Vincent Kriechmayer:

“One of the best moments of my career”

The colleagues celebrated "Vinc" (right picture). His wife Michaela congratulated him, as did Hans Knauß later on.

(Bild: GEPA/Christof Birbaumer)

Vincent Kriechmayr turned Hinterglemm into a madhouse: silver in the downhill! 22 days after his crash in Wengen, he won his fifth medal at a World Championships and experienced "one of the best moments of my career so far".

I've experienced a lot in my career. But nothing like this - it was a very special moment."

Soft as butter
Yes, even the normally so hardened "Vinc" suddenly became as soft as butter. When he swung off at the finish yesterday, the green light lit up, the Saalbach cauldron was about to explode and the 22,500 spectators gave him goosebumps. Kriechmayr thanked them, waved and bowed politely. And cheered: "One of the best days of my career."

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof/Christof Birbaumer)

It didn't dampen the joy that the Swiss Franjo von Allmen mutated into a party crasher in a spectacular race, preventing Kriechmayr's third World Championship gold. "The dog is so young and already world champion. It's probably the last World Championships for me, so he could have let me go first," laughed "Vinc", "but I wish him all the best."

In the end, 24 hundredths were missing out on the big coup. "It wasn't a flawless run, there were a few little things everywhere. I was too low on the traverse to the middle station, that went better in training," said Kriechmayr. "But anyway, a medal was the goal - I got it."

"Unthinkable a week ago"
For him, silver almost shone like gold anyway after fourth place two days earlier in the super-G. "A week ago, it would have been unthinkable that I would even be competing," said the 33-year-old after his fifth World Championship medal. After all, his participation in his home World Championships following his fall three weeks ago in Wengen, including a pulled inner ligament, was a race against time - with a happy ending. Thanks to consistency and great determination on his part. And the persistent work of his physios Mario Schlattinger and Roland Aigner, who looked after him around the clock. "This medal belongs more to the people in the background than to me," Kriechmayr said meaningfully, also thanking his wife Michaela Heider, who was present at the finish and was active in the World Cup herself until last year: "She had a lot of injuries in her career and knew exactly what I had to do to get fit quickly."

Head coach Marko Pfeifer also took his hat off: "Chapeau, how you can manage and deliver like that after such an injury - that's what the greats do!" Colleague Stefan Eichberger said: "The omens honor his performance even more - it's amazing how naturally he skied." And alpine boss Herbert Mandl said: "He was really fired up for this race, he's been working towards it - this silver medal is worth its weight in gold."