Thomas Dreßen announced the end of his career a few days ago. Now it was his last time going down a slope. After that it got emotional.
At the finish in Kitzbühel, teammates and rivals were waiting with champagne, even “Terminator” Arnold Schwarzenegger applauded in the stands: the exceptional German ski racer Thomas Dreßen ended his career with an emotional last ride over the legendary Streif. The result of Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin’s big victory show no longer played a role for the 30-year-old on Saturday – he took no risks, but enjoyed his last appearance as a competitive athlete in bright sunshine and finished in 46th place.
“That was the perfect day for me,” summed up Dreßen. “It was always clear to me that I wanted to have a nice ride and have fun again. It worked out exactly how I imagined it would. I didn’t think it would be so intense.”
tears in the eyes
In 2018, Dreßen celebrated the first of his five World Cup victories on the Streif – exactly six years later to the day, he was greeted at the finish line by a number of his companions and showered with bubbly. His wife Birgit with their daughter Elena as well as his mother and stepfather hugged the athlete, then teammate Romed Baumann and third-placed South Tyrolean Dominik Paris took him on their shoulders.
Coaches and supervisors had tears in their eyes. Former ski star Felix Neureuther, who had cheered Dreßen’s triumph in 2018 as an injured spectator on site, also briefly lost his voice during the TV broadcast.
“I’m proud of everything I’ve achieved,” said Dreßen over the Kitzbühel stadium loudspeakers and thanked the fans. “I’m glad that it ended like this, that I had such a nice trip again.” On the way down the infamous Hahnenkamm downhill run, he was itching to take more risks – but thinking about the family waiting below, the athlete from Mittenwald in Upper Bavaria remained sensible.
Someone else won
After many defeats, his DSV colleagues wanted to surprise in a sporting way. But that failed. Only Andreas Sander in 23rd (+2.54) and Simon Jocher in 28th (+2.76) made it into the points.
A Frenchman ensured a breathtaking racing day. As on Friday, shooting star Cyprien Sarrazin was unbeatable, with a ride close to perfection he relegated Marco Odermatt to second place. Faced with a whopping 0.91 seconds behind, the Swiss World Cup dominator shook his head and had to watch his rival jump onto the air barriers at the finish and celebrate with his arms outstretched.
“Skiing from another planet,” said DSV athlete Sander about Sarrazin’s performance. “I hope that he is in the form of his life and doesn’t get any better. You can only take your hat off to that.”