Olympia 2018: Super G: Dreßen without chance – Mayer saves Austria honor

Thomas Dreßen’s vague hope for a medal at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang has finally been dashed.

While Matthias Mayer put the alpin-crazy Austrians in a buzz one day after Team Austria’s debacle in the downhill run with his surprising Super-G triumph, Dreßen was the twelfth place and was clearly beaten.

Mayer, downhill Olympic champion of Sochi, also broke the Norwegian dominance in the second speed discipline with his victory. The 27-year-old Austrian, who had fallen spectacularly in the combined slalom, prevented a record for the Scandinavians, who could have won an Olympic Super-G for the fifth time in a row – no other discipline has yet succeeded in doing so.

But Sochi Olympic champion Kjetil Jansrud had to make do with bronze 18 hundredths of a second behind Mayer, the Swiss Beat Feuz (+0.13), who finished third in the downhill behind Jansrud, took silver. Jansrud’s great compatriot Aksel Lund Svindal finished fifth and, one day after his triumph on the downhill, missed out on being the first man in Olympic history to win both speed races at the same games.

Best German even before Dreßen was Andreas Sander from Ennepetal, who was the eighth best German,”I did much better than in the downhill. I dared to do more,”said Sander, who had finished tenth in the downhill, on ZDF. But he wasn’t completely satisfied:”I’ve done better skiing before. Sepp Ferstl (Hammer), who had sensationally won the Super-G in Val Gardena this season, disappointed and did not reach the top 20.

“I’ve just caught the penultimate goal and then I’ve seen it go green,” said overjoyed Mayer, who, three days after his fall, thanked his two physiotherapists in particular three days earlier and added brightly:”Today is a great day!

At first, Jansrud had milled a time into the runway at the holy mountain Gariwang in Jeongseon with starting number seven, at which two starters later on Svindal broke his teeth. Jansrud drove the course, especially in the lower part of the track, which was similar to a giant slalom, aggressively and yet supple, the runner-up world champion did not make any mistakes in the choice of lines. Svindal, who had already had a clear lead in the meantime, crashed almost shortly before the finish line, laughed seconds later but still laughed at his good friend and conqueror.

But the Norwegians were no longer in a good mood when Mayer came along and was a bit surprised with the start number 15. Afterwards, the 27-year-old followed the next races in the pits with a tense wait. Only when Thomas Dreßen was clearly behind in the finish line with starting number 20 did he smile relaxed.