Tears of joy at Liensberger – Vorarlberger Nachrichten

Lenzerheide The award ceremony after winning her first slalom ball at the Alpine Ski World Cup was definitely an eventful one for Katharina Liensberger. “I had tears of joy. It’s all very emotional when you work for something for so long and you often have setbacks and setbacks, ”said the 23-year-old. Her competitors showered her with praise. “She is the best slalom skier in the world. I have no words, ”said overall winner Petra Vlhova.

“It was not always easy for me. But I never lost hope and I always believed that at some point everything would come back to life ”, explained Liensberger, burdened by the material dispute at the beginning of the preseason. In the nine races this season he was on the podium eight times, only at Jasna he missed out in fourth place. He had to settle for second place four times. In Semmering he was eleven hundredths of a second to victory at the end of December, and only five in Zagreb.

At the Cortina d’Ampezzo World Championships, Liensberger scored, and twice: gold in slalom and, in strange circumstances, in parallel singles. “The World Cup was perhaps a surprise to some because it is only one race, one day,” he said. “You can often think that from time to time there are good days, from time to time there are not so good days. But in the end, the slalom crystal ball shows a season every day. This is what I’ve been working on. That he can finish so strong is wonderful. “

The sphere reflects “the big picture”. “The constancy and perseverance, the endurance, that shows in any case, because it is simply over a longer period of time,” said the native of Vorarlberg in Lenzerheide. Mikaela Shiffrin, second in this year’s Slalom World Cup, underlined it. “It has an extraordinary consistency and its highest level is the highest of all. It’s incredibly deserved that she wins the ball this year, “the American said, adding,” It’s really cool to see her skiing right now. “

Women’s race director Christian Mitter spoke of the skipper’s mental toughness. “It is impressive to be able to do better in the second round, similar to the World Cup,” said the Styrian, emphasizing Liensberger’s determination: “She always works on herself, learns fast. You don’t want to waste time on unimportant things, instead you work on the essence of skiing. Many others do, too, but then she gets down to business. “

Liensberger is in no rush with another even bigger dream: the World Cup in general. To have a real shot, he would have to include Super-G and Downhill in his program, which “should come when the time is right.” He knows that “it really is a very tough season for athletes who also participate in sprinting for an entire season.” An exhausted Vlhova, who brought the big ball to Slovakia for the first time this year, could confirm it. “Now I will discuss with my coaches what makes sense, what doesn’t make sense,” Liensberger said.

But first it was a matter of enjoying the moment. Although the new leader of the ÖSV women’s team felt a bit tired in the final giant slalom. “I realize that now I am physically exhausted. I gave it my all today, there was no more to him, “said Liensberger, who said he had had” a lot of fun “all season. “I am super happy, happy and grateful and proud at the same time that I managed to do this with my team and that we were able to experience such great moments together.”

And one of these moments was shared by father Thomas Liensberger with his daughter. So after the first round in the women’s slalom, she got in the car and drove from Göfis to Lenzerheide. “I couldn’t take it anymore,” he said. “This season is like a fairy tale”, was his conclusion after the giant slalom, which he followed again on television.