The affair about the delayed arrival in Wengen from the Corona quarantine culminated in his victory in the downhill classic on Saturday. Many Swiss didn’t like the fact that he relegated Beat Feuz to second place and Marco Odermatt was “only” fourth. It was discussed whether the Upper Austrian had an advantage when he was rested – or whether he was protected by the top FIS authority.
The question of whether Kriechmayr’s two missed training runs were the decisive ace up his sleeve could not be answered on Saturday. “I still got blue, I have to say,” said the world champion, recapitulating his ride. “Vincent clearly showed today that he had more strength than the rest of us,” said Feuz. “At the same time, there are probably no five athletes who are mentally and physically ready to go through their ride from top to bottom without training beforehand,” said the Swiss, who skipped the award ceremony in the village center in the evening to go to his pregnant girlfriend Katrin to travel.
Odermatt: “He deserved the win”
Kriechmayr returned the compliment after his first win of this World Cup winter: “When Beat skis downhill in Kitzbühel without training, he’s also competing for victory.” It’s the experience that counts. “The character of the classics is the same every year. It doesn’t matter whether the goal is a meter further to the left or right.” Kriechmayr did not cheat, stressed the overall World Cup leader, Odermatt. “The way he drove, he deserved the win.”
Video: The downhill world champion has won the Lauberhorn classic in Wengen for the second time in his career.
The accusation that is in the air and shared by many Swiss people is that the FIS trampled on the previously common interpretation of their regulations so that Kriechmayr can start in Wengen. There are two aspects to this: Firstly, the competition rule, according to which participation in at least one training session is obligatory. Kriechmayr missed both training runs, but was able to heave himself out of the starting gate on Friday and swing down immediately.
“FIS has completely failed”
Secondly, there is the FIS Covid regulation. According to Swiss-Ski, an athlete who tests positive has to stay in quarantine longer than Kriechmayrs five days. This was undermined by the fact that Kriechmayr’s positive test never reached the world association – so he was not officially positive. The FIS “completely failed” here, complained the Swiss Alpine Director Walter Reusser. “If you bend everything to fit certain people, that’s just not okay.” According to Blick, head of the association Urs Lehmann identified “one of the biggest messes that has ever happened in ski racing”.
It helps “if you have a big name,” noted South Tyrolean Christof Innerhofer. “Of course, such a decision is easier when it concerns a name like me or Beat Feuz. It’s possible that the FIS will move more quickly then,” Kriechmayr didn’t want to deny at all.
The French-language edition of the “20min.ch” portal, for example, went one step further and established the connection to FIS President Johan Eliasch. Because the Brit with Swedish roots steered the fortunes of the Head company, whose skis Kriechmayr uses, as Chairman and CEO until the summer of 2021. Did Eliasch intervene in favor of Kriechmayr? In the finish area in Wengen, the FIS boss had interview requests – albeit on other topics – rejected.
Puelacher: “The Vinc is strong in his head”
“In the head, ‘Vinc’ is strong,” mentioned Austria’s men’s head coach Andreas Puelacher. The athlete was not deterred by the discussions about his person. “We said we wouldn’t make an issue out of it. We didn’t make the decision, the jury made it.” Puelacher was not only satisfied with the winner, but also with Matthias Mayer, who was fifth, as well as Otmar Striedinger, Max Franz and Daniel Hemetsberger in ninth to eleventh place. Tinkering with the Olympic lineups in speed will not be easy.
The best pictures of the downhill classic in Wengen:
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Source: Nachrichten
