Alpine Director Wolfgang Maier is optimistic about the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing (February 4th to 20th). Although his team is not one of the absolute favourites, they are by no means without a chance.
“In every race, however, we are one of the men’s candidates who can compete for a medal. For women, Kira Weidle is our hottest iron in the speed area and Lena Dürr in slalom“, explained Maier on Sunday (01/30/2022) in the ZDF.
The German team may be small, but it is still powerful: “We don’t just go to Beijing as passers-by, we want to compete for the medals“, he formulated the claim.
Same conditions for everyone
The games will be different, Maier had said that several times in advance and was sometimes very critical. But what counts most is the sport: “If you manage to get into the bubble, you will see good sport. But that was it. The paths are limited, there is a limit to where you can move. In terms of sport, however, you will see very good and attractive competitions.“
The sports facilities in China are from the category “superlatives“That was also confirmed by the athletes who are already there. Maier also thinks it’s good that nobody was able to test the routes in advance. Everyone starts with the same experience – nobody has an advantage.”So the clocks are set to zero for everyone. If teams could train there beforehand, they had a competitive advantage. They knew the terrain and knew what the snow was like. Now it’s about who adapts the fastest, who finds the best solutions for the tasks.”