten and was ranked 12 in the Slalomendwertung. For its first participation in the Olympic Games in Nagano in 1998 he reached the eighth place in the slalom.
After the season was 1998/99 be somewhat less successful, him his first World Cup win was on 19 December 1999 giant slalom in Alta Badia. It was followed by two more podiums and at the end of the 1999/2000 season he finished fifth in the giant slalom standings. In the slalom, however, he could no longer perform his past performance and was hardly able to qualify in the next few seasons for a second pass. The results in the giant slalom were often not as good as before. As of the 2001 /02 season he focused therefore fully on the giant slalom and was able to enter regular top- 10 rankings again. At the Olympic Winter Games in 2002 his performance was enough but just in 21st place. At the beginning of the 2003/ 04 Chenal succeeded in Sölden for the fourth time a World Cup podium. From 2002 to 2004 he was in the final standings in the giant slalom rating always in the top ten place, also in the following years he remained in the top twenty giant slalom skiers.
The greatest success of his career celebrated the Frenchman at the Olympic Winter Games 2006 in Turin. In the giant slalom, he surprisingly won the silver medal behind the Austrian Benjamin Raich. In the 2007 /08 season for five years, he went for the first time in the slalom back to the start. But the only result was a twelfth rank 6 January 2008 in Adelboden. The day before he reached the tenth place in the giant slalom as the best result of the season.
In addition to his three Olympic appearances Chenal went from 1999 to 2007 and a total of five times at the World Championships at the start. His best result here is a ninth place in the giant slalom at St. Moritz in 2003. Only in 2005, he could not finish his race.
On 3 March 2009 Chenal was 35 years old his retirement from active ski racing known after he failed to qualify as the 27 giant slalom score for the World Cup finals in Åre. The best finish in his last season was a 16th place in the giant slalom in Adelboden, his last appearance in the World Cup had Chenal on 15 March 2009 in the team event.
Achievements
Olympic games
- Nagano 1998: 8 Slalom
- Salt Lake City 2002: 21 Giant Slalom
- Turin 2006: 2 Giant Slalom
World Championships
- Vail 1999: 22 Giant Slalom
- St. Anton 2001: 11 Giant Slalom
- St. Moritz 2003: 9 Giant Slalom
- Åre 2007: 22 Giant Slalom
Junior World Championships
- Geilo 1991: 70th departure
- Maribor 1992: 11 Giant Slalom, Super-G, 11, 14, slalom, downhill 38
World Cup
- 1999/2000 season: 5 giant slalom rating
- 4 podiums, including one victory:
European Cup
- Season 1996/ 97: 4th overall, 1st slalom rating
- 5 podiums and 1 win:
Other successes
- Two-time French champion in the giant slalom in 1998 and 2006
- 7 wins in FIS races ( 1994 /95)