In a few hours, Ester Ledecká will stand at the start of the Olympic Congress in Beijing, so the word medal is more often known in the Czech Republic. No wonder, who knows the program of the remaining disciplines at the Winter Olympics, knows that one of the last chances is to expand the women’s collection of one gold (Ledecká) and one bronze (Sáblíková).
The same is true as before the start of the super-giant slalom, in which Ester finished in a great fifth place. Any placement in the top ten will still be a success.
What will play a role this time? The list of reports was again addressed by experts, especially the head coach of the women’s representation of alpine disciplines Eva Kurfürst.
The miraculous return of the favorite
The main rule remains the same as for the SG race. Compared to snowboarding, the competition on skis will be huge. Many times larger. In addition, the strongest opponent, the Italian Sofia Goggia, returned to the game almost miraculously (she was injured just before the Olympics). According to the training rides, he seems to be in shape. So, in fact, all the favorites are in the game except the American Breezy Johnson (she also got injured before the Olympics) and the biggest one is back.
“Goggia has a hairline fracture. My opinion is that they must have very modern medical support. Stem cells are being worked on a lot now – this is, of course, allowed – and medicine has been doing this for a few years now, ”Eva Kurfürst explained for the News List. “Otherwise, it would be almost abnormal for her to return so quickly. That would be against the laws of physiology. Coincidentally, the top in the field is a clinic in Milan. A lot of news is getting into other football sports because there is a lot of money. “
Training numbers are only interesting on the outside. We coaches laugh at that, not everyone runs their training hard. Ani Ester.
But let’s go back to Ester Ledecká. What do we know about training rides?
It did not fail in the resulting times, but it did not shine in any way. She finished 7th and 12th. On Monday, she missed one goal during the second practice and the team then advised her how to pass it properly. What does this mean and can we deduce something from it? Eva Kurfürst is convinced that the average skiing fan will not learn much from it.
“Training numbers are only interesting on the outside. We coaches laugh at that, far from everyone runs the training at full speed, ”explains the Czech expert. Esther doesn’t go that way either. Above all, she tests certain sections so that she can then work well with the track, find the ideal one. “There is nothing worse than when she enters a section much faster during a race and then burns into the net, as happened to her some time ago in Crans Montana,” emphasized Eva Kurfürst.
Nobody knew the piste
Therefore, the Czech downhill skier does not have to “crush” the entire track in full, especially not in straight sections. It is unnecessary to be in top aerodynamic position at all times. The trainers follow its track and then receive an analysis of the speed of individual sections from the official FIS timekeeper. “The Ledecká team also has very well-mapped videos. They are able to climb a tree and zoom out a kilometer from the opposite hill and estimate the trail. Then they look at the video of how the opponent rode and compare it, “said the Czech expert.
The advantage for Ester is definitely the ski slope, which no one knew before. Everyone has the same starting position.
What kind of women’s convention will there actually be? He will ride on the same track as the men’s downhill and also the women’s SG. Just opposite the men’s track, the women’s track will be shortened and they will travel from a lower position. The track is so conceived that there is not much to think of, especially in the narrower part at the top and bottom. The middle part around Suger jump will be slower for women, but in other passages they will ride almost as fast as men.
Crucial places
“It’s an interesting track. It is not light or heavy, but it has harder places. At the same time it is not dangerous, there are three jumps in a row that have a good shape. The skiers will copy the terrain in flight and will not fall into the plane, which is good for Ester as well. “It is difficult to enter the ice trough and exit. In the riverbed itself, it is then built in a bit SG way. The arches are inclined and it is important that Ester heads for the next gate as he passes the gate, otherwise it would turn against the slope and slow down. It will be very important that she has the correct arc timing. She can do it, even though that’s where she lost her medal in SG, “explains Kurfürst.
The starting position is also very important in the downhill. Starting number. 2 in SG was not entirely good for Esther. Now she had numbers 1, 3 and 5 and chose five. This is not a bad thing, because he will already have information from the track. “It’s a good number, but you know how it is, it’s always just a calculation in the end,” recalls the Czech expert.
But when Ester Ledecká arrives, it will be at least half an hour of tense waiting. The Swiss Lara Gut-Behramiová and the Austrian Tamara Tipplerová, the big favorites of the race, will drive number 19.
The weather will also be important. While on Monday it was beautiful again, on Tuesday during the downhill it is supposed to drag and snow could start falling again. The forecast reports -23 degrees in the morning, -18 and -10 at the start.
“Everyone is inventing the best, the Swiss even have their meteorologist, who reports the weather after a minute,” said Czech representative Kryštof Krýzl, who finished in a giant slalom in a decent 19th place.
Everyone invents the best, the Swiss even have their meteorologist, who monitors the weather after a minute.
Ester Ledecká has already selected downhill skis. Her court servant Miloš Machytka has two or three skis ready from about ten pairs. But he basically already knows which Esther will ride. According to Eva Kurfürst, the Ester team certainly had enough quality pairs to choose from. And coach Tomáš Bank and the people from Atomik had time to test them. The team already has enough information and it is not written anywhere that the new skis should not squirm. “It should work,” says the Czech expert.
As far as lubrication is concerned, according to Eva Kurfürst, the already selected pair is certainly also lubricated. “I can imagine the wax is in multiple layers. The basics are hard and then they are less and less hard. The coldest are at the base and the warmest at the top. The top layer will certainly not be fluorine wax, it is not used at such temperatures. “
