Lara Gut-Behrami and Wendy Holdener win World Championship silver in the combined team event. Just a few years ago, the two would not have competed as a duo. The reason: a former coach.
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- Wendy Holdener and Lara Gut-Behrami win the silver medal in the combined team event at the World Championships in Saalbach.
- After the award ceremony, Gut-Behrami criticizes her former coach. "When Wendy joined the team, my coach, our head coach, tried everything to put us against each other."
- Holdener doesn't want to dig into the past on Tuesday evening and doesn't address the issue.
Wendy Holdener and Lara Gut-Behrami strike at the premiere of the combined team event at the World Ski Championships in Saalbach. The duo secured silver.
After the ranking ceremony, the two top skiers answer questions on "SRF". "Until today, I never thought that team sports made sense," says Gut-Behrami with a laugh. She had previously only known skiing as an individual sport. Now the 33-year-old has her first team World Championship medal (out of a total of nine) in the bag. "I'm grateful to Wendy for letting me experience this with her."
Gut-Behrami on ex-coach: "He tried everything to put us against each other"
Some time ago, the Gut-Behrami/Holdener duo would not have happened. "Eight or nine years ago, we certainly wouldn't have been competing together," says Gut-Behrami, adding: "When Wendy joined the team, my coach, our head coach, tried everything to put us against each other. My relationship with many athletes suffered as a result."
Exactly who Gut-Behrami is talking about is unclear. Presumably they are talking about Mauro Pini, who now coaches Petra Vlhova. The Ticino native looked after Gut-Behrami in her early days, but the two later fell out.
Holdener has no energy to dig into the past. "It's too tough a question for me right now," Holdener answers when asked whether the Swiss team was once completely fragmented. Gut-Behrami replies: "She's a bit tired. She skied well, I'm talking."
Holdener: "Lara is a good role model for me"
But Holdener is still talking about the silver medal. "I'm so happy that I was able to experience this with Lara and deliver such a performance. That we finished so well ... Very emotional."
Holdener sings Gut-Behrami's praises: "Lara is a good role model for me. I can learn a lot from her. She knows what she wants and is good at making decisions."
Good decisions will also have to be made on Thursday. Then the two of them will be competing - again as individual athletes - in the World Championship giant slalom.
