Bankruptcies, bad luck and mishaps for Florian Wilmsmann: After a zero result in Val Thorens a week ago, the 27-year-old also underperformed in Arosa on the first day in difficult conditions.
The ski crossers opened the new winter sports week with a night race in Arosa. The German starters had a difficult time on Monday (December 11th, 2023) in the seeding run, in which the starting places are determined, as all 53 starters had already qualified for the competition.
In mixed snow and weather conditions, Tobias Müller was the best German in eighth place. Day one in Switzerland was particularly disappointing for last winter’s World Cup silver medalist, Florian Wilmsmann.
He finished 53rd last in the seeding run. Since there are 64 starting places in the first final run, Wilmsmann is still in the competition.
Prelude to forgetting
The new season has so far been one to forget for the 27-year-old: In Val Thorens, the first World Cup stop for ski crossers, he, like all the other top crossers, missed qualifying for the competition due to difficult weather conditions. In the second race in France he was disqualified after the quarterfinals. The reason: The FIS had found fluorine on his skis, which has been banned in all disciplines since this season.
“I felt very good there, and my speed was also good, so that I even caught up more and more with the leader Reece. And then I was drawn for the test and disqualified. At first you don’t know who to be mad at“, explained the disappointed Wilmsmann after the disqualification in Val Thorens, “you’re dumbfounded.”
After fluorine problems come weather problems
Fluorine has not been an issue at the current World Cup in Arosa, but the track conditions are difficult. On Monday the athletes had to struggle with wet snow, just slightly off the ideal line and the snow was already slowing them down a lot. A lot of precipitation is also reported in Arosa on Tuesday, so it could be another difficult day of competition for Wilmsmann and his teammates.