AEven minutes later, Kira Weidle was still struggling with her departure. The Starnberg native had imagined her dress rehearsal for the Winter Olympics in Beijing differently. At her home race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the World Championship runner-up narrowly missed the podium and finished fourth. Four hundredths of a second were missing Weidle for her second podium this season.
“Today was definitely not the best ride. That wasn’t my best skiing. That’s what annoys me too. It’s not so much the placement,” said Weidle. The 25-year-old had to struggle with the comparatively warm temperatures in particular.
Hope for Olympic races
“That shouldn’t be an excuse, but it’s something that doesn’t particularly suit me,” said the speed expert on ZDF, referring to the plus grades in Garmisch. Nevertheless, there are “definitely more important races in the season” where you want to end up on the podium. One of them is the Olympic shooting on February 15th. Good for Weidle: In the Chinese ski area it is currently around minus five degrees Celsius.
Victory in the demanding Kandahar downhill in Garmisch on Saturday went to world champion Corinne Suter from Switzerland, who celebrated her first World Cup success this winter. Second went to compatriot Jasmine Flury (+0.51) followed by Cornelia Hütter of Austria, 0.78 seconds back.
It wasn’t enough for a podium place: Kira Weidle in Garmisch
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Image: dpa
The German Alpine boss Wolfgang Maier had expected Weidle in Garmisch to be placed “among the top five” and hoped for “a place on the podium”. The fact that the 25-year-old at least reached the minimum target was thanks to a strong final sprint in the lower part of the course. In the meantime, their deficit had amounted to one second.
The race took place without the big favorite Sofia Goggia from Italy. The dominator of the previous speed season suffered a serious knee injury at the home race in Cortina d’Ampezzo. She announced that she would not have an operation and hopes to be able to start physiotherapeutic treatments in Beijing after all.
On Sunday in Garmisch there is still a Super-G on the program. Weidle is not one of the favorites here.
