World Cup team combination

And another one … Slalom aces pay for the risk

Manuel Feller was also eliminated in the slalom.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

The ÖSV slalom aces experienced a veritable orgy of falls in the team competition. Marco Schwarz, Dominik Raschner and Manuel Feller risked everything in the team combined slalom at the World Championships in Saalbach on Wednesday and each had to pay for it with a fall. For the slalom aces, however, there were no alternatives to taking full risks after the halfway point of the race.

The task for Schwarz, who was the first Austrian to start the second run, was not easy after the halfway point of the team combination anyway. His team partner Stefan Babinsky had already lost a lot of time to the leaders in the downhill. More than two seconds behind the leading duo Alexis Monney and Tanguy Nef, Schwarz had to take a lot of risks. 

Marco Schwarz

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

In the end, the 29-year-old tried everything to set a strong time in the snow. But in the end it was too much of a risk. Schwarz got stuck in the back and was ultimately eliminated. "The starting position was certainly not ideal," explained "Blacky", with a pinch of gallows humor, afterwards to the ORF at the finish, with a "snow-sweetened" beard.

Raschner and Feller also follow
Unfortunately, he was not the only ÖSV athlete who was not allowed to finish the slalom. Just after him, Dominik Raschner also suffered. After a strong start to the race, the 30-year-old finally faltered - team partner Stefan Eichberger's disappointment was clear to see at the finish.

And things continued to be bitter. Manuel Feller apparently also took his compatriots as an example and dropped out. After a strong start to the race, the ÖSV ace faltered and the highly rated Feller/Vincent Kriechmayr duo were left with nothing but disillusionment.

However, Feller was also forced to take a lot of risks after "Vinc" had not had a good run in the downhill. "The slope deteriorated, the starting position wasn't good, but I didn't want to let up," summed up the 32-year-old in the finish area.