Ski World Cup TICKER

LIVE from 10.30 am: Who will win the Gurgl Slalom?

Katharina Liensberger

(Bild: APA/EXPA/JOHANN GRODER)

Third race of the season in the women's Ski World Cup: The slalom in Gurgl is on the program today. We will be reporting live (see below).

Here is the LIVETICKER:

At their World Cup premiere in Gurgl, Austria's slalom women also want to present themselves collectively from a better side. Although Katharina Liensberger has already made a big impression with second place behind Mikaela Shiffrin in Levi, for the rest of the ÖSV team the slalom opener was a "flop", as Katharina Truppe bluntly put it. In any case, there should be a place on the podium for red-white-red participation today ...

"A home race is always nice!"
With a convalescing Petra Vlhova (SVK) and a Wendy Holdener (SUI) at the start of her comeback season, the most coveted places don't all seem to be taken in advance. Liensberger underlined that on a good day she doesn't have to shy away from comparison with Lena Dürr (GER), Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE) and Zrinka Ljutic (CRO).

Katharina Liensberger

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

"I can look forward with a lot of confidence. Gurgl is a premiere, a home race is always nice," said Liensberger ahead of the Ötztal race. The Levi result gave the former world champion confidence, the "mixture of full attack and playful ease" was a good fit. "It's no guarantee of anything, but I'm looking forward to everything that's to come."

Liensberger as a "driving force"
 Roland Assinger is counting heavily on her again. "Her success gives her confidence. We can expect even more from her in the future," said the ÖSV head coach. Liensberger is probably not quite ready to "tweak" Shiffrin on a regular basis. However, Assinger believes the Vorarlberg native is capable of "pulling on the skirt of the US dominator". "It's important to have a driving force. We'll hang on with the other athletes, there's not much missing."

Katharina Huber is one of them. Her spectacular crash in the Levi final went off lightly. "Apart from a few bruises and a little shock at first, nothing more serious happened," said Huber. The false start happened under special conditions, which will probably not happen in Gurgl. "I trust in my good preparation."

Huber wants to be on the podium
After her most successful season to date, which has seen her rise to tenth place in the world rankings, Huber has a clear goal in mind. "The next step is definitely the podium. I came close at the season finale (5th in Saalbach, note)." Her first career podium is not miles away, emphasized the 29-year-old.

Liensberger's podium finish is an indication that she worked well in the summer. "There have been years when Kathi showed us the direction more clearly in training. I'm also doing well, or to put it another way: the team result in Levi is certainly not what we're capable of," explained Huber.

Shiffrin's 100 possible at home
The Kirchenkar slope is completely new territory for the women. Extensive slope runs, as the ÖSV men were able to do in 2023 before their subsequent triple triumph, were not possible this year due to the snow conditions. The red-white-red team wanted to prepare for the snow conditions with training sessions in Gurgl on Thursday and Friday.

Mikaela Shiffrin

(Bild: APA/EXPA/JOHANN GRODER)

Shiffrin takes a run at her 99th World Cup victory in Tirol. The US-American could then have the round milestone in her sights in the following home races in Killington. "It's within the realms of possibility. But I'm not thinking too much about it," said Shiffrin about the possibility of completing the 100-race mission at home. "There are so many other reasons why I want to perform well in Killington."