Daniel Hemetsberger:

“Don’t have to spin around like little kids!”

Daniel Hemetsberger finished fifth together with Fabio Gstrein.

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

After five races in a row, the red-white-red rain of medals came to an abrupt halt. The courage to take risks went unrewarded. Daniel Hemetsberger commented on the Swiss gala: "We don't need to spin around like little kids, they delivered and were that little bit better."

"My stomach cramped up, it was unbearable," said Daniel Hemetsberger. The diagnosis? Pure nervousness. Which shortly afterwards brought a long face as a symptom. Because his colleague Fabio Gstrein, the last domestic hope, only finished third, and shortly afterwards the dream of a medal was shattered. "What a shame," said the Tyrolean dejectedly. "We tried everything, we both skied well, but unfortunately it wasn't enough."

"You can't win anything without taking risks"
In the end, it was fifth place - with which "Austria 2" at least managed to limit the damage. The rest were too far behind after the downhill and had to go all or nothing in the slalom - which ended in nothing. "You don't win anything down there without taking risks - and when you take risks, failures can happen," said Marco Schwarz. He was in prominent company, as Alex Vinatzer, Clement Noel, Dominik Raschner and Daniel Yule also failed to see the finish line. Neither did Manuel Feller. The Tyrolean was as fast as an arrow on his way down the slope, but then fumbled.

Manuel Feller

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

"It was very good until then. After that I was in trouble once or twice - but in this situation I didn't want to pull back, I wanted to stay on the gas pedal," said Felli. His colleague "Vinc" Kriechmayr, only 14th after the downhill, had absolutely nothing to reproach him for: "Manu was one of the best athletes on the mountain. I put him in this situation, that he had to take so many risks - I take the blame for that."

And so, after five races in a row with medals, the Austrians left disappointed. However, everyone agreed that the new format was a benefit for the sport - despite the Swiss gala. "We don't need to spin around like little children now, they have delivered, they were the Alzerl better," Hemetsberger took it sportingly. And Feller made "Vinc" promise to try it again together next year at the Olympics: "We'll turn the tables then."