6.07 seconds behind – almost an eternity. 6.07 seconds – that’s how much separated Anna-Lena Forster and her big rival, the Japanese Momoka Muraoka, in the super combination at the Paralympics after the super G in the morning.
With too cautious a run with little risk, Forster supposedly lost all chances of winning gold in the first part of the super combination. The third day of competition should be her day. In 2018, Forster won gold in this discipline.
The almost impossible catch-up race
And indeed: Forster put down a furious slalom, climbed place by place forward. It came to the heartbeat final – with the better end for Forster. In the end, she won with a lead of 77 hundredths and gave the German Paralympic team its first gold medal in Beijing.
Rieder missed bronze – Rothfuss and Ristau out
In the standing class, Anna-Maria Rieder lay after the Super G in sixth place. Despite a significant improvement in the slalom, she just missed a medal – she ended up in thankless fourth place.
Andrea Rothfuss (standing) and Noemi Ristau (visually impaired) experienced disappointments: Both were eliminated in the Super-G and were only spectators in the slalom.
Rothfuss self-critical
Both failed just before the finish, at the penultimate gate. “I didn’t have enough direction at the gate before. It was my fault”, said Rothfuss self-critically. However, she was generally happier than at the Super-G the day before: “That’s why I can see the day with one crying and one laughing eye.”
Leander Kress showed his best performance of the games so far in part one of the men’s super combination with a top 20 rank.