Race in Courchevel: Piste rowdy: Ski racer Ferstl is looking for the World Cup mix

Race at Courchevel
Piste rowdy: Ski racer Ferstl is looking for the World Cup mix

Ski racer Josef Ferstl is hoping for a strong World Cup. photo

© Giovanni Auletta/AP/dpa

Josef Ferstl usually only goes full throttle. 100 percent or nothing. At the World Championships in France, the ski racer also wants to use his head.

Josef Ferstl is something like the slope destroyer in the German speed team. The ski racer from Traunstein already has two gate poles on his conscience this winter.

“I’m always at the top and think to myself: Today it’s okay, today I’m tearing everything up and then it’s just the goals,” he joked before the Super-G at the Alpine World Ski Championships in France on Thursday (11.30 a.m. / ZDF and Eurosport) .

Risky, aggressive rides are the thing of the 34-year-old veteran. His courage has already been rewarded twice with a World Cup victory, including in 2019 in the Super-G in Kitzbühel. But whoever dares, sometimes loses. Serious falls are part of Ferstl’s life as a skier. Last spring, the speed specialist fell and broke his upper arm. Since then, twelve screws have held the right arm together. “You have to take risks if you want to be at the front. And then failures or big mistakes are unavoidable,” said Ferstl.

World Cup as season highlight

At the highlight of the season in Courchevel, the athlete from SC Hammer now wants to find the right mix. Risk, yes, but with brains. He lacks the “cleverness” for certain goals. “I’m a bit lost driving with my head,” said the Upper Bavarian himself.

This winter Ferstl is still looking for his form. The German starts the title competitions in the French high mountains with just one run in the top ten. He still feels this often cited killer instinct. “For me, it’s always there 100 percent. I want to get down there, I take risks,” said Ferstl.

The German World Cup record is encouraging. Major events can be the fastest among the Alpines. In 2021 Andreas Sander, Romed Baumann and Kira Weidle took silver in Cortina d’Ampezzo. In order to add another chapter to the book of German winter fairy tales, Ferstl needs ruthlessness and brains. He has both, that has been clear since Kitzbühel. Perhaps the mixture will reappear in the French high mountains.

dpa

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