While last year no spectators were allowed to watch the floodlit spectacle on the Planai due to the pandemic, at least 1,000 people are allowed to sit in the finish grandstand for the anniversary. At the last men’s race before the Olympics, the next new winner’s face could smile off the podium, because there have been different winners in the five slalom seasons so far.
It started with Clement Noel’s home win in Val d’Isere in December and then brought a win from Norwegian world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag as Noel threw away another win with a fall before the finish at Madonna. After the demolition in Zagreb, Adelboden brought the sensational success for the Austrian Johannes Strolz, in Wengen the Norwegian Lucas Braathen carved with a record catch-up race from 29 to 1. And the 35-year-old Dave Ryding crowned the crazy slalom series in Kitzbühel last Saturday the first ever World Cup victory by a Briton.
A serious contender to become the sixth slalom winner in the Olympic winter is Henrik Kristoffersen. The Norwegian hadn’t made it into the top ten when he finished third in Kitzbühel for the first time on the slalom podium in the Olympic winter. In addition, the 27-year-old often surpasses himself on the Planai and is therefore number one in the list of successes together with Benjamin Raich as a four-time winner of Schladming. So it’s quite possible that Kristoffersen will take the sole lead on Tuesday night.
With Schladming, the men’s traditional slalom month of January also comes to an end. In contrast to the women, where Petra Vlhova already has the ball fixed, nothing has been decided yet because of the balance so far. Braathen leads after five races in the Discipline World Cup with 235 points ahead of Foss-Solevaag (180) and Daniel Yule (162). Strolz (145) is eighth as the best Austrian, but Manuel Feller (125), who is in tenth place, recently had to pass in Kitzbühel due to the corona.
Little things that make a big difference
“I’m really looking forward to Schladming. It’s one of the best races. I want to give it my all again,” Strolz, who has been a regular at the Olympics, has decided to do. Last year’s Schladming winner Marco Schwarz has not really found his way after a few injuries and was also annoyed by mistakes in Kitzbühel. “The flow condition is right in training, but not at all in the race,” explained the defeated slalom world cup winner, who wanted to make good use of the hours until Schladming, “to find the flow condition again in the race”.
“I can well imagine how ‘Blacky’ is doing,” Strolz showed understanding. “He was the best slalom runner last year, then the injury came. There is so much about trust in this sport. If you don’t have 100 percent confidence in yourself at the start, it’s difficult to really give everything,” he knows Vorarlberger, who was kicked out of the ÖSV World Cup team last year. “I think Blacky is close. But it’s the little things that make a big difference.”
No side events despite the anniversary
Schladming also recently received up to 20 centimeters of fresh snow and had their hands full to get the race track back in shape. “With cold nights it should be a very, very crisp to icy slope,” said OC boss Hans Grogl confidently looking forward to the anniversary race on Sunday. Regarding the discussion and Austria’s wish for total icing, Grogl said: “That’s still a bit of the Hirscher myth. Meanwhile, the whole ski entourage is happy when the conditions are the same from the first to the 40th runner.”
The fact that the Olympic qualification no longer plays a role on Tuesday evening does not have to be a disadvantage for the race. On the contrary. “This means that everyone can step on the gas and don’t have to make tactics,” Grogl is also convinced.
The race, which for ÖSV President Roswitha Stadlober has been “an ultimate success story, but also an important economic factor for the region” since its premiere in 1997, will now have 1,000 spectators in the grandstand of the mighty finish stadium, in contrast to last year’s ghost race. On the nearby Hohenaus-Tenne there are about 300 more. There will also be onlookers who, like two weeks ago, followed the women’s race from the street. Despite the anniversary, there will of course not be any side events. “We’ll catch up on that,” promised Grogl.
Source: Nachrichten
