This week has been rich in interesting races. On Tuesday, women slalom racers met in the hometown of the champion Hermann Maier to celebrate him in the famous night slalom in Flachau. Swiss Wengen hosted the renowned Lauberhornrennen, and in Cortina d’Ampezzo, female speed skiers met to conquer the Olympic track.
The Night Slalom in Flachau
The Flachau event is for women, what the Schladming night slalom is for men, a celebration, a party with fans. The Austrians know how to enjoy the skiing party with their superheroes, especially now when the male skiers don’t offer much causes for celebration. And they had a reason to hope in Flachau, as Katharina Liensberger finished first after the first run with a substantial 0,75-second lead. But in the end, Camille Rast (SUI) showed why she was wearing the red bib and managed to win the race from the eighth position after the first run. Only Wendy Holdener (SUI) came close, and Sara Hector (SWE), enjoying a superb year, completed the podium and finished third in the final rankings.
The Italian Celebration in Cortina d´Ampezzo
On Saturday, female alpine skiers challenged the Olympic downhill track. Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR) sat in the red chair with bib number 2, and for a long time, it seemed that nobody would depose her. Federica Brignone (ITA), who is in the form of her life, tried hard but finished 0,12 seconds behind the smiling Norwegian. And then Sofia Goggia (ITA) raced to please her local fans. It is always all or nothing with Sofia; she is unafraid to crash and risk everything. Some find it inspiring, some not, but when Goggia gets it right, nobody can stop her. And that happened in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
This sentiment reminds us of Lindsey Vonn, who also races with this all-or-nothing-style. She crashed hard in the training session but skied well on race day, on rank 20. It might not be enough for this ambitious lady, but after four years of retirement, not bad on such a demanding track.
There was a super-G on Sunday, and the locals expected their speed queen, Super Sofia, to win again. She did not, but another great Italian replaced her in the top spot. Federica Brignone explained that she wanted to win so much here in Cortina. And her run in the super-G was exceptional, one of the best we have seen from her. She won with a 0,58-second lead on Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI), with Corinne Suter (SUI) finishing third and enjoying a podium finish after a long time.
The Swiss Celebration in Wengen
If the locals managed to grab all the gold for themselves in Cortina, they also tried in Wengen, although in slalom, Norwegians did not allow that with their clean sweep.
On Friday, the super-G on Lauberhorn was as demanding as ever. The Lauberhorn racetrack is pretty narrow, and the hill’s profile does not allow for much variability for the course setters. Thus, the super-G track usually copies the downhill insane track, being only shorter and with those turns a little slower. Franjo Von Allmen, the miraculous youngster from Switzerland, performed a superb run with bib number 3, and only Vincent Kriechmayr came close and finished second with a 0,1-second gap. Stefan Rogentin (SUI) showed that surviving a high-speed crash in training only gave him confidence and earned his first podium this season. The crowd expected Marco Odermatt to depose them all, but this was not his day; he made too many mistakes. His run was a little scrappy for his standards and he finished seventh. But for Von Allmen, this was his first-ever World Cup win, and he achieved it here, in front of the Swiss fans.
The Swiss fans were terrific; with all tribunes and all possible provisional watching spots full, they cheered, celebrated, danced, and sang. Of course, they cheered primarily their own but could also appreciate others. And the Swiss rewarded their support.
On Saturday, the famous classical Wengen downhill occurred. This demanding race, which takes around 2,5 minutes with racers reaching 160 km/h is one of the season’s highlights. Miha Hrobat (SLO) skied with bib number 1, and as a racer after racer failed to topple him, he may have started to hope for a first-ever World Cup win. He is racing a season of his life. A horror moment came when Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) failed to deal with compression at a very narrow turn and ended up in the net, bleeding and limping. The crowd cheered passionately as he stood up, but the Austrian fans watched their hero limping into the ambulance car with tearful eyes. Ultimately, Vincent’s strong muscles might have saved him, as he did neither tear nor break anything and only needs rest to recover a strained inner ligament in the right knee.
Hrobat’s hope for a victory vanished as Franjo Von Allmen once again showed his form and performed a seemingly unbeatable run.
I heard the crowd celebrating as I stood in the starting hut and knew Franjo was first. And I thought I could not let him win again.
Odermatt had the run of his life, and that says something: a clean run with heart-stopping moments and a fantastic recovery at the last roller earned him first place.
Then the two Swiss waited in the red chair, sharing everything from interviews to snacks, while the crowd started singing and celebrating, knowing that this would be a Swiss night.
Odermatt and Von Allmen got the Swiss just another double-podium. Every downhill from the season’s start was won by a Swiss, with another Swiss accompanying him on the podium. Murisier, Monney, and Odermatt are this year’s downhill winners, with Von Allmen occupying most of the second places. The speed races seem to be an entirely Swiss party this season.
However, the slalom was a Norwegian party this time.
The crowd dared to hope as Loic Meillard performed an immaculate second run after a scrappy first run and sat in the red chair. But soon, Timon Haugan (NOR) deposed him. And then Haugan waited and watched as Henrik Kristoffersen finished behind him, and Atle Lie McGrath held his nerve and nailed the second run as well as the first. Thus, the Norwegians had a clean sweep on the podium, finishing first (McGrath), second (Haugan), and third (Kristoffersen). For Atle Lie McGrath, this was a special moment. Although he races consistently on the top and fans and experts appreciate his fantastic technique, this was his only third World Cup victory, with the last being as far back as 2022.
So that was it for Lauberhorn. And if we said that Wengen was demanding, let us wait for Kitzbühel.
