Liensberger:
“This place on the podium is also for my grandma”
Kathi Liensberger took her second slalom podium of the season in third place at Semmering - and looked up to the sky.
A sip of champagne, a broad grin - Kathi Liensberger visibly enjoyed the award ceremony in front of almost 8,000 fans.
"It's wonderful to end the year like this," said the best ÖSV technician, who roared from seventh to third place on the magic mountain after changing her set-up. "It didn't work out the way I wanted in the first run. So I'm all the more relieved that the second was as planned. Really cool and at the limit," said "Liensi", who dedicated her 17th World Cup podium to someone special. "This podium place is also for my grandma, who has just passed away. She always loved coming here to Lower Austria." Here, where the Vorarlberg native already finished second in the slalom in 2020 and has now celebrated her second podium of the season after the same place in Levi. "It feels good when you can move in such spheres."
This was especially true for Zrinka Ljutic, who was in a class of her own on Sunday: The Croatian triumphed 1.75 seconds ahead of Lena Dürr and celebrated her first World Cup victory (her country's first since Janica Kostelic in 2006) in front of her family - her grandfather made three signs of the cross before fans hugged him. "A childhood dream. We now have a good party to plan."
And what else? Austria's women were strong as a team. Kathi Huber came tenth - and that was after her hoppala in the giant slalom when she fell in front of the first gate: "Now I have a lot more followers," grinned the local heroine. "I'm happy with the slalom. But the finish slope remains an issue. There's a lot more to it." Franzi Gritsch, who improved by 12 places in eleventh place, was also impressive. "I'm extremely happy that I was able to make use of it. It's really nice to see the green light again."
Praise from the very top
In the end, there was plenty of praise for the Semmering. "The event was top, the audience was great," said ÖSV President Roswitha Stadlober. "The fact that 'Liensi' came third is wonderful and a belated Christmas present. We have taken another step forward." Women's head coach Roland Assinger also commented: "I'm delighted that Kathi made it onto the podium. Plus Scheib in the giant slalom with a bomb best time in the second run - it's a great end to the year."
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