In some countries, slalom comes naturally. Finland believed it could be one of them, in the days of Kalle Palander and Tanja Poutiainen. Then silence fell again over the slopes of Lapland. Eduard Hallberg is now breaking it, and his secret comes down to one word: Norway.
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Heading for Oppdal
He grew up in Sipoo, in the south of the country, far from the big slopes. At 14, he did something few teenagers would dare: he left for Oppdal, in Norway. There he studied and trained within the Norwegian system, the very one that shaped Timon HauganNOR. Changing country at that age means a new language, a new school and a new method, all at once.
“It was a really important step and an important choice for me to move there,” he told Ski Racing magazine. The gamble is reflected in the results: Europa Cup wins at Kläppen and Hafjell, and giant slalom silver at the 2023 World Junior Championships in St. Anton. That turning point never appeared on a World Cup timing sheet. Yet it foreshadowed everything that followed.
Levi, one Sunday in November
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On 16 November 2025, the Levi slalom was raced in front of a Finnish crowd. Starting with bib 29, Hallberg finished third, behind Lucas Pinheiro BraathenBRA and Clément NoëlFRA. It was his first World Cup podium. No Finnish man had ever finished in the top three at Levi; among the women, only Tanja Poutiainen had done it, most recently in 2012. The previous Finnish men’s podium dated back to Kalle Palander, in the Alta Badia giant slalom on 16 December 2007. There have been quieter debuts. That same Sunday, Brazil celebrated its first World Cup win: Levi belonged to the small nations.
Nine days earlier, Ski25 had featured the “Fearless Finns”, with Hallberg leading the way, in its Levi series. He wasted no time in proving he belonged.
Revisit our Levi 2025 preview. Finnish dreams
Madonna, then Hafjell
On 7 January 2026, at Madonna di Campiglio, he started with bib 21 and led after the first run. On the final run he set only the eleventh-fastest time. Clément Noël seized the chance and finished ahead of him. Runner-up, then, after holding the win for half the race. The third podium came in March, at the Hafjell finals, where he climbed from eighth to third in the second run. He closed the season eighth in the slalom standings. A year earlier he had been 88th overall; now he was 21st.
Bormio, a learning curve
At Bormio, which hosted the men’s Olympic events, luck deserted him in the individual races: he went out in both giant slalom and slalom. But in the team combined, paired with Elian Lehto, he posted the fifth-fastest slalom time and Finland took ninth place. The speed is there. What remains is to put it together over two runs, on a big occasion.
The breakthrough came under the Austrian Mario Rafetzeder, Finland’s coach since 2022. The federation parted ways with him in June 2026 and brought back Janez Slivnik, who knows the set-up well.
Why we follow him
Hallberg ticks every box for the stories Ski25 likes to tell: a small alpine skiing nation, a path chosen as a teenager, progress you can read in the figures. Finland has been waiting for a men’s win since December 2007. He talks about it openly: “I feel like it’s pretty close.” In November, Levi will give him the chance to find out, in front of his own people.