Andrea Limbacher traveled to China to shake up the ski cross scene in Secret Garden. The 32-year-old ex-world champion from St. Wolfgang had given out a medal as a goal, the bottom line was that she was the best Austrian in eleventh place ahead of Katrin Ofner (12th) and Christina Födermayr (22nd) from Utzenaich, but that’s not even cold consolation.
“I didn’t complete my mission, so I’m very disappointed”said “limbo”who tirelessly fought back after five cruciate ligament tears.
The winner of four World Cup races knows that she is in the late autumn of her career. “There will probably be no more Olympic Games for me”, said the four-time event participant in the sign of the five rings. Cortina 2026 is too far away.
“I still feel quite young, but physically I’m already marked”admitted Limbacher: “It’s an achievement that I made it back again, because a lot of times it didn’t look like it.”
At 20, Innviertel native Födermayr is only in the early stages of her career, and her experience on the big stage will help her. It was an instructive performance that ended in the round of 16. “I made tactical mistakes, I also got nervous during the race”, reported Födermayr. Looking to the future remains positive.
Medalist against her will
The jury made the Olympic victory of the Swedish ski cross favorite Sandra Näslund a side note. The struggle for bronze between Switzerland’s Fanny Smith, who crossed the finish line in third place, and Germany’s Daniela Maier, who came in fourth, kept the judges busy for minutes, who were upset by a scene at the finish jump.
Smith exposed her left ski to avoid a collision with the “silver” Canadian Marielle Thompson, which caused Maier to stumble. Smith would hardly have had any other options, judging by their reactions, everyone involved in the race saw it that way too. The jury decided differently and declared Maier the bronze medalist, Smith went empty-handed. At first, Maier didn’t take the decision jubilantly, but shook his head. “That’s unfair,” said the German and comforted Smith.
Race director Klaus Waldner defended the jury: “She believes that Fanny Smith could have driven straight away.”
Source: Nachrichten
