He prevailed against his Carinthian compatriot Otmar Striedinger. Double Olympic champion Matthias Mayer, double world champion Vincent Kriechmayr and Daniel Hemetsberger had already been nominated as fixed starters by racing manager Andreas Puelacher. Before the downhill training at the Olympics, Puelacher saw the elimination process between Striedinger and Franz as completely open. “We’ll see how the two adapt to the circumstances,” he said. The last starting place was actually about the last practice session, but that was canceled on Saturday. “If this is not possible because of the wind, the coach will make a decision,” Puelacher had previously announced.
Franz is coping very well with the special snow conditions on the “Rock”, having finished the second practice session on Friday in second place only 0.06 seconds behind the Norwegian top favorite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. Striedinger was 23rd, 1.02 behind.
Source: Nachrichten
