Competition in Thalgau

Rookie wins only medal at home World Cup

Michael Urban took gold in the junior category.(Bild: HSV Red Bull Salzburg/LAUXFOTO-SALZBURG/Manfred LAUX)

The home World Cup for skydivers in Thalgau has come to an end. Michael Urban was the only athlete from HSV Red Bull Salzburg to win a medal. Sebastian Graser narrowly missed out on the podium.

Three days of skydiving action in Thalgau are over, the home World Cup of HSV Red Bull Salzburg is over again. Perfect weather, a great atmosphere and the best skydivers in the world made for a successful competition. What was missing from Salzburg's point of view, however, were the medals. Only Michael Urban was able to celebrate a precious metal. The Innsbruck native, who competes for Salzburg, defended his victory in last year's junior competition. With a total distance of just 12 centimetres (the athletes have to hit the target the size of a ten-cent coin after jumping from a height of 1000 meters), the 22-year-old was unbeatable: "I was very nervous before the competition because it was about defending my title, and of course I really wanted to do it."

The defending champion would like to emphasize the team spirit: "We always cheered each other up when someone had a bad jump and motivated each other so much. That also made an incredible difference." His colleagues did not benefit as much from this. Sebastian Graser just missed out on a medal in fourth place, while Sophie Grill was best in the women's event in 13th place. Local hero Julia Schosser came 20th.