The Austrian technicians promise aggression for the Semmering races. In fact, anything seems possible.
After Sölden and Gurgl, the Ski World Cup will take place this winter for the third time in Austria. The women’s technical double in Semmering, alternating with Lienz every two years, will take place on Saturday (10 a.m./1 p.m.) with the giant slalom and on Sunday (10:30 a.m./1:30 p.m., live on ORF 1 and SN ticker) with the women’s slalom reds- From a white and red perspective, this is a surprise package. From a debacle to a long-awaited victory, anything seems possible, as the results of the season so far show.
Julia Scheib: “The goal is the podium again”
Julia Scheib is the best hope in giant slalom. With third place in Sölden, her first and expected place on the podium, the 26-year-old Styrian has become one of the best in the world. “The goal is clearly to get on the podium again,” says Scheib, who has always had the fastest momentum in the ÖSV team, but has often exceeded the goal. Scheib does not feel challenged by head coach Roland Assinger’s collective and public call for more aggressiveness. “For me, it felt more like I was risking too much. But now I have found my center and I can run quickly and safely at the same time,” she says. The outage in Killington would not change anything, she assures us.
Assinger: “We worked on the bundles”
We saw what it looks like as a team when Scheib blew his chance just four weeks ago when Ricarda Haaser finished eighth and avoided a complete debacle. “It was a real disaster. But we worked at it and learned from it,” says Assinger. In detail, this means that many training sessions took place in icy conditions, which posed problems for the Austrians. Besides Scheib and Haaser, according to Assinger, Stephanie Brunner is also good for a podium place.
A new spark for Liensberger?
Katharina Liensberger is the red-white-red number one in slalom. The third place in Levi was followed by two more top 10 places in Gurgl and Killington. But the big success was still missing. In Killington, a fall in giant slalom slowed her down. But the physical consequences were managed. “I trained very well. The Semmering invites you to attack. There is also the local public, who will certainly motivate us,” says the Vorarlberg native, who associates the Magic Mountain with an aha experience: “The memories of second place in 2020 are still present, because it is the race where I saw that I could compete with the best. A similar first spark should follow in Semmering. This would come at just the right time in the World Cup season. Because their last victory dates back to March 2022.
