Climate activists of the “last generation” incurred the wrath of athletes at the World Cup slalom in Gurgl, Austria. “Damn idiots! They’re destroying the race,” complained world champion Henrik Kristoffersen on Norwegian radio NRK. The 29-year-old even tried to attack the activists and threw snowballs at them, as did Croatian Filip Zubcic.
“We don’t want people like that here. There should be consequences,” Kristoffersen complained about the “disrespectful” and “disgusting” action. His teammate, former world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, dragged one of the activists lying in the snow out of the finish area.
After the Austrian Marco Schwarz, fifth after the first round, had crossed the finish line in his second run, chaos broke out there. Three demonstrators held up a banner reading “Listen to the Climate Council” and sprinkled the snow with orange powder. In doing so, they incurred the wrath of the athletes.
The race was interrupted for about ten minutes before the police and security service restored order. “If I were standing at the start now, I would be so upset,” said TV expert Felix Neureuther at the BR microphone: “I want you to protest peacefully. Let’s talk or what do I know.”
FIS race director Markus Waldner admitted that they were surprised by the action. “We had a lot of police here, but not in the right places,” he said. “But I heard that a few Vikings sorted things out,” he added with a smile.