Like many, she finished with a goal error, but in third place she was well ahead of the other Austrians, who were only behind 24th place. Ramona Siebenhofer, Mirjam Puchner and Cornelia Hütter have a fixed place, Scheyer drives against Tamara Tippler Quali, Ariane Rädler had to pass.
“I was doing pretty well, but I shot a buck at the top and missed the gate. It was tricky to drive. The snow is good for me, the slope is good for me, now it’s time to slowly increase it,” said 27-year-old Scheyer. She was about to press that it was important for her to feel good right away so that she didn’t have to eliminate seven more construction sites on the second day. She finished in the top 20 in all World Cup downhills this winter, best result was fifth in Lake Louise. Scheyer’s run in the first training session:
“Difficult matter” for Tippler
Tamara Tippler, fourth in the Super-G on Friday, didn’t get along at all. “Hallelujah! That was rather a difficult matter, I wasn’t on the skis at all over the waves. That annoys me, because I wanted to show good skiing today,” said the Styrian. “It was difficult to really focus, but of course I know it’s about a downhill course. You can hardly ski any worse, you have to find the speed and not go down so passively.”
The video shows Tippler’s wild rescue operation:
The day before was not exactly the easiest for her, maybe that played into it. “But you have to learn that. Many have already finished fourth and need to focus again.” Her downhill season hasn’t gone according to plan so far, she started eleventh and twelfth in Lake Louise, after which she only halfway recovered in terms of results as 15th in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Rädler was not at the start of the first training session due to knee problems.
“Not an easy decision” for Rädler
After consultation with the coaching team and the physios, the Vorarlberg native later decided to return home early. “It wasn’t an easy decision,” said Rädler. “But to be competitive at the Olympics, you have to be 100 percent fit, which unfortunately isn’t the case for me at the moment.” The 27-year-old will travel back to Austria on the next possible plane to have the injury treated. At the World Cup races in Crans Montana at the end of February, she wants to be “fit again at the start”.
There is no doubt about Ramona Siebenhofer’s fixed place, she was second, third and twice fourth this winter. If she didn’t feel comfortable with the conditions on the giant slalom slope (failure), it’s different on the downhill run. She used the first training session for an easy sightseeing trip. “It’s cool to drive, it’s good that we still have two practice sessions. I have to make sure I have the line under control.”
Siebenhofer “did not want to comment” that she did not get a chance in the Super-G. But it was clear to her after Hütter’s victory in Garmisch, because the others already had a podium. She herself had skipped the last Super-G before the Olympics because of her departure to China.
Puchner was “finished and ready”
Super-G silver medalist Puchner was tired and “in a hurry,” she explained. “My goal was just to come down healthy, because there is a risk on a descent, and it’s also a new route. There are still two training sessions, I’ll analyze well.” But the downhill is “really cool and really awesome to ride”, everything is inside that a downhill should have inside, said the twice third place this winter in Lake Louise and Val d’Isere.
Hütter, who traveled to China in third place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, wanted above all to build up a feeling. “The descent can really do a lot, it really gets your heart pumping.”
Source: Nachrichten
