Ready for the "top-up"

Announcement from Hütter: “Don’t need to talk it down”

Cornelia Hütter makes no secret of her medal mission at the World Ski Championships.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Cornelia Hütter makes no secret of her medal mission at the World Ski Championships: "I don't need to play it down, I'm fighting every day to be one of the favorites." The Styrian is reassured by the fact that she already has World Championship gold in her pocket after winning super-G bronze in 2023. "Meribél was extremely important to me. I always wanted that. It was a huge weight off my mind." For Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Hütter is eager for a "bonus".

Hütter wants to have the right plan for precious metal in place. She is trying to embrace the hustle and bustle of a home World Championships. "The attention is there, and it should be. We've known for a while that the situation will be like this." She knows what is important. "It's skiing fast from start to finish and not whether I give 20 or 50 interviews or am in this or that photo."

Of course, Hütter is also aware of the historic opportunity to win a World Championship medal in his home country. "I think I might be a bit more nervous during the race." Then the experience of a 32-year-old downhill World Cup winner and winner of eight World Cup races comes into play. "Thank God it's not my first World Cup."

Longing for the "extra bonus"
 As a young skier, she raced to bronze in the super-G in Beaver Creek ten years ago. Painful years without a World Championship appearance followed before she won bronze in the super-G and bronze in the downhill in France two years ago. "Of course it would be cool if all good things came in threes and my third World Championships were the icing on the cake."

The first of three medal opportunities awaits in the super-G on Thursday. The downhill will take place on Saturday, followed by the World Championships premiere of the team combination on Tuesday, in which a downhill and a slalom ace compete together. "The coaches will decide the line-up, but I would like to race with Liensi (Katharina Liensberger, note)," said Hütter.

The downhill ball is "in the Speis"
 She herself can race with the confidence of the last Saalbach winner. In a heart-stopping final last year, Hütter also unexpectedly secured the downhill globe and celebrated her biggest career success to date. "In the final, I skied completely without pressure," said Hütter, recalling that the World Cup piste is now completely different in terms of course, course layout and snow conditions.

What has remained is the knowledge that he can now be among the fastest on all downhill slopes in the world. "My basic speed is pretty high. If I push it down the way I think I can, a lot is possible," said the two-time season winner. Perhaps a trophy cabinet will finally be erected in Kumberg. According to Hütter herself, she doesn't know where her World Championship medal has gone. And the downhill globe? "It's still in the display cabinet."