Sensation in Chile

ÖSV downhill skiers celebrate their first win of the season

In the World Cup, Lukas Feurstein has so far only competed in the downhill training sessions.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Even the boldest optimists had not expected this! Lukas Feurstein from Vorarlberg raced to a sensational double victory in the South American Cup in La Parva, Chile - in the downhill! And this despite the fact that the 23-year-old had only competed in a single downhill race beforehand!

"The downhill is a discipline that I take with me in training. But as far as the races are concerned, it's not my focus at the moment. Firstly, I don't quite see myself there. I'm probably still not confident enough for that. And I don't really want to at the moment because I still have so much work to do in the giant slalom and super-G before I get to where I want to be. There's no time to think about the downhill," Lukas Feurstein told the "Krone" in July.

However, the man from Mellau - who is currently in Chile with the ÖSV team to prepare for the season - proved that he can ski downhill in more than impressive fashion on Wednesday. After finishing twelfth and 22nd in the training runs for the South American Cup downhill in La Parva the day before, he sensationally raced to victory in the race with bib number 49. And this despite the fact that the 2021 junior giant slalom world champion had only competed in a single downhill race beforehand. In February 2022, he was the last starter at the Junior World Championships in Panorama, Canada, finishing eleventh as the best Austrian with bib number 56.

The Head skier, whose best World Cup result to date was a sixth place in the super-G in Cortina (Italy) in January 2023 and his first top 10 result in the giant slalom last season in Palisades Tahoe (USA) in tenth place, laid the foundation for his success in the upper section of the course. He was by far the fastest there. At the finish, the customs athlete had a 0.24 second lead over Jan Zabystran (Tch), who in turn finished one hundredth of a second ahead of Felix Rösle (D).

A success that the head pilot impressively confirmed just three hours later! Starting the race as number one, Feurstein did not do so well in the upper section this time, but in the final section he secured his second victory of the day with an incredible run - the first runner-up lost almost four tenths of a second. Albeit only by a wafer-thin margin: at the finish he distanced US downhiller Wiley Maple by just one hundredth of a second, third place again went to the German Rösle (+0.12).

The downhill still has time
However, it is doubtful whether the victories in La Parva will make a big difference to the Bregenzerwald racer's downhill ambitions in the short term. "I've now had three good races in the giant slalom in the World Cup. I hope that I can experience a lot more. And I'm also in the top 30 in the super-G now, but it happens so quickly and you get knocked out again. That's why I want to establish myself there first so that I can compete for podium places. I'm 23 now, so if I'm 28 or 29 years old and want to go downhill, that will still be enough for me. And if that's not the case, it's not the case at all," he told the "Krone" in July.