Ski crosser Daniela Maier is ready for the Olympic winter. The German came fourth at the World Cup in Val Thorens. Tim Hronek finished sixth among the men.
Daniela Maier had the best season of her career to date last winter. Heidi Zacher (2011) most recently achieved second place in the overall ranking. Now the athlete from SC Urach has big plans: after winning Olympic and World Cup bronze, she wants to at least be on the podium again at the Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Milan in February.
In any case, her form and self-confidence were already there in the first competition: Maier made it exciting, however, for a long time she chased through the undulating course in the quarter-finals ahead of the multiple overall World Cup winner Fanny Smith.
When a bump knocked her out, the 29-year-old was able to artistically save herself into the semi-finals behind the Swiss co-favorite. While Smith then missed a goal and the grand final, Maier was confident.
The Black Forest woman was now only a minute away from her first podium of the season. But this time things didn’t go as planned. Maier couldn’t get past her strong competitors and crossed the finish line in fourth place. The victory went to the confident Swede Sandra Naeslund.
Hronek came sixth in the small final
Things also went well for Tim Hronek, who was the only German starter to fight his way into the semi-finals. There he tried to keep up the pace with a quick skating step. But the competitors from France caught the 30-year-old in the lower part and sent him to the small final. Hronek pulled through there and ended up with a good sixth place. The Italian Sinone Deromedis celebrated first place.
Where was top driver Wilmsmann?
Florian Wilmsmann started the Olympic winter with the confidence of his most successful season to date. He set an exclamation mark last winter with six podium finishes and three World Cup victories.
However, the 29-year-old from Upper Bavaria gambled away in the first qualification for the race on Thursday and was therefore out early at the start. Things went better with the qualification for Friday, where the hopeful will be at the start and can show how strong he already is.