Johannes Aigner won the gold medal in the downhill in Yanqing on Saturday, followed shortly afterwards by Markus Salcher with silver in his class. For the visually impaired Aigner, it was his first medal at his first participation in the Paralympics, and it was gold.
Together with guide Matteo Fleischmann, 16-year-old Aigner from Lower Austria won 0.36 seconds ahead of top favorite Mac Marcoux (CAN). “I couldn’t believe it at the finish. Matteo called out to me that we were ahead. I thought he wanted to trick me,” beamed Aigner. He still has good chances of medals, because his favorite disciplines are giant slalom and slalom.
The standing class followed a few minutes after Aigner. With silver, Salcher once again proved that he is one of the best. Only 0.33 seconds behind top favorite Arthur Bauchet (FRA), he won his sixth medal at the Paralympics. “I’m overjoyed with this medal, now I’ve completed the Paralympic medal set. At the World Championships I was three tenths ahead of Arthur, now he’s ahead. So it balances out.”
Salcher now holds two gold medals (2014), three bronze medals (1x 2014, 2x 2018) and one silver medal at the Paralympic Winter Games.
Source: Nachrichten
