Linus Straßer has a good chance of winning a medal in the slalom at the Alpine Ski World Championships. After the 30 best drivers have crossed the finish line, the Munich rider is only 14 hundredths behind the leader Manuel Fellner from Austria after his first run and is fourth. Norwegian Lucas Braathen and Greek AJ Ginnis share second place (+0.13 seconds).
Straßer: I “implemented the plan quite well”
Above all, Straßer showed an almost flawless performance in the steep initial section, where many drivers had problems. It was only in the flatter part that he made a few unclean swings and sat just behind the Austrian Feller.
“I had a plan in mind, which I implemented quite well”said Straßer in the Sportschau interview: “There are an awful lot of good slalom drivers there. That means one thing for the second round: There is no retreat. If you want to get a medal today, you have to put everything in.”
Feller: “Linus is on my heels”
It was exactly the opposite for Feller: Having started with slight problems, he showed the cleanest performance in the final section of the first round and set the record as the fourth starter. “In the first half, the others picked up the pace. In the second half, I pushed a lot harder. Linus is on my heels, as is Lucas.”said Feller and when asked about the gold medal and the high expectations in Austria he added: “I look at myself and my skiing and that has to be enough.”
Greek Ginnis before renewed sensation
Greek technical specialist AJ Ginnis is on the verge of the biggest win of his career. The 28-year-old caused a stir at the World Cup dress rehearsal in Charmonix when he surprisingly finished second in the slalom. With another strong run, he could cause a sensation with a World Cup medal for Greece.
Braathen, whose World Championship participation was uncertain due to an appendectomy, showed strong form. The Norwegian was even faster than Straßer in the first third, but then drove less cleanly than the German and ended up just ahead of him. For the leader in the overall slalom World Cup, as for Straßer, the gold medal is within reach.
Very narrow field of riders after the first round
Braathen’s compatriot Sebastian Foss-Solevaig (+0.35), Alexander Vinatzer from Italy (+0.44) and Austria’s Fabio Gstrein (+0.56) still have every chance of winning the world title. Clement Noel in seventh place is also a title contender (+0.64). The Frenchman was on course for the best time before narrowly avoiding a fall. Overall, the field of drivers is very close together. The best 18 times are within one second. At the end of the list of the 18 best drivers is DSV driver Sebastian Holzmann (+1.00).