After Thursday’s downhill disappointment, better times should have dawned for Austria’s speed men in the Super-G in Wengen. The good season results with places one (Vincent Kriechmayr) and two (Daniel Hemetsberger, Raphael Haaser) had fueled hope. But the bottom line was that there was another bitter setback.
With the confident victory of the French shooting star Cyprien Sarrazin ahead of Marco Odermatt (Sui) and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Nor), sixth place was the highest of feelings for Stefan Babinsky. Vincent Kriechmayr left the finish area in disappointed eleventh place, 1.68 seconds behind, this time without a word. The ORF waited in vain for an interview following the 32-year-old Gramastettner had ruthlessly reckoned with himself on Thursday.
The frustration runs deep. There is still a chance before the home races in Kitzbühel. The classic Lauberhorn descent takes place on Saturday (12.30 p.m., ORF 1) – without Daniel Hemetsberger (24th yesterday), who is suffering from the intensive Wengen program with two training sessions and three races within five days.
The man from Nußdorf is not physically up to scratch. “The illness is over, that’s it. But of course I’ve lost a lot of substance in the last week and a half. Now, on top of that, my right knee is suffering a lot from the strain,” reported the 32-year-old athlete from SV Unterach , who had already considered skipping the start on Friday, but then gritted his teeth. Now is probably the moment to pull the emergency brake.
From a team perspective, the Super-G result wasn’t that bad with six red-white-red ski aces among the top 16, but there was a lot missing from the absolute top. “Sarrazin was unbeatable that day,” said World Cup leader Odermatt, who won the first downhill on Thursday.
Pinturault: Torn cruciate ligament and broken wrist
The race was overshadowed by a serious accident involving the French all-rounder Alexis Pinturault. The 32-year-old three-time world champion, who became the father of a daughter named Olympe a week ago, was transported away by helicopter following a fall on the Silberhornsprung. Pinturault, who was on the podium 77 times in 339 World Cup races, tore a cruciate ligament in his left knee and broke his wrist.
The women’s Super-G in Zauchensee also claimed a victim: 25-year-old Carinthian Nadine Fest crashed into a gate and suffered a shoulder injury.
Author
Alexander Zambarloukos
Sports editor
Alexander Zambarloukos
