2023-12-01 12:13:25
“The downhill season is finally starting, it’s been a long wait. Now we’re looking forward to the races even more,” said Vincent Kriechmayr, referring to the weather-related changes to the plans, which particularly affected the speed drivers. The descents in the shadow of the Matterhorn across the Swiss-Italian border were canceled at the beginning of November due to excessive snow and wind.
Things didn’t go well for the downhill skiers in training either, before they moved to North America in mid-November. “We trained relatively little this year anyway and not well,” recalled Daniel Hemetsberger. “So we didn’t have any snow, and once there was, it was too much.” For now, a side note is that snow showers are also forecast in Beaver Creek for the weekend.
Kilde as the hunted
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is the big hunted at the first World Cup downhill in Beaver Creek. The Norwegian has already triumphed there four times. Austria’s downhill aces are declaring war on Kilde.
Hemetsberger finished fourth in the final training session on the “Birds of Prey” slope on Wednesday despite a damaged index finger. He is not the only Austrian with a physical problem. Otmar Striedinger has been suffering from back pain since training in Copper Mountain, where the alpine convoy camped before continuing on to Beaver Creek. “I notice that I’m not at 100 percent yet. “That means getting it under control,” said the Carinthian. Julian Schütter is making his World Cup comeback after tearing his cruciate ligament in Kitzbühel in January.
GEPA/Mathias Mandl Daniel Hemetsberger showed fourth-best time in the final training session
Kriechmayr goes for the ball
Kriechmayr, on the other hand, is fully fit, but he completely missed training on Wednesday. “Unfortunately I drove into the steep slope with too much inside position and unfortunately slipped,” he explained. The Upper Austrian continued driving after his big mistake and ended up being penultimate in the results list, almost ten seconds behind the Frenchman Cyprien Sarazzin.
Alpine skiing
World Cup calendar 2023/24
However, his anticipation of his first descent in winter is only slightly dampened. “Beaver Creek is truly one of the most spectacular runs on the calendar. It’s nice to be here with such weather, such a backdrop and the track conditions,” said Kriechmayr.
Last season, Kriechmayr alternated with Kilde in the Downhill World Cup. The Norwegian won six downhill runs, Kriechmayr four – others did not get a chance. His goal for this year is “to make a good start to the season and to be at the front of every race,” he emphasized. “If I can do that, maybe I can compete for a ball at the end of the year.”
Black wants to “attack”
In Beaver Creek, Kilde is still missing two successes across disciplines to catch up with the record winners Hermann Maier and Aksel Lund Svindal. In addition to Marco Odermatt, Marco Schwarz also wants to prevent this, as he is entering his first season as a “full-fledged” downhill skier, so to speak, and whose trainers certainly believe he can come up with one or two surprises in the speed profession. “I want to attack, not blame myself afterwards and drive with my head,” said the Carinthian. “It’s a very sporty descent here.”
Saturday’s race will be Johannes Strolz’s first World Cup downhill. The Olympic champion in the Alpine combined should build up a second mainstay alongside the slalom. “I like the route very, very much,” revealed the Vorarlberg native, who wanted to “give it his all”. Who he will oust from the squad will be decided after the race on Friday, as the ÖSV announced.
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