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Speed and precision is needed, but snow is falling making the men's giant slalom difficult at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

With the defending Olympic champion and Austrian ski legend Marcel Hirscher now retired, Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt appears on paper the best placed to claim his vacant crown. The 24-year-old currently leads the World Cup standings both overall and in giant slalom but he failed to finish in the super-G race on Tuesday and came seventh in the downhill. Norway’s Henrik Kristofferson won giant slalom silver in PyeongChang but is lacking form heading into Beijing, while Luca de Aliprandini is a giant slalom specialist and always a threat. Frenchman Alexis Pinturault was the nearly man of giant slalom - he twice won Olympic bronze in this discipline – but a maiden World Cup giant slalom title in 2021 got a major monkey off his back and he’ll fancy his chances here. Outside of the big names, this race will also see Jamaica make their Winter Olympic debut on the alpine ski slopes thanks to 38-year-old former professional disc jockey Benjamin Alexander, who hopes to use his platform to inspire the next generation in skiing.