Sport Slalom
For the first time since 2014, a German triumphed in Kitzbühel
As of: 3:27 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
At the goal of his dreams: Linus Straßer celebrates after his triumph in Kitzbühel
Source: AFP/GEORG HOCHMUTH
Linus Straßer won the World Cup slalom in Kitzbühel and celebrated the greatest success of his career. The Munich player raced to victory on Sunday in the most important scoring run of the season. The basis was a fantastic second run.
Even before the race he had felt that something would be possible this time in his home race. “I feel like anything can happen,” said Linus Straßer: “I’m ready and happy.” Positive emotions that culminated in an explosion of emotions after the two runs in the finish area. In front of tens of thousands of fans, friends, relatives and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Straßer was unbeatable on Sunday. After his success, with tears in his eyes, he knelt in the snow on the famous Ganslern slope, where he once learned to ski as a child and was now finally able to celebrate.
“I’m skiing really well right now,” said the 31-year-old after his coup. “My goal was to take a chamois home with me.” The TSV 1860 Munich athlete was still missing the coveted Kitzbühel trophy. Straßer won the prestigious World Cup slalom in Kitzbühel and thus celebrated the greatest success of his career. The Munich player raced to great success on Sunday in the most important scoring run of the season.
With a phenomenal second round, the 31-year-old fought his way from fourth to first place. He relegated the half-time leader Kristoffer Jakobsen from Sweden (+0.14 seconds) and the Swiss Daniel Yule (+0.20) to the other places. Straßer achieved the third World Cup success of his career in slalom and the first German slalom triumph in Kitzbühel since Felix Neureuther in 2014. Thomas Dreßen won the downhill race in 2018.
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Straßer lives in Kirchberg near the Tyrolean ski resort and knows the slopes inside and out. For many years he struggled in the World Cup there, but last winter he only missed the podium by a hundredth of a second.
Straßer’s bitter end in Wengen
In the current season, the best German slalom rider came ninth in Gurgl and Madonna di Campiglio, as well as fourth in Adelboden. During the last scoring run in Wengen he was also moving quickly – and then threaded the ball. That was “bitter,” said Straßer looking back. But that doesn’t mean his feeling has gone away. He currently has an “incredibly central, good position over the ski,” thanks to which he “can ski very playfully,” he explained.
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Straßer’s success was extremely important for the German men, who were disappointing this winter. Alpine boss Wolfgang Maier took a load off his heart. “You need a sign of life every now and then, and if you win the Kitzbühel slalom, then that is THE slalom, and that helps the whole team a little,” he said. “We’ve really taken a beating lately. This is balm for every wound. It’s a dream for us that we have a winner here again.”