The back pinches

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Alessandro Hämmerle is missing in Cervinia.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

There's no such thing! After Alessandro Hämmerle was repeatedly set back by concussions and coronavirus in the 2022/23 season, the Olympic snowboard cross champion from Beijing fought his way back to the top last winter and celebrated three World Cup victories. The man from Vorarlberg also has big goals for this season - but they will have to wait for now.

Olympic champion Alessandro "Izzi" Hämmerle's lumbar vertebrae have repeatedly caused problems in the past - but they became acute at the end of November. "I did everything I could to be able to race in Cervinia, but my back just doesn't feel good enough yet to be able to take the full risk and be competitive. I am still restricted in my movements and therefore not able to deliver a top performance," explains Hämmerle, who has already had to skip the Austrian Championships on the Pitztal Glacier due to the discomfort.

World Cup calendar speaks for a break
One of the reasons for not racing in Cervinia - where "Izzi" celebrated one of his three victories of the season last year - is the World Cup calendar. After the season opener in the Italian winter sports resort at the foot of the Matterhorn, the season will not continue until February 1 and 2, 2025 with two competitions in Beidahu (CHN). "If I had raced now, there would have been a risk of my condition worsening. I'm working on getting the problems under control with intensive physiotherapy and targeted exercises. I want to be back on the board by Christmas and return to the World Cup in China," says the 31-year-old Gaschurner.

ÖSV line-up for Cervinia

• Ladies: Anna Galler (S), Tanja Kobald (ST), Pia Zerkhold (NÖ)
• Men: Jakob Dusek (NÖ), Andreas Kroh (OÖ), Elias Leitner (V), Julian Lüftner (V), Lukas Pachner (W), David Pickl (ST)

Hämmerle absence as a mood killer
Without Hämmerle, reigning World Champion Jakob Dusek will now lead the nine-strong ÖSV line-up (six men, three women) in Cervinia. "The fact that Izzi is not there is of course a mood dampener for our team, but we will do everything we can to represent him properly," says Dusek. From Vorarlberg's point of view, Julian Lüftner and Elias Leitner, who has a fixed place for the season thanks to his second place in the overall European Cup standings, will be holding out after Hämmerle's withdrawal.