"Krone" column

The Hirscher shoe pinches in ski camp

Georg Fraisl writes about the debate surrounding the Hirscher shoe.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof/Christof Birbaumer)

Why the Hirscher shoe pinches in ski camp. A column by Georg Fraisl.

The motorcade rolled out of Ötztal for hours on Sunday evening. The impressive glacier ski festival at the weekend with 33,000 spectators also had its downsides.

Relaxed Odermatt
Also for superstar Marco Odermatt, who was eliminated after just 40 seconds in run one with an intermediate best time. Nevertheless, he was completely relaxed in the finish area for the second run. The form, as Sunday showed, is just right - that also reassured Stefan Brennsteiner and Manuel Feller, who were also annoyed about their early exit after very good intermediate times. Well, the story of this race could have been written quite differently.

Marco Odermatt stayed in the finish area despite dropping out of the final.

(Bild: Jean-Christophe Bott)

But nobody cared in the traffic jam on the way home. The pictures at the end had everyone enraptured. The jubilant Norwegians Alexander Steen Olsen, Henrik Kristoffersen and Atle Lie McGrath, the dancing Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, the beaming Marcel Hirscher

Hirscher's boot question
On Monday, however, the old champion lost the joy of his comeback fairytale. The Swiss newspaper "Blick" speculated about Marcel's ski boots. He, the returning ski emperor, had worn the wrong "clothes" in Sölden.

The rumor: due to coordination problems, the Hirscher team had resorted to a boot model from his former outfitter Atomic and disguised it.

A scam, as the Swiss called it. Atomic race director Christian Höflehner shook his head and clarified: "From my point of view, it was a Vandeer boot." Yes, the snow circus has reopened. Manage free for rumors & whispers. The Hirscher team is less enthusiastic: "We are considering legal action!"