Five of the six Olympic titles awarded in the alpine skiing events of the Beijing Games have been won by athletes skiing on the Austrian brand. Are they faster than the others?
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Downhill, the Austrian ski brand celebrated a hat-trick led by Bernese Beat Feuz.
On the artificial slopes of Yanqing, Petra Vlhova is the only Olympic champion who is not equipped with Head skis following six contested events (out of eleven) so far in alpine skiing. The Slovak carried her Rossignol skis through the air following winning the slalom title in Beijing.
The dominance of the brand led by new FIS President Johan Eliasch is overwhelming. Eleven of the 18 medal-winning athletes in alpine skiing raced down the slopes with white skis on their feet. “For me, they are real rockets and the best in the world”, did not hesitate to drop the Austrian Johannes Strolz, surprise Olympic champion in the combined. To achieve his feat, the slalomer borrowed the downhill skis of his compatriot Matthias Mayer, Olympic super-G champion and bronze medalist in the downhill.
“It’s a ski that appreciates this type of snow, cold and artificial”
In the queen discipline, among men, the former brand of Didier Cuche celebrated a hat-trick. “It’s a ski that appreciates this type of snow, cold and artificial, explained Olympic downhill champion Beat Feuz at the start of the week. This was already the case four years ago at the PyeongChang Olympics or at Beaver Creek (USA).
“Since the Head ski doesn’t jump and stays on the ground well, it can pick up speed.”
For his part, Marco Odermatt felt a bit disillusioned with the “monster” of the competition following his seventh place in the downhill. “It’s difficult to go as fast as the downhillers from Head who have very good skiing on this snow.”
A ski that does not jump
Its strong point? “It’s his tranquility, replies Justin Murisier, who also slides with Head on his feet. It is a ski that lands on the snow and it has very little vibration. I would say that he is not very nervous and it is true that on cold snow, it is in principle something that is very good. Because as he does not jump and he stays well on the ground, he can pick up speed.
But the Valaisan, who will be one of the giant’s outsiders on Sunday (1st round at 3:15 a.m.) wants to put things into perspective. “Already, the proportion of athletes of this brand is much higher than others in Beijing, he underlines. Then, you still have to perform. Alexis Pinturault, for example, did not make a good result during the descent of the combined while skiing with Head. Skis don’t allow you to perform miracles either!”
In the two technical events contested among women (giant and slalom), the Austrian brand was not as dominant in China. It was even the French brand Rossignol which distinguished itself by celebrating a double in slalom (Vlhová and Liensberger) and a silver medal in giant (Brignone).
The advantages of the Head ski seem relative when there is less glide and more turns. It’s up to Marco Odermatt to try to spin with his Swiss skis towards his first Olympic medal on Sunday.
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Lara Gut-Behrami won two medals at the Beijing Olympics, including Olympic gold in the super-G.
