Fanny Smith ends the four-year Swiss podium drought at the Ski Cross World Cup in Arosa. The Swiss men are disappointing.
16.12.2025, 20:18
16.12.2025, 21:34
SDA
The 33-year-old Smith finished third in the night sprint race in Graubünden - three and four places ahead of her teammates Talina Gantenbein and Sixtine Cousin respectively. The Swiss men did not get up to speed in the first home World Cup of the season. Ryan Regez, Alex Fiva and Gil Martin were the last to fail in the round of 16.
The victories went to the resurgent Swedish dominator Sandra Näslund and last year's Canadian winner Reece Howden, who became the sole record winner in the men's event with his 19th World Cup success.
Näslund superior, Smith satisfied
While Gantenbein and Cousin, both suffering from a cold, were left out in the semi-finals, Smith made it through to the final in commanding style after setting the fastest time in the seeding runs the day before. There, the 2018 and 2022 Olympic bronze medallist clearly missed out on her fifth victory in Arosa. However, she was able to record her 86th podium finish in the World Cup.
"I always want to win. But today I have to be satisfied with this podium place given the problems with the injury," Fanny Smith told SRF. As she had revealed the day before, Smith is a little behind schedule in building up her form due to a leg injury sustained in the summer.
Sandra Näslund, the Swedish World Cup record winner who started the Olympic winter in her old strength after injury problems, was also in a class of her own in the third race of the Olympic season. In the final, the now 42-time World Cup winner came out on top ahead of Germany's Daniela Maier and Smith, despite having the least favorable starting position of the trio.
Setback for the men
The chances of a top result for Ryan Regez and Alex Fiva, the two leaders of the Swiss men's team, had already diminished the day before in the seeding runs. World and Olympic champion Regez only managed 33rd place, while the 39-year-old Grisons veteran Fiva finished 27th.
From the difficult start gates, Regez and Fiva only made it through one lap of the less than 30-second short course in the knockout heats on Tuesday evening. Gil Martin, who had established a promising starting position on Monday with the second-best time, did not fare any better. The 26-year-old from Bern lost out in his round of 16 against the Austrian Christoph Danksagmüller and the Japanese Ryo Sugai and Satoshi Furuno despite having the best starting position.
Fiva's words in the SRF interview sounded similar to those after last year's quarter-final exit. "It's simply difficult from the outermost starting position. Qualifying is very important here, and unfortunately I messed that up a bit on Monday."
The Ski Cross World Cup continues this weekend with two races in San Candido, Italy. Qualifying is on the program on Friday, followed by one race each on Saturday and Sunday.
