Dreßen is fighting for a starting place for the World Cup downhill

Skier Thomas Dreßen is on the mend after his gastrointestinal infection and is fighting for a starting place for the World Cup downhill on Sunday.

“I’m glad that I can sit here in this condition. That wouldn’t have been possible a few days ago,” said the 29-year-old ski racer in a media round. On Monday and partly on Tuesday he was still “completely struck down”.

Romed Baumann and Andreas Sander from the German team are set for the race in the supreme discipline, as national coach Christian Schwaiger announced. In addition to Dreßen, Simon Jocher, Josef Ferstl and Dominik Schwaiger are fighting for the remaining two tickets. The speed specialists can prove themselves again in two training sessions this Friday and Saturday.

Dreßen had caught a virus at the beginning of the week. It was briefly uncertain that he would be able to complete the test runs at all. Now the Upper Bavarian seems ready for the race in the French Alps. “When I’m at the start, I’m 100 percent fit. When I start, there are no excuses,” said the German in case of a nomination.

The athlete from SC Mittenwald does not feel any after-effects of his training fall from the previous week. “The knee didn’t cause any problems at all. That was the most important thing for me,” said Dreßen with a view to his first test drive in Courchevel.

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