Alpine skiing: Casse surprised by ÖSV defeat

Alpine skiing: Casse surprised by ÖSV defeat
Alpine skiing: Casse surprised by ÖSV defeat

As the best of the ÖSV team, last year’s winner Vincent Kriechmayr only ended up in twelfth place this time. In flat light and a mixed snow layer of ice and fresh snow, the former world champion was 1.09 seconds behind Casse. Stefan Babinsky came in 14th (+1.28), Otmar Striedinger came in 24th with the high number 53. Lukas Feurstein, who was last third in Beaver Creek, couldn’t get past Stefan Eichberger in 28th place after breaking his metacarpal hand during training.

This was an almost historic rebuff for the Austrians. Before that, no ÖSV runner had made it into the top ten in a World Cup Super-G only five times. The last time this happened was in the last millennium. On March 1, 1992, in Morioka, Japan, the best Austrian in the statistically red-white-red favorite discipline was only in 13th place.

Kriechmayr best Austrian

Vincent Kriechmayr had to settle for eleventh place as the best of a badly beaten Austrian delegation.

Casse triumphs in anniversary race

At the top, Casse celebrated a victory for the first time at the age of 34. The Italian was particularly successful in the traditionally technically demanding passage in the Ciaslat meadow, but in the end he was still only slightly ahead. Goldberg, who started the race with number 26, made the home team sweat a lot, especially as the slope became faster in the lower part. Despite narrowly missing out on victory, the US driver was able to celebrate his first place on the podium. Odermatt was 0.43 seconds behind the winner.

Goldberg narrowly beaten

Jared Goldberg made the Italian fans sweat. In the end, the American ended up in second place by a hundredth of a second.

For Casse, the success came full circle in his 200th World Cup race, because almost exactly two years ago to the day, the Italian celebrated his first of three third places in the World Cup in the downhill classic on the Saslong. The 34-year-old is already the third experienced premiere winner in the current season after the Swiss Justin Murisier and Thomas Tumler. On Saturday (11.45 a.m., live on ORF1) the traditional descent with the legendary camel humps is on the program.

Danklmaier falls badly

From an Austrian perspective, Casse’s victory was overshadowed by a serious fall for Daniel Danklmaier. The 34-year-old lost his footing in the Ciaslat meadow and was knocked out. As a result, he remained sitting on the slopes and held his right knee. A knee injury would not be the first for the Styrian, who was repeatedly set back by injuries. In 2021 he had already torn a cruciate ligament in approximately the same place. Danklmaier was taken to Innsbruck for further examinations.

Due to the teammate’s fall, the mediocre placings of the remaining Austrians a year after Kriechmayr and Hemetsberger’s double victory also faded into the background. “Basically, I don’t give a shit about the trip now – sorry for the expression – I hope that it’s not so tragic with Danki. He’s had so many injuries and now that he’s coming back and getting back into driving, what nonsense. Let’s hope for the best,” said Kriechmayr.

Danklmaier is thrown off

Daniel Danklmaier fell victim to the treacherous slope and had a serious fall in the middle section.

The Upper Austrian struggled particularly with the partly very slippery slope, which also proved fatal to other prominent athletes such as the Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin. “I didn’t find a single hard spot. We already saw it during the inspection, it’s soft from top to bottom, you have to stay on track,” said the 33-year-old in the ORF interview, “I laid it out too straight a few times, maybe that’s why the pace not so worn out. It might have been better in tough conditions, but my God. The others have it too, I couldn’t implement it.”

Feuerstein indicates a break

Feurstein, who recently clinched his first World Cup podium in Beaver Creek, was hindered more than he had hoped by his injury. “It was okay at the beginning, but from the middle onwards the pain was relatively severe. And at the finish, when the adrenaline runs out, it’s not really pleasant. I tried it, it didn’t work out as hoped,” said the Vorarlberger, who also struggled with the slopes: “It’s sometimes very difficult, sometimes it’s extremely soft. You don’t know whether you will get something back or whether you will sink.”

For the 23-year-old, the Super-G could have been the last appearance before Christmas, as Feurstein suggested he would not take part in the giant slalom on Sunday in Alta Badia. “Now it’s time to cure it, then we’ll take a look. I have to think about Alta Badia, I can’t grip the pole properly, any pressure hurts extremely. I will decide with the coaches,” said the Vorarlberg player, who started with a splint on his left hand.

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