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Alex Vinatzer missed the medal. © APA / EXPA / JOHANN GRODER
Didn’t want to be: Alex Vinatzer narrowly missed a medal in the decision after an outstanding first race in the Cortina d’Ampezzo slalom In the end, there were two athletes at the top who weren’t necessarily the expected ones.
February 21, 2021
After his epidemic in January (five failures in a row), Alex Vinatzer reported impressively at the World Cup slalom. He was denied the coronation, that is, a medal. In the end, the 21-year-old had to settle for the thankless fourth place. Yet it was a strong sign of life from Val Gardena.
The many intensive training sessions in recent days have paid off for Alex Vinatzer. You could see that in the first round: The uncertainty and caution that characterized its appearance in January disappeared in one fell swoop. The Val Gardena man attacked, risked, skied really well and finished second at halftime, only beaten by Austrian sensational Adrian Pertl. Ski South Tyrol rightly dreamed of winning the first medal at this World Cup.
A strange second race
The decision was characterized by a specialty: because the FIS feared that the slope would be severely degraded, it was decided that the 15th would open the second round, and not, as traditionally, the 30th athlete. That’s why ski stars took a chance on the decision early on, which is why some big names like Marco Schwarz were eliminated. The medal was within reach of Alex Vinatzer: during his journey, however, the Val Gardena man accumulated a gap of more than a second due to several small errors, thus placing third behind Sebastian-Foss Solevåg and Henrik Kristoffersen.
Vinatzer has reported, but narrowly missed a medal. © APA / EXPA / JOHANN GRODER
Now the tremors began: Will Adrian Pertl, the sensations leader of the first lap, keep his nerves and reach the goal? The answer was yes. The 24-year-old Austrian, who has only been on the World Cup podium once, lost quite a bit of time, but he fought like a lion and finished in the silver rank. As a result, Vinatzer was pushed to fourth place.
A surprise male race
The final day of the World Cup in Cortina was all about sensational men: no one had anticipated Sebastian-Foss Solevåg as the new world champion, even if the Norwegian is driving the season of his life this year and his first victory in the world Cup. A month ago I was able to celebrate. Third place went to Henrik Kristoffersen, who won his first World Championship medal in slalom.
New slalom world champion: Sebastian-Foss Solevåg. © APA / afp / FABRICE COFFRINI
Manfred Mölgg showed a good performance in his possibly last World Championship race: after finishing 20th at halftime, he was able to regain some places in the decision and is 14th in the final standings.
The Cortina world championship came to an end with the men’s slalom. The ski season is not over yet, because now the World Cup is entering the hot phase. The speed women will be in action in Val di Fassa next weekend, while the giant slalom runners will be in Bansko.
Author: it
