In the province of Alberta, Styrian Schmidhofer more or less carried on from where she left off last season when the Fischer racer laid the foundations of her Downhill crystal globe triumph by winning two Downhills. At the weekend she chalked up yet another first place – ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) and Francesca Marsaglia (ITA).
“It feels awesome,” said the delighted 30-year-old winner, describing her latest triumph in Canada. “It was totally exhilarating. And horribly stressy at times, my nerves were jangling a bit. Especially when Mikaela, and of course Francesca, where on the course when the sun was out again.”
With this triumph Schmidhofer confirmed last year’s double Downhill win. “I’m really pleased, happy and proud that I performed like I did today,” she said. Because after the first Downhill on Friday, Schmidhofer ranked “only” seventh. A botched jump into the finish cost her the victory that looked possible.
Overall, things went a little better for the Fischer ladies. In the two Downhills, Ramona Siebenhofer contributed a 13th and a 20th place. In the concluding Super G in Lake Louise, Schmidhofer finished eighth, Siebenhofer eleventh.
On the other hand, Fischer racer Kriechmayr did not seem entirely happy, despite his second place in Beaver Creek. “Today I tried to step on the gas more.” He felt it was a good race, but not a perfect one. “I made mistakes in the middle section, the rest was good,” said the Upper Austrian who had achieved seventh place in the Super G on Friday.
For Max Franz, things did not go to plan in Colorado. In the Super G his 30th place meant only one World Cup point, and in the Downhill he finished 21st. Experienced Fischer athlete Steve Nyman (USA) ranked 17th.
