World Cup
Slalom ace Straßer amazes again: “It couldn’t be better”
Linus Straßer is the first German to win the two goal races in Kitzbühel and Schladming in succession. photo
© Erwin Scheriau/APA/dpa
Neither rain nor a difficult slope nor a strong Norwegian can stop Linus Straßer in Schladming. The Munich slalom ace wins again after Kitzbühel and writes German ski history.
By the way, the athlete from TSV 1860 Munich wrote national skiing history, as he was the first German to win the two prestigious slalom races in Kitzbühel and Schladming one after the other. Not even the most successful DSV slalom skiers were able to achieve this: Felix Neureuther and Armin Bittner.
In the all-time German list of winners, Straßer caught up with downhill skier Thomas Dreßen, who recently ended his career, with five successes – four slaloms and one city event. Only Neureuther (13), Markus Wasmeier (9) and Bittner (7) are ahead of him.
Straßer feels “bulletproof”
Straßer’s ideas over the past few days suggest that further victories could follow. The father of the family told ORF after the Schladming victory that he currently feels “bulletproof”, i.e. invulnerable. “You can put whatever you want on me.”
He had impressively proven that at the night spectacle. Neither pouring rain nor a difficult course setting and a tricky slope in the finale could stop Straßer. He won by 0.28 seconds from the Norwegian Timon Haugan – the rest of the competition was already more than a second slower than the German. “These are moments for a lifetime,” said the triumphant.
Even the German trainers and supervisors were amazed, as Alpin boss Wolfgang Maier reported. Haugan set a fantastic time in his second round, and Straßer heard the Norwegian team’s cheers in the starting house. “Shit, I thought to myself, now I have to step on the gas,” said Straßer afterwards with a grin. For the first time in his career, he went into a final as the leader and therefore the last starter – the pressure in front of 22,500 spectators was huge.
Alpine boss Maier on Straßer: Reached the top of the world
“And then Linus goes one better. That was an absolute top performance,” said Maier. His protégé proved that the Kitzbühel success was no coincidence. “The two victories show that Linus has now reached the absolute top of the world, and he does so with an announcement and a confidence when you look at his skiing.”
After the Austrian Manuel Feller dominated the first slaloms of the season, the momentum is now with Straßer. In the World Cup standings, the German is only 132 points behind the Tyrolean. “Skiing is very easy for me at the moment. I’m starting with a relaxed attitude. I want to maintain the momentum and carry on like this. But today we’ll celebrate first,” announced Straßer.
The next slalom is only a week and a half away (February 4th) in Chamonix, France. Then the Upper Bavarian is the top favorite again.