Andreas Sander was the only ray of hope for the German team in Super-G on Thursday. He finished ninth.
Photo: imago/Mathias Man
It is the culinary skills of the hotelier in the »Les Flocons« team quarters that deserve special praise. At least that’s what the sports director in the German Ski Association (DSV), Wolfgang Maier, thinks. He never misses a chance to rave about the oasis up in Courchevel, the great slopes and most of all the food. But the German team is not on vacation in the French Alps, but to do well at the Ski World Championships and to win one or the other medal.
The chef therefore didn’t have to conjure up a festive menu on Thursday, but ordinary home cooking was sufficient – in line with the performance of the German speed drivers in the Super-G. Only Andreas Sander might have earned a little treat. In ninth place, he showed “a decent performance,” says Maier. “But he lost a significantly better placement when entering the finish slope because he didn’t adapt enough to the terrain.” take away, he says. “I’ve found my setup, can handle the snow extremely well and the basic speed is there.” For the 33-year-old from SC Ennepetal, who tends towards perfection and sometimes loses his cool because of it, at least the time for tinkering and testing seems to have come to be over this World Cup.
From a German point of view, the rest was forgettable. Josef Ferstl dropped out, Romed Baumann was 27th, Simon Jocher was two places behind. However, he can claim extenuating circumstances because he only returned from a long injury break shortly before the World Cup. At a higher level, but similarly disappointed, this season’s high-flyer left the finish area. The Swiss Marco Odermatt, who had won four of six Super-G races this season and had never been worse than third, finished fourth empty-handed. Gold medalist James Crawford, on the other hand, had never won a Super-G before. The Canadian was a hundredth of a second quicker than Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. Third was Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, who had already won the combination.
The performance of the German team, in contrast to the occupation of the top step of the podium, is not a big surprise, but reflects the previous World Cup season. Sometimes one came through, i.e. among the top ten, but the next step that the alpine division of the DSV had hoped for after the World Cup in Cortina two years ago did not materialize. At that time, Romed Baumann and Andreas Sander left with silver in Downhill and Super-G. After the Olympic Games in Beijing last year and this season, when there were no highlights, it seems as if the successes back then in the Dolomites were already the final point – instead of just a milestone on the way up.
“We’re missing a bit of killers from time to time,” Maier stated. On the one hand, it is certainly due to the personality structure of the athletes, but on the other hand, the DSV sports director also wonders whether types “who have the character to suppress the risk and are only focused on the result” can also be trained. Maier refers to the Norwegians, who let their talents compete against each other very early on – and regularly bring winners into the World Cup. Formerly Lasse Kjus and Kjetil-André Aamodt, then Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud, and now Kilde and some really fast slalom runners like Lucas Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath. “We attach more importance to technical training,” said Maier. It might be necessary to sharpen that, he admits.
For the current team, he believes, it’s not too late to develop “that competitive gene.” Especially when Thomas Dreßen, an athlete who has already proven to have the killer qualities demanded by Maier, can advance back to the top of the world after his injury. You just have to understand that the most important thing is not “doing the nicest descent or having the best line”, but arriving at the finish line the fastest.
The team that followed the example of the Germans two years ago could serve as a role model. After the retirement of former world champions Erik Guay and John Kucera, the Canadians were a little late in building a new downhill team. “They worked their way up to the top of the world with a certain vehemence,” says Maier – and overtook the Germans. Perhaps also because Canada has a downhill racer in Crawford who knew exactly what was important in the Super-G on Thursday’s »L’Eclipse«. “He had the perfect timing and the risk you have to take if you want to be at the front,” Maier said. Unlike his runners that day.
