Ski World Cup in Levi: German skiers disappoint

LRunners from ten countries were in the top twenty in the World Cup slalom for alpine skiers on Sunday at Levi; only one German was not there. In the victory of the Slovak Petra Vlhova, who triumphed in 1: 49.05 minutes ahead of Michelle Gisin of Switzerland (+0.31 seconds), Lena Dürr landed in 21st position. And although she was 2.72 seconds away, she was also by far the best runner in the German Ski Federation (DSV), because everyone else hadn’t even reached the second round.

Head coach Jürgen Graller didn’t even try to make the result pleasant. “We didn’t attack enough,” was the 49-year-old man’s main charge. Their riders were “too good to go down,” whether it was Jessica Hilzinger (32nd place), Andrea Filser or Marina Wallner, who at the same time held 37th place. “You don’t win a pot on that,” Graller grumbled at the ARD about the wavering driving style of his young hopes, calling it “extremely annoying” that no one made the top 30. Marlene Schmotz even landed 42nd.

The opening race the day before had hardly produced better results, even if Saturday’s table of results was still reasonably acceptable from a German point of view, at least from Sunday’s perspective: in the first slalom of the season, Dürr finished 17 2.89 seconds behind. Filser (+3.44) and Wallner (+3.47) landed in 23rd and 24th place. Graller’s balance when adding up all the results was, consequently: “Very few points from Levi’s World Cup.” The maximum number of points was reached for the double event in the far north Instead, the Slovak Petra Vlhova, who had already won the first slalom in 1: 50.11 minutes with 0.18 seconds ahead of the American Mikaela Shiffrin. Vlhova showed impeccable performance in all four races and proved to be tough and resistant to stress even under the pressure that Skistar Shiffrin was back at the start. In the previous season, the 25-year-old Vlhova had already won the Slalom World Cup, but benefited from the fact that her competitor of the same age had not started the last goal race due to the death of her father and the final of the World Cup had been the victim of the corona pandemic. .

As if to prove to herself and the world that she was not a random crystal ball winner, the 2019 giant slalom world champion had meticulously prepared for the new season. For the first weekend in Finland, he set off three weeks early, completed the 2,600-kilometer route from his home country through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in the car, and then perfectly acclimatized in Lapland. In the week before the World Cup, much to the chagrin of the overwhelming competition, he signed up for two Fis races at Suomu, and dominated the second international league slalom by four or five seconds.

At the World Cup, Vlhova has won the fifth consecutive slalom in all seasons. The 6ft tall athlete received the highest praise from a mouth rated for her power and body language between goals. Felix Neureuther, who accompanies the Alpine Ski World Cup for ARD as an expert, was enthusiastic about the way she competed in the race “full of conviction”, finding a “perfect center position” technically clean and without making any mistakes. despite all the aggressiveness. On the contrary, the former world-class driver had some complaints about Lena Dürr’s performance: “If you’re 29th after the first round, then I expect fireworks,” he criticized. Instead, he complained about passive driving and “too little pressure on the outside ski.” Dürr herself wasn’t happy with her idea either: she wanted to turn later on the steep incline, but that “didn’t work out”.

Before that, she had been eager for “short skis” and Levi, where she ranked 12th, 6th and 10th in previous years: “The slope suits me and the conditions too.” Due to the geographical location far to the north and the associated conditions are “very special” in Lapland, but she associates fond memories with that, she said before the World Cup weekend: “It rises late and it gets dark early.” In hindsight, this phrase could be almost like a performance prophecy. read by German skiers.