Small sensation: Joaquim Salarich from Spain drove to the top of the world in Garmisch
Photo: AFP/Christof Stache
First Linus Straßer struggled, then worried for a long time and was finally able to celebrate. A little anyway. The fact that the Munich rider finished third in the second slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen went well with the weekend at the Gudiberg, which was full of surprises. Straßer had improved by 13 places in the final, thanks to an almost perfect and very courageous second round as well as the many failures, among other things, the three fastest of the first round were eliminated. “The plan I had in mind worked out exactly,” said Straßer. For the first time this weekend after having made a couple of mistakes in each of the three heats. That’s why he only finished sixth in the home race on Saturday.
But even Linus Straßer was stolen the show a little – by a Spaniard who was not even known to real ski connoisseurs until this weekend. Joaquim Salarich was not on the podium on Saturday or Sunday, but he did well with eighth and seventh place – and the spectators at the Gudiberg were delighted with this. “We’re a small skiing country, but we’re showing here that Spaniards can also ski quite well,” said Salarich, who had only made it into the top 30 twice in 21 World Cup races.
The story of Salarich also stands a little for what happened in the World Cup after a major event. The Olympic Games in Beijing were the highlight of the season, what comes afterwards is just an encore for many. At least for those who are still concerned with crystal balls or a good placement is a small consolation for a missed Olympic medal. For others, it is an energetic achievement that not everyone is or can be ready for.
Slalom Olympic champion Clement Noel from France was eliminated in both slaloms on the Gudiberg. Likewise world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag from Norway, third from Beijing. The Austrian Johannes Strolz, who was awarded two gold medals at the Winter Games and a silver medal in the Olympic slalom, did not finish the slalom on Sunday after finishing fourth on Saturday. Henrik Kristoffersen, the fastest on both days, the victories were at least a little satisfaction, also for the second Dave Ryding, winner of the slalom in Kitzbühel, who, like the Norwegian, went empty-handed in Beijing. He also took the lead in the slalom World Cup, Straßer advanced to third place.
The podium in front of a home crowd, says Straßer, “was extremely important for the people” – and for the organizer, who wanted to use the World Cup again this weekend to recommend himself for hosting the Alpine World Championships in 2027. The Werdenfels-based company had invited the Bavarian Minister of the Interior, Joachim Herrmann, who thinks that it is “a top application in terms of sustainability”. However, this is not a unique selling point of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The competitor Crans Montana in Switzerland and Soldeu in Andorra can also show slopes suitable for World Cups and therefore also for a World Cup. Only the Swedish Narvik would have to do a little more work.
The three-time Olympic champion Maria Höfl-Riesch, who acts as ambassador, was allowed to report on her World Cup experiences in 2011. And Thomas Dreßen that he dreams of being able to fight for medals on the Kandahar in 2027. The best German downhill skier is back in ski training after a serious knee operation, but with a heavy heart he will not make a comeback this winter. “I’m very itchy,” he admitted. But it “doesn’t fit in with the planning.”
It may come as a bit of a surprise that the organizing committee does not involve the town’s probably best-known and most popular son in the ski world. Felix Neureuther would be predestined to be the face of the application, but »when I take on the role of ambassador, I want to be able to get involved, change and influence things myself. And the way it looks in the organizing committee, I have the feeling that it wouldn’t be like that, “said the television expert on ARD. It’s still like “20, 30 years ago”.
In fact, Garmisch-Partenkirchen is not given such great chances in the fight for the 2027 World Cup. Even sports director Wolfgang Maier recently sounded a bit skeptical. It wouldn’t work without political influence, he said on the sidelines of the Women’s World Cup at the end of January and found: “Sometimes we’re a bit too good when it comes to politics.” Quite different from Linus Straßer in his final run on the Gudiberg.
