Alpine skiing
Germans with a severe Wengen defeat – Pinturault injured
Andreas Sander did not make it to the top places at the Super-G in Wengen. photo
© Gabriele Facciotti/AP/dpa
A Frenchman wins the Super-G in Wengen, his compatriot falls badly. The Germans are lagging behind more than they have in years.
The German ski racers took part in the World Cup Wengen suffered a memorable defeat. In the Super-G, Andreas Sander only came 25th as the best DSV athlete. He was a good three seconds behind winner Cyprien Sarrazin from France.
In a speed event – i.e. downhill or super-G – the German men have not been placed this far back since December 2018; At that time, Beaver Creek only achieved 30th place.
The top and even the top ten are currently far away. Sarrazin prevailed ahead of the Swiss local hero and favorite Marco Odermatt (+0.58 seconds) and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde from Norway (+1.00).
The race was overshadowed by a crash by French veteran Alexis Pinturault, who was treated for a long time on the track and then flown away in a helicopter. Pictures of a fall after a jump shortly before the finish raise fears of a serious knee injury. Cries of pain could be heard on television from Pinturault, who had become the father of a small daughter just a few days ago. A diagnosis was initially pending. “It’s hard to be happy after my run when something like that happens to a friend,” said Pinturault’s compatriot and winner Sarrazin on ZDF.
Jocher in the points, Baumann disappointed
Unlike the in-form Frenchman, there is hardly anything going on with the German ski racers at the moment. In addition to Sander, Simon Jocher still made it into the points in 29th place (+3.18), while Romed Baumann was disappointing in 37th place (+3.82). Josef Ferstl and Luis Vogt were eliminated. Former Kitzbühel winner Thomas Dreßen decided not to start in order to save himself for the traditional Lauberhorn descent on Saturday (12.30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport).
The German defeats this winter are surprising in that Baumann and Sander had each raced onto World Cup podiums at the end of the previous season. Currently, however, the DSV athletes are particularly lacking in aggressiveness, as the coaches complain.