The Olympic combination champion definitely doesn’t want to lose sight of the Speed project so quickly. “We’re really serious regarding this,” said Strolz, who is also the reigning Austrian downhill champion. “We really want to establish the speed disciplines as competition disciplines in the long term.” Strolz has already taken part in training runs in Zermatt, Beaver Creek and Val Gardena this season and always saw the finish, which was once once more denied him in the slalom in Gurgl. However, like the races in Beaver Creek, the Matterhorn descents were canceled at short notice, meaning the Vorarlberg native now wants to take advantage of his chance in Val Gardena. On Thursday there is a shortened descent on the program – subject to changes in the program – and on Saturday (11.45 a.m./live ORF 1) the classic over the entire Saslong.
His speed ambitions are definitely not a diversionary maneuver or a kind of therapy for the slalom misery that resulted last season with six failures and not a single top ten result. “If you were to treat this as just a bit of a distraction, it wouldn’t be worth the effort to fly to another continent,” explained Strolz. “There is simply a certain potential that we want to exploit. It was a positive start.”
By this he also meant the speed training block in the USA, which was completed in perfect conditions, where the downhill skiers first camped in Copper Mountain before continuing on to Beaver Creek. “I’ve been able to develop quite well in this short time,” said the 31-year-old. But he knows that he still has a lot to learn.
That’s why he will approach the matter with respect on his first descents. “I can’t go here and think that I’ll get there with zero downhill kilometers and burn down to the last point. That would be stupid in a way, because it would simply be dangerous,” emphasized Strolz. “You can try that in the slalom. But if things go wrong on the downhill, it’s very easy to end up in the hospital. So in a way I’m forced to take small steps.”
