World Ski Championships in Saalbach

Is the ÖSV preventing the Swiss from reaching double figures?

Marco Odermatt is also unstoppable this season.

(Bild: Urbantschitsch Mario/Mario Urbantschitsch)

Switzerland is currently setting the tone in the Ski World Cup. The Swiss are ahead in both the men's and women's Nations Cup, and are almost 2500 points ahead of Austria in the overall standings. No wonder, as Swiss-Ski has already claimed 14 victories and a further 28 podium places in 46 races. However, this also brings with it the pressure to perform similarly in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. Two years ago, Switzerland was already the most successful World Championship nation.

The athletes from Austria's western neighbor brought home three gold, three silver and three bronze medals from Courchevel/Méribel. According to some experts, the haul in Saalbach could go even higher. "We hope that we can prevent the double digits," said ÖSV Alpine Director Herbert Mandl. "But of course they are strong here, they have a lot of experienced athletes at the start and are the clear number one."

Herbert Mandl

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof/Krone.at)

Eleven victories for Swiss men
"You're lucky, you have such good athletes. Hopefully you won't win all the races, that wouldn't be good for the others," said FIS Secretary General Michel Vion at a media reception in the "Swiss-Ski-Stübli" on Monday evening. "I'm pretty sure this place will be a great one for medal ceremonies."

In the World Cup so far, it has been the Swiss men in particular who have exuded an almost frightening dominance. "In the men's event, we have gone one better and won almost half of the races," said Alpine Director Hans Flatscher. In fact, World Cup leader Marco Odermatt and Co. have won eleven of the 25 men's races to date - a rate of 44 percent.

The women, on the other hand, are lagging somewhat behind. In 21 races so far, there have only been two winners from Switzerland: Camille Rast, who has won two competitions, and Lara Gut-Behrami. However, there are a number of athletes who consistently deliver top results. Wendy Holdener, Corinne Suter, Melanie Meillard, Michelle Gisin and Malorie Blanc also scored triple-digit points in the World Cup.

Lara Gut-Behrami

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Odermatt once again stands out among the men. The man from Nidwalden already has an impressive seven victories to his name. In the downhill races, Odermatt and his colleagues Justin Murisier and Alexis Monney have won every race apart from Kitzbühel, where the Canadian James Crawford triumphed. Franjo von Allmen and Stefan Rogentin also finished in the top three. The result: five starting places in the downhill are not enough. There will be an internal qualification in the training sessions, with Rogentin racing against Lars Rösti and Marco Kohler.

Mandl: "It's all about beating Switzerland"
 There are many reasons for Switzerland's dominance. However, it seems relatively clear that it coincides with a period of weakness for the Austrians. "In my day, we were chasing the Austrians, today it's the other way around," said former world champion Bruno Kernen in Wengen. In the speed section, powerful competitors such as Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and France's Cyprien Sarrazin are missing due to injury.

For Mandl, however, it is not out of the question that the ÖSV athletes will strike back in Saalbach. "It's about beating Switzerland, of course," he said. "If we can make the most of half of our medal chances, we will be well on our way." General Secretary Christian Scherer emphasized the common ground in a speech to a mainly Swiss audience: "If we have won more than 50 percent of the medals here together, then we have done everything right." Eleven World Championship competitions are on the program in Pinzgau.