"Iceman" Haaser

“I’m happy, whether you believe me or not!”

Raphael Haaser

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

He is not known as a man of great emotions or even as a "celebration beast" and it is not for nothing that he is nicknamed the "Iceman" - but make no mistake, our ever-so-cool and now newly crowned giant slalom world champion Raphael Haaser is (of course) not unaffected by the gold medal at the Ski World Championships in Saalbach. "I'm delighted, whether you believe me or not!" the Tyrolean told ORF reporter Rainer Pariasek in the finish area with a wink ...

And it really is something to be happy about - and "unbelievable, I've never been at the top of a World Cup race before - and now this at home at the World Championships," said Haaser, almost perplexed. "I don't know what to say right now. It's simply amazing, tremendous!"

"When it's raining, it's raining!"
His best World Cup result to date had been a 7th place in the giant slalom, a discipline "where I've often been a little bit gfxt". Haaser can't explain to himself why it was enough for first place today in Saalbach. "If I knew, then I would have been right at the front earlier. I take it according to the motto: 'When it's good, it's good'!"

Especially in the middle section from the Xandl jump down to the finish, it was "a very good run", said Haaser. "I told myself I had nothing to lose, all that mattered was 1, 2 or 3. That might sound a bit strange, because I've never been so well placed before, but that's how it is."

"That worked out 100 percent!"
When asked by ORF man Pariasek what kind of hotshot our new world champion is, Haaser first responded with a hint of a smile and then simply said: "That's for others to decide what kind of hotshot I am - I just did my best and it worked out 100 percent."

Just as Haaser's comeback after the cruciate ligament strain he suffered in the giant slalom in Val d'Isere in December can be described as 100 percent successful. Even if he had to race against time in some respects. "I always had the World Cup in mind, I always knew that it would work out."

"Not reliant on good-will action in the line-up!"
It was important to him, however, that he "still had one more race before the start of the World Championships, so that I wouldn't have to rely on any good-will campaign for the line-up, but could line up myself". Which our Gold Haaser has definitely succeeded in doing ...