Aleksander Aamodt Kilde wins the Lake Louise downhill. Thomas Dreßen makes a remarkable comeback – and already has the World Cup norm in his pocket.
Thomas Dreßen raised his left stick and waved it through the air. The spectators in Lake Louise/Canada cheered him – and finally a loud “Yeah!” escaped him! The man with the number four was happy at the finish, Thomas Dreßen is back in the Ski World Cup. “Really cool to be back. It felt like coming home,” he said.
Right in his first race, his time at the finish was lit up green, so the 29-year-old was temporarily leading on Saturday (November 26, 2022). In the end, Dreßen finished eighth as the best German on his comeback in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Raced to victory on the first descent of the season Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
Hemetsberger and Odermatt in front until the last split
The Norwegian found in the middle part – at the entrance to the “Fishnet-Passage” – simply by far the fastest line. In the last sections of the route to the finish, he took the decisive hundredths of a second from everyone else – and left driver after driver behind.
Closest to Kilde were Austrian Daniel Hemetsberger and Swiss all-rounder Marco Odermatt, both of whom led until the final split. In the end, however, the Norwegian prevailed thanks to his faster line – 0.06 seconds ahead of Hemetsberger and 0.10 ahead of Odermatt. One colleague after the other congratulated Kilde, who started sixth and made himself comfortable in the leader’s chair at the finish.
Dreßen creates the World Cup qualification straight away
Dreßen was allowed to take a seat on it for a short time. His eighth place, 1.02 seconds behind Kilde, is similar to the Scandinavian’s victory. The Upper Bavarian managed to qualify for the World Cup in Courchevel/France, for which the German Ski Association (DSV) requires a top eight or two top 15 ranks. “I thought I had to deliver. But I think I did it quite well,” said the athlete from SC Mittenwald.
And it finally took more than two and a half years before Germany’s speed king was able to compete in a World Cup race again – for the last time he measured himself there in March 2020.
This was followed by a hip operation and cartilage damage, which resulted in a difficult knee operation. Recently he also reported about mental problems during his long injury time, a mental coach helped him. The athlete from near Garmisch-Partenkirchen wanted his return in Lake Louise, where he celebrated the third of his five World Cup victories three years ago, so be very careful. Things should gradually improve, at some point he wants to go back to where he came from before his injuries.
Baumann in the top ten, Schwaiger just behind
In addition to Dreßen, the other German drivers also achieved respectable results. Romed Baumann, who was the first to be allowed onto the track, held his thighs and grimaced. How it is when you don’t know what such a time is worth. However, his 1:49:11 minutes should ultimately take him to tenth place.
Dominik Schwaiger came in twelfth just behind. However, he made a big mistake in the middle section, which prevented a better place. Simon Jocher (17th), Josef Ferstl (22nd), Andreas Sander (31st) and Luis Vogt (51st) completed the field, but are likely to be less satisfied than their colleagues.
Paris and Crawford parry falls
The Italian Dominik Paris experienced a moment of shock when his ski slipped off his foot in the middle of the turn. He skilfully intercepted the fall and, according to the first appearance, drove down without injuries. The Canadian James Crawford had a similar experience, although he also fell but kept his skis on his feet, stayed behind and even continued to finish.
The track was in good shape on Saturday – unlike the day before. The actually first descent from Lake Louise had to be canceled. While there was too little snow at the beginning of the month, which prevented the World Cups on the Matterhorn, there was now too much fresh snow in Canada on Friday.
The possibility of further top ten places comes quickly for the German speed team: On Sunday evening – also from 8.30 p.m. CET – there is still a Super-G in Lake Louise for the fastest ski racers in the world.