The alpine director of the German Ski Association (DSV), Wolfgang Maier, drew a mixed conclusion before the season finale in Andorra.
“Again and again we create one or the other surprise, always set accents. But overall that’s not enough for our claim,” said the 62-year-old in an interview with the media group “Münchner Merkur/tz”. “We always achieve about the same number of top ten results and podiums over the last four or five years. A more successful performance often fails due to injury-related absences.”
The German highlights this winter were provided by Alexander Schmid as world champion in the parallel competition and Lena Dürr as third in the World Cup slalom. Dürr also achieved a win and three more podium finishes in the World Cup. Slalom specialist Linus Straßer and downhill skier Kira Weidle each raced onto the podium twice, while Andreas Sander finished second once in the Super-G.
The speed men in particular, who missed top man Thomas Dreßen again for a long time due to injury, became weaker and weaker after a decent start to the season. The German women are still not competitive in the giant slalom.
“In the end, of course, there are two World Championship medals, including a title, and on the other hand, ten World Cup podiums and other top ten places,” Maier summed up. That was “good, but not a real hammer result.” The final races of the season are scheduled for this week in Andorra. Let’s start with the men’s and women’s downhills in Soldeu on Wednesday.