Saalbach 2025 World Championships closed its gates on Sunday. Let us relive the most significant moments together.
Austrian Passion and Austrian Athletes
Austrian passion drove this World Championships, no doubt. The fans created a fantastic atmosphere, and the organizers provided a seamless and thrilling experience. There were no complaints about the terrain or the course, and the athletes and their teams were generally happy with the organization and communication.
But the Austrian passion played a role in just another respect. Austrian fans are the most enthusiastic of them all and desire to see their athletes win. However, Austrian athletes have not been in their top form recently, and the expectations were not that high, with immense pressure to complicate the situation. Nevertheless, the Austrian athletes far exceeded the expectations, and as they celebrated in front of their nation, the emotions brought a special thrill to the event.
From the second day, the Austrian athletes pleased the home crowd with surprising and charming results. Stephanie Venier won the women’s super-G, and Raphael Haaser got silver in the men’s super-G. Mirjam Puchner brought a silver medal from the women’s downhill, and Vincent Kriechmayr, during his comeback from injury, brought joy to his country with a silver medal in the men’s downhill.
Austrian women in the team event won bronze with Katharina Truppe and Stephanie Venier, while in the men’s team combined, the Austrians had to suffer a Swiss clean sweep. But then, in giant slalom, Raphael Haaser brought tears of joy into the Austrian fans’ eyes because they thought this gold had already been decided the moment “Odi” stood with his Stöckli skis at the start. And Katharina Liensberger brought her season’s best into the slalom competition to win bronze.
These are only medal performances; many other athletes went beyond their limits as the fans roared them down.
Swiss Dominance
Ultimately, it was not enough, as the Swiss dominated the event. It was not just the speed squad that proved unstoppable even before the World Championships. The Swiss got a silver medal in the team event, Marco Odermatt dominated the super-G, Franjo Von Allmen’s gold, and Alexis Monney’s bronze brought sensation after the men’s downhill. The Swiss team then stole all the media’s attention by partially shaving their heads and having a proper party to celebrate their success, and in the team combined, Swiss women got silver (Lara Gut-Behrami with Wendy Holdener), and men got all the medals.
As they sang their national anthem during the medal ceremony, an ORF commentator expressed his frustration, remarking that the Swiss should show some constraint as they were guests on Austrian soil. The Swiss-Austrian rivalry is well known amongst the alpine skiing nations, and in the media, the quarrel got out of the bottle on the very first day, as the ORF commentator labeled the team consisting of Thomas Tumler, Luca Aerni, Wendy Holdener, and Delphine Darbelley as a B team.
Thus, the Austrians were doubly happy to steal the giant slalom title from Marco Odermatt, even though Thomas Tumler and Loic Meillard occupied the rest of the podium. The last weekend also belonged to the Swiss, with Camille Rast and Wendy Holdener finishing gold and silver in the women’s slalom competition and Loic Meillard stealing the slalom show.
Odermatt With One Medal Only
You get gold when you are an ordinary skier, and people celebrate you. When you are a phenomenal skier, you get gold, and people frown, asking why only one. Marco Odermatt had to suffer just that; with a career like his with his rankings, he and his team and fans expected more medals than just one.
In the super-G, his performance was beyond anything we have seen from him this season. His run could not get any better. But then the downhill came where Odermatt was far from happy with his run and finished fifth, a bad result by his standards. So, he resigned from a chance to race in a team combined to focus on the giant slalom, where he was supposed to win no matter what. And he did not win. His second run was weaker after a solid but non-exceptional first run, and he finished without a medal in his prime event.
Odermatt was honest with the press, expressing disappointment with his results because, false humility aside, he did expect more from himself. But in the end, this World Championship was a big party for his best friends, so he would let it go.
Team Combined Success Story
FIS had been looking for a fifth alpine skiing competition to add to the World Championships and Olympic program for a long time. As the popularity of traditional alpine combined sank, they sought to replace it because skiers were specializing in technical and speed disciplines and would not risk their health to compete in both on one day. First, FIS tried to use the parallel slalom as an individual competition. However, the athletes did not like it, and it was hard to ensure the regularity of the parallel race. Team events remain a part of big events but are still not the most popular with athletes or fans.
Now, the team combined seems to be the best choice. Athletes love the opportunity to compete in the team and perform uncompromising runs. They can race in their star competition instead of looking like amateurs when racing in the other specialization and still participate in a combined event. The fans love the emotions and fascinating stories this event brings. It is fun to watch, fun to race, and easy to organize for the venues.
Shiffrin’s Uncertain Comeback and Johnson’s Gold Medals
One more phenomenon’s participation was discussed during the event. Mikaela Shiffrin was unsure whether she could participate, as she returned to competing only a week before the World Championships. In the giant slalom, she was not in top form, and also, because she did not feel mentally ready to enter the course that brought her to the hospital bed, she did not compete in the giant slalom.
But she did take part in the slalom, and in the individual competition, she was disappointed. However, the team competition was a dream come true for her, the fans, and the journalists writing the stories. Shiffrin competed in one team with her childhood friend Breezy Johnson, and the two Americans brought gold home. After Breezy’s phenomenal downhill run, Shiffrin exceeded her current capabilities and ensured the gold.
Breezy Johnson is a fighter; she was severely injured many times and got into trouble with anti-doping regulations. Undoubtedly, she considered giving up countless times but got back to competing only in December 2024. The downhill gold for Johnson and the team combined gold she brought with Shiffrin only completes the great success of American women. Lauren Macuga was third in the women’s super-G, and Paula Moltzan got bronze in the giant slalom. The American women showed similar team spirit to the Swiss men’s squad and brought the same thrill and emotions to the finish area.
These were the stories that the World Champs wrote. There were many more about athletes who finished far from the medals than those we wrote about. Athletes giving their best and improving their personal best, athletes from exotic countries, and athletes who had to drive to Austria themselves because they had no team around them. Big events like this always write such stories.
Let us remember them all, the medal and the smaller ones, as the alpine skiing season continues this week.
