5 questions for Gurgl winner Feller: “It couldn’t start better”

You’ve been in the lead’s situation a few times already, what was it like between the runs?

“It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t deja vu, but it’s often gone wrong. A second lead, victory is within reach, but still miserably far away. Of course, trains of thought arise and you go through them. I finally found a recipe for myself. That I concentrate on what I have to do. That I feel inside myself how it has to feel for it to whistle. And that I go through the run so often that the run is like clockwork works. Thank God I finally got it done.”

A second lead after the first round could invite management.

“That wasn’t the motto, I hope it didn’t look like it either. I was leading at the World Cup and knew that Henrik (Kristoffersen, later world champion, note) would be bothered by being one and a half seconds behind. Likewise Blacky. We know that these people will then ‘blame’ and go skiing no matter what.”

Was it an advantage that two Austrians were leading?

Feller: “I didn’t notice that. I didn’t see anything (on TV) after Blacky. I noticed the interruption because of the climate protest and the escalation from Henrik. I looked over to the other side in the valley, saw it like it always did getting darker and darker and hoping that there would be a few rays of sunshine left. It looks like there were still enough.”

First race, first victory…

Feller: “… it couldn’t start better. But every race is different, has a different surface – Eskimos have 100 words for snow. It doesn’t mean that I will dominate the season. I also entered into a bit of a lottery, I only changed the skis two days ago. We were still tinkering around yesterday. Big praise to my service man and the ski company for getting it done so well in a short time.”

How special is this podium with your teammates Marco Schwarz and Michael Matt?

Feller: “It’s unbelievable. I couldn’t write the story better if I had to write it. I’m extremely happy for Michael because he’s had an extremely difficult time with a lot of changes in material and a long search for form.”

Also read:

• ÖSV triple victory in Hochgurgl: Feller wins slalom ahead of black and matt
• Climate protest at slalom in Gurgl: Video shows Kristoffersen’s tantrum
• Alpine skiing: women’s downhill run on the Matterhorn canceled