Sixth ÖSV medal

Men’s giant slalom LIVE from 9.45 am

Raphael Haaser sensationally won the gold medal in the giant slalom!

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Raphael Haaser has delivered a sensation in the World Championships giant slalom in Saalbach-Hinterglemm and won gold in the giant slalom. The Tyrolean, previously runner-up in the super-G, won on Friday ahead of the two Swiss racers Thomas Tumler and Loic Meillard. 

After the first run, Haaser, who has never won in the World Cup, was in fifth place. Top favorite Marco Odermatt finished fourth, Marco Schwarz came in fifth. It was the sixth medal for the ÖSV at the World Ski Championships, the second gold.

The RTL podium: Raphael Haaser (center) ahead of Thomas Tumler (left) and Loic Meillard (right).

(Bild: Pail Sepp)

In front of 19,500 people in the spectator area, "Iceman" Haaser managed to advance to the top step of the podium in the second run with the fourth best time, while the favorites around Odermatt dropped out one after the other. "It's unbelievable. I've never been at the top of a World Cup race before, and now I'm back home at the World Championships. In the giant slalom, I've often had a bit of a shiver too. I don't know what to say right now," commented the 27-year-old on his biggest success to date. Stephanie Venier had won Austria's first gold medal in the super-G the previous week.

Raphael Haaser sensationally won the gold medal in the giant slalom!

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Tyrolean had "nothing to lose"
 Haaser had only made his comeback from a knee injury in Kitzbühel just under a week before the start of the World Championships and immediately finished second behind Odermatt in the super-G. His best result in the giant slalom so far had been a seventh place. "I take it by the motto, when it's going, it's going. I hope it continues like this. I told myself I have nothing to lose," he said.

Here is the result:

Norway's Timon Haugan, who was in the lead after the first run, fluffed in the final and dropped back to seventh place. Second-placed Meillard also lost a lot, but saved his second medal at these World Championships after gold in the team combined. Odermatt slipped back from third place to fourth, Alexander Steen Olsen dropped out shortly before the finish. "Of course I would have liked to have won another medal today," said Odermatt, but consoled himself with the super-G title. "I was able to close the gap in the super-G, it's still a super World Championships."

Schwarz's annoyance, Brennsteiner's bad luck with binding
Schwarz was annoyed about his fifth place. "I tried to attack in the second run, but unfortunately I made some stupid mistakes, you can't compete for the medals. I like to take fifth place in every World Cup race, those are also incredibly important points for me, I have to admit. But when you come fifth at your home World Championships, it rather shits me," said the Carinthian bluntly. "Raphi is a brilliant story, that he stays so cool. I wish him all the best," he added.

Things went less well for the other two Austrians. Patrick Feurstein finished 16th and Stefan Brennsteiner dropped out of the rankings after just a few gates in the first run. The Salzburg native's binding on his right ski came undone after just a few seconds of skiing without any mistakes or apparent cause. "During the turn, I thought I was actually in a good position and suddenly the ski was gone. Maybe I was standing sloppily, I don't know, I haven't looked at it yet," said the Pinzgauer from Niedernsill after the bitter elimination.

Feurstein was not satisfied with his performance, especially as a slip-up in the lower section in the second run prevented the hoped-for damage limitation. "Unfortunately I didn't succeed, it was a shitty day. I didn't get it spot on - the first one was bad and in the second the gap was too big," said the Vorarlberg native. "There aren't the right words for it."

Swiss now with double-digit medal count
The Swiss federation won its ninth and tenth medals at these World Championships. For Tumler, it was the second silver after the team competition. "The hard hours you have in hospital or in physiotherapy or strength training, this day makes up for a lot," said the 35-year-old, who has had a lot of bad luck with injuries in his career. "We're happy to let you keep the gold medal - as long as we stay ahead in the medal table." Meillard admitted that he was a little disappointed at first. "More was possible. In the end, it's a fifth World Championship medal for me, which is certainly brilliant."