A few years ago, Germany’s men were at the top in the downhill race – recently they were far behind. There is no real glimmer of hope before the Kitzbühel weekend. The head coach’s expectations speak volumes.
Those were the days for the German downhill skiers: Thomas Dreßen triumphed on the legendary Streif in 2018, Josef Ferstl followed that up in the Super-G in Kitzbühel a year later. The DSV speed team at the time fought for podium places in every race, and there was even talk of a golden generation.
Eight years after Dreßen’s historic coup, the most important World Cup weekend is now coming up again in Tyrol. But the Germans are no longer among the favorites. What happened there?
“I would definitely like to see a place in the top 15,” says head coach Christian Schwaiger before the Super-G on Friday and the downhill run on Saturday (11.30 a.m./ARD and Eurosport). “And if I get a place in the top ten, then I’ll be happy. That has to be our goal.”
That speaks volumes – and of course leaves little imagination for the Olympics. These are modest words – but they are of course not surprising: in the past 38 speed events, only two top ten results were achieved for the athletes of the German Ski Association (DSV). The podium places remained a long way off.
The gap was not filled in the German ski warehouse
As mitigating circumstances, the DSV men can cite the fact that they have been struggling with considerable bad luck with injuries and failures for years. Dreßen had to stop in 2024 due to ongoing physical problems, and Ferstl also announced his resignation at that time. Andreas Sander – after all, a former downhill runner-up and narrowly missed the podium in Dreßen’s Streif victory – has been missing for the second winter due to a serious cell disease.
This time only three German men will throw themselves down the Hahnenkamm run with the infamous parts of the route such as the mouse trap, the steep slope and the edge of the Hausberg. For comparison: Austrians, Swiss and French have each registered almost a dozen athletes for the big showdown in Tyrol.
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DSV’s hopes rest on Simon Jocher and Romed Baumann. Jocher has also been set back by a number of injuries in the recent past, such as to his intervertebral discs and his foot. “I no longer only have clothes in my travel bag, but also an ultrasound for my heel and other utensils to take care of my back,” the 29-year-old from Garmisch recently said. But he made people sit up and take notice with a fifth place in the Super-G in Livigno shortly before New Year’s Eve.
Baumann, who is already 40 years old, has to draw on all his experience in Kitzbühel: the Tyrolean native has already raced down the Hahnenkamm slope in the World Cup 32 times. But his previous season was forgettable: the veteran clearly missed the Olympic standard in the late autumn of his career.
The big problem of the third German in the league
“Men’s racing is merciless,” says coach Schwaiger about the current level in the World Cup: “You always have to go ‘all in’.” And his protégés are currently doing that far too rarely.
But here too there is bad luck: Luis Vogt, the third German starter in Kitzbühel this winter, not only has to fight against rivals and slopes, but also against the equipment. He has shoe size 50, but racing boots are only available up to size 48. Vogt is not yet fast or prominent enough for custom-made products, and so the 23-year-old has to continue to torment himself.
Incidentally, the German speed prospects are not quite as bleak in the medium term. Benno Brandis (19) and Felix Rösle (21) became junior world champions in Super-G and downhill last season and are said to be the future of the currently weak speed squad. Both are slowly being built up and made fit for the World Cup, as head coach Schwaiger emphasizes.
A start in Kitzbühel was therefore out of the question for the duo – the infamous Streif is the opposite of cautious, cautious and risk-free.
pk/dpa
