Alpine skiing: Hannes Reichelt aiming for record from Hermann Maier

On Friday the World Cup triple of the alpine ski men starts again in Beaver Creek. Austria’s speed men want to build on their strong performances in Canada in the US classics both in Super-G and downhill (Saturday). They are also aiming for the fourth Super G victory in Beaver in a row and are several co-favorites. Besides Hannes Reichelt also Vincent Kriechmayr.

Last Sunday in Lake Louise, the Upper Austrian was defeated only by the Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud and will also start on Friday (19.00 CET, live ORF eins) as “title defender”. A year ago, the star of the Upper Austrian with the first World Cup victory rose to 3,000 metres above sea level. Since then Kriechmayr has belonged to the skiing elite.

“One can only say “title defender if one is the acting world champion”, Kriechmayr immediately made clear. Of course he had a great start into the season. “That’s why there’s so much self-confidence. And for the Austrians, this is a place where they have always torn a lot.”

In fact, ÖSV runners have won nine of the 16 World Cup Super-Gs so far on the “Bird of Prey Slope”, including the youngest three. Reichelt won in 2014, Marcel Hirscher in 2015 and Kriechmayr in 2017. In 2016 the races were cancelled.

The team of Sepp Brunner and Christian Perner also has the start of the 2005 season in mind on Friday. At that time, too, they came to Beaver Creek with places 1 – 1 – 2, then Hannes Reichelt also won the Super-G and celebrated his first World Cup victory. In the meantime, the 38-year-old from Salzburg has won three of his six Super G’s alone in Hermann Maier’s former “living room” and also became world champion here in 2015.

“It’s always a good thing Lake Louise Beaver Creek comes. That’s a bit of a balm to the soul,” joked Reichelt, although he had already shown fourth in Canada. “At the age of 38 and 148 days, the experienced rider is aiming for his seventh World Cup podium in Super-G on Friday.

Only ski superstar Hermann Maier has managed this in Kitzbühel so far. “But the competition is huge and the boys are getting harder and harder,” Reichelt warned. ÖSV chief of staff Andreas Puelacher nevertheless believes the Salzburg man in Colorado to have a lot to offer. “It’s been seen in Lake Louise that he’s in shape. Hannes is always to be reckoned with here.”

Last year Aksel Lund Svindal won the downhill in Beaver Creek. It was his already 13th podium place and sixth victory there, so the Norwegian is already on a par with Maier at World Cup victories in Beaver, who won there eight times including the 1999 World Championships. Only Marcel Hirscher in Adelboden, Val d’Isere and Kranjska Gora has achieved 14 podium places in one place so far.

You have to trust Svindal to do everything again this week, but the “Oberelch” can’t even push the start because of his thumb injury. “If I just have to skate, we Norwegians can do that quite well anyway”, joked the 35-year-old.

Also for Svindal and Jansrud Kriechmayr is already in the Super-G co-favorite. “Simply because he’s technically brutally good at driving.” The Upper Austrian took it calmly. “All the Norwegians want to do is put pressure on me. I have many competitors in my own team alone who can put a spoke in my wheel.”

“Stupid talk is omnipresent in the ski circus,” Kriechmayr knows. “Yeah, I’m in shape and won three races last season. But in comparison to others I am a small fish”, he said and called Reichelt. “These are names I look up to.”