This year, the Upper Austrian only found his flow once more at the penultimate speed stop in the World Cup and took home a super-G victory in Kvitfjell and second place in the downhill. “I was so determined during the season,” said the 32-year-old. “I was often too aggressive and things just didn’t work out well.” Kriechmayr revealed that a changed approach following the Garmisch races brought success.
At least a fifth and a fourth place came out of the two Super-Gs in Bavaria. That wasn’t good enough for Kriechmayr’s demands. Before that it hadn’t worked, especially on the descent. He had never been better than fifth this winter. “If you train all year and then want to fight for a ball and then you have a season like that, then it’s obviously disappointing,” he explained. “If I wasn’t grumpy or annoyed, then I think I would have the wrong attitude.”
“I just had to try it a little differently in terms of mindset.”
During the long break from competition – the downhill runs in Chamonix were canceled – he came up with a different motto in his head. “Stand at the start and try to attack unconditionally. The consequences won’t be so important,” he said to himself. “I was behind the curve all year, so I just had to try a little bit differently with my mindset.”
After Kvitfjell, the Upper Austrian now has two wins this season in the Super-G and, 81 points behind, still has the slimmest chance of taking the almost certain small ball from Marco Odermatt. However, 13th place at the final in Saalbach is enough for the Swiss, Kriechmayr has to win. “The bullet is only theoretical. But in reality there is no chance left,” he stated. “I simply left too much behind in other races.”
“Pissed off at myself”
On the descent, Odermatt and the French Kitzbühel dominator Cyprien Sarrazin are even further ahead and compete alone for the ball. “Of course they drove outstandingly, but especially in my case I was behind my form for a very long time. Would I have been able to beat them? Difficult to say. Certainly not in some races,” said Kriechmayr. In any case, he wasn’t intimidated by the duo’s achievements, “rather pissed off at myself for what I showed.”
Now he can go to the limit once more. “It’s very simple: If I feel comfortable on the skis, then I can take risks because then I know I have everything under control. But if I don’t feel comfortable and my technique or coordination isn’t working, when I’m there “If I’m having a hard time, then it’s not that easy to be at the limit,” he explained. “Because then I get into an area where it becomes dangerous. I’m 32 years old, I don’t need to go to the hospital anymore.”
In the four and a half weeks until the first training in Saalbach-Hinterglemm (“The calendar planning is really very modest”) he will train a lot, test new material and tinker with it in order to close the gap on the downhill. “We will probably have the opportunity to train in Saalbach, especially with a view to the World Cup,” said Kriechmayr. If he were to achieve the longed-for victory in the downhill at the final, he might also make a dent in the season in the premier discipline.
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