Skir racer Emma Aicher is gaining a World Cup race for the first time in her career. In Kvitfjell, the first German departure victory has been achieved in five years.
At first Emma Aicher looked a bit incredulously, then the joy over the best time broke out of her. And the longer she was sitting on the chair of the leading chair and joking with the competitors, the more she realized that she would win a World Cup race for the first time in her career. “I’m very surprised,” she finally said, “it didn’t feel as good as yesterday.”
Yesterday, on Friday, in the first departure on the Kvitfjell Olympic cup, Aicher was the second time for the first time on the winner’s podium in the World Cup – only 24 hours later she couldn’t be kept in the second race. With the perfect line in the lower section of the route, the 21-year-old with the great ski feeling of Lauren Macuga from the United States under 0.03 seconds, the previous day’s winner, Cornelia Hütter from Austria.
“Incredible, you can only be inspired and go into the day with the same looseness,” said Kira Weidle-Winkelmann about the teammate. The 29-year-old herself fell on the 1994 Olympic slope after good mean, she flew into the fishing nets, but already gave the all-clear on the slopes. “Everything is a bit stiff, but otherwise everything is fine,” she reported in the “ZDF”.
“Nice that many are happy for me”
Aicher, on the other hand, drove after second place the day before with an announcement to victory – a victory with rare value. The last German departure winner in the World Cup was in February 2020 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Viktoria Rebensburg, before that in January 2014 Maria Höfl-Riesch won in Cortina d’Ampezzo. For the German Ski Association (DSV) it is the first World Cup victory for the Alpine this winter, the first for women in almost two years.
Aicher was continuously behind the intermediate times of Macuga, the World Cup third in the Super-G. In the fifth and last sector, however, she drove the best time – many subsequent runners who were faster on the go than the Germans, lost time on these last 15 a few times. “I think I hit the places well where you can take speed,” said Aicher accordingly.
Almost more than themselves, others were happy about Aicher’s coup. The German coaches clapped enthusiastically on the edge of the slopes, numerous competitors came over to congratulate, especially the Quietschfidele Macuga celebrated her defeater. “Nice that many are happy for me,” said Aicher and revealed: above all, she was heard that her victory was only “a matter of time”.