After the Kitz weekend

Frustration for ÖSV veteran: “That’s for Hugo!”

The Schladming slalom will be a difficult race for Michael Matt with a view to the World Championships.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Frustration for Michael Matt after his failure on the Ganslernhang. "That's for Hugo," hisses the veteran after the race. In general, the slalom specialists in the ÖSV team seem to be trapped in an endless loop this season. In the eighth competition of the winter, Manuel Feller, Marco Schwarz and their colleagues also failed to achieve a podium place despite good attempts, and there was no explosion of performance in front of thousands of fans in Kitzbühel.

Although not an explosion, Schwarz took another step forward in his own words, finishing sixth as the best Austrian, just like in Wengen. "It's insanely important to take every race with me, especially the good points, so that I can get back to the front with the start number," said the Carinthian, who was number 22 in Kitzbühel. In a tight race, Schwarz finished 0.43 seconds behind winner Clement Noel.

Schwarz, who only made his comeback in December after a one-year break following a cruciate ligament rupture and slipped disc, explained that he was still lacking a little stability. "In certain passages, I was too far forward with my upper body and cut off the momentum a bit."

Feller struggled with himself
Fabio Gstrein improved to eighth place with a strong second run. "I just slept through the first run," said the Tyrolean. "Now I'm eighth, four tenths behind, so it's once again a tight race. Two turns better, then the world will look different again."

Manuel Feller

(Bild: AFP/APA/Marco BERTORELLO)

Feller took a full risk in the second run and was already lying in the snow for a short time, but then played stand-up man and saved himself in ninth place with his still high basic speed. Afterwards, he was at odds with himself, but was also defiant. "I will never give up. Anyone who knows me knows that I will always try to do my best at every race, especially when there are so many Austrian fans there," said the veteran. However, he will no longer have as many chances. "More and more young people are coming along who are skiing better and better."

"Certainly a close fight for the tickets"
 What is certain is that Feller, Schwarz and Gstrein have clearly set themselves apart from their teammates with their placings and are therefore as good as guaranteed their starting places at the home World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. This also means that on Wednesday in the Schladming Nightrace, the last race before the World Championships, there will be a fight for the remaining tickets. In pole position at the moment are Dominik Raschner and Johannes Strolz, who finished in twelfth place ex aequo on the Ganslernhang.

Johannes Strolz

(Bild: AP ( via APA) Austria Presse Agentur/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

"It will certainly be a close fight for the tickets," said Strolz. "But you knew from the start that it would be very close with such a compact team, which is basically very strong. We've all been beaten pretty badly so far." Raschner said that he tries to look at every race on its own merits, "regardless of whether it's just before the World Championships or at the start of the season".

Matt frustrated after retirement
For Michael Matt, the Schladming slalom will be a difficult race with a view to the World Championships. On Sunday, he slipped after making a mistake on the inside of the slope in an otherwise harmless place and thus lost his penultimate chance to make a recommendation. "That's for the Hugo. I don't even know what to say, because that's actually a joke," said the Tyrolean afterwards. "Now I'm going to the hotel and then I'll have a beer."