Unlike the overall World Cup, the slalom ranking has not yet been decided. Ski racer Linus Straßer is chasing his Austrian opponent Manuel Feller and was able to postpone the decision about the small crystal ball in Aspen again.
In terms of sport, Linus Straßer and Manuel Feller are currently the biggest competitors. No wonder, after all, the Austrian leads in the slalom rankings ahead of Straßer. All that remains is the role of the hunter. He still has two races to catch Feller.
Away from the piste, they both get along very well despite the sporting competition. Feller posted a video late on Sunday evening (March 3rd, 2024). Both sit at the airport after the race and have an after-work drink. Feller toasts Straßer. He grins and enjoys his pizza.
Straßer enjoys the role of the hunter
At the race in the state of Colorado, the man from TSV 1860 Munich moved up from sixth place to second place in the second run. Competitor Feller, however, only came fifth. The Austrian’s lead before the last two races shrank to 169 points. The decision about the small crystal ball has been postponed.
Straßer was in a good mood in the ORF interview after the race. “It’s not decided yet. He (Manuel Feller) can’t miss out completely. But it’s good for the audience if there’s a bit of tension,” Strasser grinned into the camera. He admitted that he liked the position of hunter quite well.
Feller with symptoms “ranging from nausea to pig paralysis”
The hunted man felt completely different. Feller later jokingly complained about symptoms “from nausea to pig paralysis” at the beginning. “You think you’re going to get sick.” His goal was to “to check this off today”but his fifth place wasn’t enough.
Straßer before the last two World Cups: “They are my favorite slopes”
Now there is still the Salom in Kranjska Gora on the weekend and the World Cup final in Saalbach Hinterglemm a week later on the calendar. So there are still 200 World Cup points to distribute. Straßer was optimistic. “These are – I think – my two favorite slopes”he grinned on ORF.
The statistics confirm that he actually didn’t mean it seriously. When the World Cup circus last stopped in Slovenia three years ago, Straßer came 14th. It was his best result on this slope. In 2021 he was still far from his current form. If Straßer continues like this, he still has a chance of achieving his big dream. He would be the first German after Armin Bittner (1989 and 1990) to take the slalom crown.