In just 30 days, the long-awaited Winter Olympics will begin in Italy. The world is counting down, stadium lights are being tested and teams are switching into final prep mode. But before the flame reaches Milano Cortina, another headline has already turned heads. France’s flag bearer nominations dropped and Clement Noel, the 2022 Olympic slalom gold medalist, stole the show as he is chosen to be one of the flag bearers for the 2026 Winter Games.

Noel did not expect to be part of the flag conversation, at least not at first. When discussions around nominations began, his mind went straight to Alexis Pinturault, one of the biggest names in French skiing with 34 World Cup victories.

With a career stacked with World Cup wins, Pinturault has been the face of alpine skiing for years. And with 2026 likely to be his final Olympic appearance, Noel believed the honor fit him perfectly.

He even spoke to Pinturault personally, saying, “I spoke to him about it to tell him it would be great if he were the one.” But Pinturault turned it down.

“He didn’t like the application and campaign processes. I didn’t much like them either. He said he wasn’t interested, so I said that if I had to represent alpine skiing, I thought I was well-placed to do it. I’ll go for it and we’ll see what happens.”

Still, when the opportunity landed in his own lane, Noel chose to step forward. But the story didn’t stop there.

France will host the 2030 Winter Olympics and he hopes to compete there in front of a home crowd, flag or no flag. The idea of ​​racing on home snow matters more to him than anything symbolic.

As he says, “This is an opportunity that’s presented itself now, and in four years, we don’t know if we’ll still be performing as well, if we’ll even be there, what shape we’ll be in. Right now, I should be present and in good shape for these Milan Cortina Olympic Games.”

Right now is his moment and he wants to live it fully. Alongside him, Julia Nirani-Pereira, who won a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang at just 16 years old, and Kevin Aymoz, the French figure skater with multiple achievements, including an ISU Grand Prix Final bronze, a career-first Grand Prix gold at Skate America 2025, have also been chosen as flag bearers.

But for fans of alpine skiing, the big question remains: can Clement Noel defend his Olympic slalom title at these Games?

French slalom star Clement Noel eyes victory in the 2026 Winter Olympics

Clement Noel has Olympic experience, having competed in both 2018 and 2022, winning slalom gold in Beijing 2022. And this year, Noel remains one of the top slalom forces as the 2026 Winter Olympics approach.

This season, he has already won multiple World Cup slalom races, including a major victory in Kitzbuhel, marking his fourth slalom win of the season. That achievement made him the most successful French slalom racer in World Cup history with 14 career victories.

He also won in Adelboden earlier in the season. Interestingly, that victory came shortly after he sprained his right ankle in a giant slalom crash at Val d’Isère in mid‑December.

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Even before that, at the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach, Noel was in a medal position after the first run of the slalom, though he failed to finish the second run.  Even in the last World Cup slalom before Christmas at Alta Badia, Noel led after the first run but was overtaken in the second by Atle Lie McGrath, who won by just 0.30 seconds. Noel still finished second.

His main rivals this season include McGrath, who has multiple World Cup wins, and Timon Haugan, who has also led the slalom standings at times. Both are strong competitors and capable of challenging Noel on any given day.