Status: 07.03.2022 08:04
Anna-Lena Forster between super-G frustration and slalom lust: In the alpine super-combination, after a botched start, she caught up more than six seconds with an outstanding slalom and won the first Paralympic gold medal for the German team in Beijing.
6.07 seconds behind – almost an eternity. 6.07 seconds – that’s how much separated Anna-Lena Forster and her big rival, the Japanese Momoka Muraoka, in the super combination at the Paralympics after the super G on Monday morning (07.03.2022).
With too cautious a run with little risk, Forster supposedly lost all chances of gold in the first part of the super combination. The third day of competition in Beijing was supposed to be her day. In 2018, Forster won gold in this discipline.
Sensational race to catch up – first gold in 2022
And indeed: Forster put down a furious slalom, climbed place by place forward. It came to the heartbeat final – with the better end for Forster. This time it was Muraoka who was too cautious about the run, even understandable given the large lead.
In the end, Forster won with a lead of 77 hundredths. She repeated her triumph from Pyeongchang 2018 and gave the German Paralympic team its first gold medal in Beijing.
Rieder missed bronze – Rothfuss and Ristau out
In the standing class, Anna-Maria Rieder was sixth after the Super-G. Despite a significant improvement in the slalom, she just missed a medal – she ended up in thankless fourth place.
Andrea Rothfuss (standing) and Noemi Ristau (visually impaired) experienced disappointments: Both were eliminated in the Super-G and were only spectators in the slalom.
Rothfuss self-critical
Both failed just before the finish, at the penultimate gate. “I didn’t have enough direction at the gate beforehand. It was my fault,” said Rothfuss self-critically. However, she was generally happier than at the Super-G the day before: “That’s why I can see the day with one crying and one smiling eye.”
Leander Kress finished 17th in the Super Combined Men’s Visually Impaired and achieved his best placing at the Paralympics to date.