The competitors were right. When Marcel Hirscher takes up the challenge, he is also competitive. The Salzburg rider landed on Sunday in the World Cup slalom from Levi to the 17th place in the second half. However, he was completely satisfied with the points achieved.
The victory north of the Arctic Circle went on Finnish Father’s Day to young dad Felix Neureuther, who christened the reindeer “Mati”.
The German sat down at his 13th birthday. World Cup victory ahead of the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen (+0.37 seconds) and the Swede Mattias Hargin (0.45). The ÖSV result was disappointing overall, Marco Schwarz finished 13th as the best Austrian. Place (+1.09), directly in front of Michael Matt (14/1.13). Hirscher had a gap of 1.32 in the race of the narrow distances.
After his ankle fracture in August, Hirscher had enough training days to score points right from the start of the season,”I can’t believe how great it is. This could have gone the same way in normal preparation,”said the six-time overall World Cup winner after mid-term rank four. In the run-up to the event, he was reluctant to make forecasts.
“I think that’s what Kristoffersen meant to Hirscher after the first round in the finish area:”I think you’ll be in the second round,”said Kristoffersen, mischievously referring to Hirscher. I know from my own experience what it’s like to start with no training after an injury. You can still be fast. If Marcel can’t do it, who can,”Neureuther said.
Hirscher had a fault in the upper part of the ski, but otherwise he had pushed the ski down correctly. At the moment, I’m only going through the attack, because he can’t make up for it with feeling:”I’m running out of strength, and I realize that I’m extremely lacking in ski conditioning” In the finale, I felt better with the strength, but the grooves were already noticeable and a test for my foot.
“The first pass was top of the tip and surprising for us, the second one was full of feeling and attack. But you notice that there is a lack of skiing skills at the moment. That was a bit too hard for me. The Watsch’ n from the second one is also good, which means motivation and full force forward,”said the 28-year-old.
He had hoped to stay among the top ten, but in such a tight race you are “Schwuppsdiwupps” far behind. The journey was definitely worth the trip, who knows what the points are good for:”The most important thing was to be there and see where you stand, where you are.”
However, ÖSV sports director Hans Pum spoke of a “more than successful comeback. He praised the technical and mental performance of the skis and said,” That’s why it’s so important for the team, but also for the whole ski sport.
Neureuther came surprisingly to his first reindeer, halfway through Dave Ryding from Britain and second in front of Kristoffer’s, Ryding retired in the final. First race as father and first victory. I never thought this was a win-win situation. The reindeer will of course be called Matilda,”said the 33-year-old,” but he had to resort to their more neutral nickname “Mati” because the animal is male.
“I’m very happy, I enjoyed this very much. It was cool to see Felix driving,”Kristoffersen sprinkled flowers on the competitor. The ÖSV men, however, left the finish area with hanging heads. Last year’s runner-up Matt fought successfully in the first run at a wave (“Bisserl got there faster than expected”) against the loss, but he left a lot of time. He couldn’t hold his ninth place in the second half of the race, and “That wasn’t good skiing,”said the Tyrolean.