Sara Hector podiums again in Lienz
Once again, Sara Hector confirmed her superb form in the Giant Slalom in Lienz on Tuesday. The Swedish athlete, who bagged first and second place in the two Giant Slaloms in Courchevel, again raced to the podium in Lienz, where she finished in third place. Vincent Kriechmayr was delighted with his third podium of the season in the Super-G in Bormio on Wednesday.
"This was Sara Hector's third podium in a row. With the equipment and the confidence she has now, things are going perfectly. She is also doing very well in the Giant Slalom World Cup. This is going to be very exciting," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "Camille Rast, who is a very young athlete, has also arrived among the best in the world. You can see from the way she skis that she can move up even further, especially in the Slalom. The fact that Dominik Schwaiger managed to qualify for the Olympics is also very positive. He works with a young service man, so it was a tremendous day for both of them."
"A lot of things are working well at the moment"
After the first run, Sara Hector was in second place in the Giant Slalom in Lienz despite a mistake. "That is cool. It was a real battle. I have a great team behind me, a great service man, and my skis are great. There are a lot of things that are working well at the moment," explained the 29-year-old at the finish. Meanwhile, Ragnhild Mowinckel achieved her best Giant Slalom result this season in fifth place. The Norwegian athlete started the second run in third position. Camille Rast was also pleased with her best result in this discipline, finishing in seventh place. So far, the Swiss athlete has two ninth-place finishes in the Giant Slalom on her list of personal bests. Coralie Frasse-Sombet from France finished in 13th place and Estelle Alphand from Sweden finished 14th, having started with bib number 40.
Strong team performance in the Slalom
In the Slalom in Lienz on Wednesday, Wendy Holdener from Switzerland moved up from tenth to fifth place with the third-fastest time on the second run. Camille Rast finished seventh. The 22-year-old showed that she is also a force to be reckoned with in the Slalom by clocking the fourth-fastest time on the first run. Sara Hector finished tenth in the final standings and her compatriot Anna Swenn-Larsson was eleventh.
Vincent Kriechmayr on the podium despite mistake
Vince raced to his third podium of the season, finishing in third place in the Super-G in Bormio on Wednesday. "I know that I lost the race on the top section of the run. That's why I wasn't happy at the finish because I knew I had made a mistake. I took a turn a bit too far and ended up skiing a longer route," is how the Austrian athlete analysed his run. Two more HEAD World Cup Rebels - Ryan Cochran-Siegle from the USA and Beat Feuz from Switzerland - landed behind Vincent Kriechmayr. Mattia Casse from Italy finished in tenth place, and Matthias Mayer from Austria was 13th. The second Super-G on Thursday had to be cancelled due to poor snow conditions.
Ticket to the Olympics for Dominik Schwaiger
In the Downhill in Bormio on Tuesday, Dominik Schwaiger qualified for the Olympics by finishing in fifth place, which is the German athlete's best World Cup result in the Downhill so far. His previous top result in this discipline was seventh place in Beaver Creek in 2019. Five more HEAD World Cup Rebels ranked among the top 15, with Vincent Kriechmayr finishing in seventh place, Johan Clarey from France eleventh, Matthias Mayer twelfth and Jared Goldberg from the USA 15th.
