Alpine skiing
World Cup: Slalom rider Dürr comes third in Levi
In the first slalom of the World Cup winter, Lena Dürr immediately shows that she is still one of the best ski racers. She celebrates a place on the podium. A teammate is also convincing.
Ski racer Lena Dürr started the new slalom season with a podium finish. The athlete from Bavaria came third in the World Cup slalom in Levi, Finland. She only had to admit defeat to the American winner Mikaela Shiffrin and Katharina Liensberger. She was four hundredths of a second behind the Austrian.
“The beginning has been made,” said Dürr on Bayerischer Rundfunk, satisfied and relieved after the first race of the season in her flagship discipline. “I’m happy that I was able to finish on the podium. There’s still room for improvement and that’s good to know.”
Aicher surprises with a top ten place
Emma Aicher, who came ninth near the Arctic Circle, brought further joy to the German team. Thanks to a good second run including the best running time, the 21-year-old fought her way up 13 places. “That was really fun,” said Aicher afterwards. “It just felt good. I’m very satisfied.”
On Sunday (10:00 a.m./1:00 p.m./BR and Eurosport) it will be the men’s turn in Levi – and there, too, the German Ski Association goes into the race with a chance of a podium and even a win thanks to co-favorite Linus Straßer.
Dürrs Podiums-Abo in Levi
The Munich native could be on the podium for the first time in Levi – but for Dürr this is almost normal: in the last three years she always landed in the top 4 in six Levi races – each of which was held as a double event: in 2021, two third places jumped , a year later two fourth places. Last season she came second and third.
Shiffrin was once again in a class of her own. The multiple world champion and Olympic champion celebrated her 98th World Cup victory and is getting closer and closer to the magical number of 100 successes. She now has eight victories to her name in Levi alone. Because the Finnish winter sports resort traditionally sponsors a reindeer for the slalom winners, Shiffrin’s herd continues to grow.
dpa
