First Slalom podium for Lena Dürr
A great start to the World Cup in Slalom for Lena Dürr and the HEAD Worldcup Rebels. The German athlete raced to her first World Cup podium in the Slalom on Saturday in Levi, finishing in third place - the first podium finish in this discipline for the German women ski racers in eight years. Anna Swenn-Larsson celebrated a brilliant comeback in fifth place. On Sunday Lena Dürr followed up with another podium in the second Slalom event in Levi, finishing third.
With Wendy Holdener from Switzerland in seventh place and Sara Hector from Sweden in ninth place, two more HEAD athletes finished in the top-ten on Saturday. On Sunday, Wendy Holdener finished fourth, Anna Swenn-Larsson eleventh and Sara Hector twelfth. Maria Therese Tviberg from Norway was fifth on the first run with bib number 46, but she dropped out on the second run.
"This is a lot of fun right now!"
"It's simply awesome. I have worked for a long time for this and now it has paid off," is how Lena Dürr analysed her performance. "It's great the way we are all working together. I'm delighted with this start to the season. This is a lot of fun right now! It's simply skiing the way it should be. It's a perfect day. Maybe my mistake in the first run was a wake-up call - even with an error like that it is still possible to finish with such a fast time. That made the second run all the better."
"She proved she's a really fast skier"
"These two podium finishes by Lena Dürr are awesome. Things started out really well during training. Over the past few days, all I heard about was how well she has been doing," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "During these two events she proved she's a really fast skier. That it all falls into place now is really brilliant. She has a great team around her and together with the equipment it's a super set-up. Shame about Maria Therese Tviberg's result on Sunday. She risked a bit too much on the second run. Wendy Holdener is making good progress and Anna Swenn-Larsson's comeback after more than one and a half years was perfect."
One World Cup victory at a City Event so far
Following the first run on Saturday, Lena Dürr was in sixth place. With the second-fastest time on the second run, she climbed another three places. The 30-year-old has already been causing a stir finishing with top placings since the spring. This season she finished seventh in the Parallel Slalom in Lech/Zürs. Her list of successes so far includes a World Cup victory at the City Event in Moscow in 2013 and five podium finishes in Team Parallel events.
Successful comeback for Anna Swenn-Larsson
Anna Swenn-Larsson's fifth place on Saturday was also superb. For the Swedish athlete, Levi was her first race since February 2020. She then had to take a Corona break, and in December 2020 the 30-year-old sustained a broken ankle. Emma Aicher finishing in 14th place was also remarkable. In only her second World Cup race and starting with bib number 60, the German athlete achieved her best result so far. In her first race, the Parallel Slalom in Lech/Zürs on November 13, the 18-year-old finished in 19th place.
