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In the exciting Schladming illuminated show too, the Swiss slalom pilots barely missed the podium on Tuesday. Despite the next higher position, the anger is palpable.
Last winter, the Swiss slalom runners were a positive surprise. First, Daniel Yule far exceeded expectations with his victories at Madonna di Campiglio, Adelboden and Kitzbühel, and together with Ramon Zenhäusern he also secured another three podium positions in the former Swiss discipline of care.
In the current winter, however, the two front men cannot rely on those appearances. Ramon Zenhäusern opened the winter with a win at the start of the season in Alta Badia, but since then no Swiss have been on the slalom podium. And the top ten results consistently achieved by the Swiss team no longer fully meet the requirements, for drivers, coaches and spectators.
A little more risk
“In the end, it’s a fifth place that you have to take,” says Ramon Zenhäusern after the night slalom in Schladming in an interview with SRF. The top-ranked Swiss is not entirely satisfied with this: “My performance is not bad, but on the other hand I lack the courage to take the last risk to get on the podium. I’m starting to get a little angry. Because I really have no reason not to get into this. I will certainly try to change that in the future. “
But it’s a fine line, especially in this technically highly demanding discipline. In the first race at Schladming, 25 of the 69 runners who started did not reach the finish line. “The line between being eliminated and being on the podium is so tight that it is a tightrope walk,” explains Zenhäusern. In this regard, you are currently on the safe side. «I am getting excellent results, I am definitely satisfied. But maybe I should look for that little risk even more in the future and risk failing one day. “
Yule doesn’t move
Fifth place is the second best result of the season for Zen houses. Since his first season victory at Alta Badia, he has been waiting for a place on the podium, just like the rest of the Swiss slalom team. The most recent races have been disappointing, especially for Daniel Yule, the most successful Swiss slalom rider in history. At Schladming, where he has last been on the podium for three years in a row, he is in the first race this year and is eliminated.
“I’m very disappointed. After all, I was very fast until then,” says the 27-year-old in the finish area. “They say: if it works, then it works. I have the feeling that for me at the moment it is the opposite. If you don’t want to, you just don’t want to, ”says Yule.
Then, suddenly, many things are not so easy: “If everything goes wrong, everything is a little more difficult. That’s how it is in our sport, especially slalom. “But the fighter Yule emphasizes:” I know I was fast today, and I will take him with me for the next races. “
Von Grünigen used exclamation marks
In addition to Zenhäusern and Meillard, who can improve to ninth place in race two, Noel von Grünigen in particular is responsible for the Swiss cheers at the night show at the Planai. With starting number 62, the 25-year-old made the leap to race two, where he still recovered nine places and achieved his best result in the World Cup with 19th place.
In just three days, Swiss slalom stars will have their next double chance in Chamonix, where two slaloms are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday. It is also the final rehearsal for the World Cup in Cortina, time to get on the podium in this discipline as well.
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