Second slalom World Cup title for Maria Riesch
Maria Riesch had to fight hard until the last
gate of the last slalom run to successfully defend her slalom World
Cup title at Garmisch-Partenkirchen while Austria’s Marlies Schild
celebrated her third season win thanks to blistering fast
performances in both legs. The 25-year-old German who started the
last season race with a lead of only 23 points on Kathrin Zettel,
the winner of the last race at Maribor, felt great pressure as
Zettel found back most of her winning form to challenge strongly the
Olympic champion on the steep and treacherous Gudiberg course. 6th
in the morning run with a delay on 12/100 of a second on Riesch,
Zettel took all risks in the early afternoon to establish a new best
time out of reach for her next rivals, including Maria Riesch who
lost 70/100 on her after her second run. Only Schild could ski a
little faster than her teammate.
Fortunately for her, no other racer skied
between the two favourites, allowing Riesch to keep a small margin
of three points in the final slalom standings. “I have been
struggling today, I did not find back my confidence and my form from
the Olympics, I’m really lucky I could make it here,” the skier from
Garmisch-Partenkirchen said afterwards. “My level of energy was much
lower today and I could not fully attack as in Canada,” she also
explained. “It was really tough and I’m so happy I could do it
again. Before the race, I told myself that I had already
accomplished great performances during this season, including here
where I excelled in all the past three races.”
A long season for Maria Riesch.
“It has been a long season for me, it’s quite
demanding to compete in all the races. To win once again this
crystal globe is definitely special. Our team did really well this
winter. I’m looking forward for the World Championships here.”
With more than a dozen of podium finishes this
winter including her three wins, Maria Riesch achieved once again a
great World Cup season, ‘only’ 155 points behind her good friend
Lindsey Vonn. “It’s very encouraging to see that I kept on improving
in the past three years and I’m quite excited about my capacity to
reach the podium in all specialties including in giant slalom. For
sure I aim to clinch the big cup in the coming years, it would mean
a lot to me.”
Winter is not totally over for Maria Riesch as
she plans to train a few days on the downhill course during the
coming weeks. “The conditions are really good right now and it makes
sense to test the course a little more,” she explained. “But I’ll
soon take a break and enjoy a few days off somewhere far from here –
in a sunny and warm place,” she added with a smile.
Marlies Schild was the fastest slalom skier.
Looking back to the entire season, it’s obvious
that Marlies Schild has again been the faster slalom specialist with
a total of three wins. A little more luck in some occasions like
Zagreb or Maribor would have put her out of reach for the other
skiers. Yet the Austrian was pleased the same with her comeback
season. “I enjoyed many great moments this winter, I did better than
expected in several occasions and I’m happy with my recent results,
especially my second Olympic medal. I could not ask for more after
all the health problems I had to overcome after my injury two years
ago at Soelden,” added the 29-year-old.
“It’s great to end the season on such a high
note. This slope is very demanding and I’m looking forward for the
next World Championships here next year. It’s good to have high
goals again now. A few months ago I was not even sure to still have
the potential to get onto the podium again. Now I know I’m almost
back again.”
Like most other top-skiers, Schild will be
testing new skis in the coming weeks prior taking some deserved
holidays and tank some energy before her next training camps. The
Austrian team badly needs her to lead the charge for more successes
in the coming season – which starts soon again at Soelden – in seven
months!