And the man of the hour, whose previous best World Cup result was the 13th place he achieved in the extra Downhill staged the day before, was only a whisker away from grabbing victory from Bormio’s serial champion Dominik Paris. He certainly caused the experienced Italian a few nail-biting moments: at the second split the newcomer was still ahead following a fantastic performance, and in the finish the scoreboard showed that Kryenbühl was a mere eight hundredths behind the leader.
The 25-year-old speed specialist, who before Friday had only finished in the top 20 once, admitted with a smile that the whole thing had been a new experience for him. The result on that Friday was already outstanding enough by his standards, but his success the next day, said the native of Unteriberg, was nothing short of amazing.
For Fischer ace Vincent Kriechmayr the year ended on a more positive note on the Stelvio of Bormio. The podium regular had unluckily skied out in Friday’s Downhill, but his performances improved as the weekend progressed: in Saturday’s Downhill he ranked tenth, and in the Combined on Sunday he managed 12th spot. One racer who made his mark in this combination of disciplines was Stefan Rogentin from Switzerland, whose 14th place was his best World Cup result to date.
Schmotz Pulls Off a Top Result in Lienz
Marlene Schmotz also had good reason to be happy, achieving a personal best in the Slalom in Lienz. Previously, the 25-year-old German’s best result in the Slalom was 14th in Killington, but on Sunday she produced an excellent performance to haul herself up to 11th – missing out on the top ten by a mere fraction. In the points table, the Fischer ladies Katharina Huber and Katharina Truppe lead the field in the Slalom, occupying 17th and 18th place respectively.
