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Henrik Kristoffersen lets off steam after crossing the finish line in Schladming.
Keystone
At the night spectacle in Schladming, the Norwegians are ahead for once in the giant slalom and celebrate a double victory. Henrik Kristoffersen makes people sit up and take notice with his cry of joy. Meanwhile, Marco Odermatt talks about luck that he would have preferred to save.
As Kristoffersen crosses the finish line, a huge weight obviously falls from his heart. "This is my house!", he shouts into the TV cameras. The Norwegian knows at this point that he is on the podium. However, victory ultimately goes to his team-mate Alexander Steen Olsen.
"This is my house" - that sounds familiar to some ski fans. Marco Odermatt cheered in exactly the same way after his winning run in the Lauberhorn downhill ten days ago. So was that a dig at Odermatt, who was ousted from the top spot by Kristoffersen after Odi's great race to catch up?
No. Rather, the 30-year-old needed to let off some steam after his bitter elimination in the Kitzbühel slalom and disappointments in the giant slaloms in Adelboden and Alta Badia. "I made mistakes in the last two giants. Today was a big step in the right direction," said a satisfied Kristoffersen to ORF after his 2nd place.
Odermatt himself unexpectedly makes it onto the podium after a weak first run. He improved from 12th place to 3rd place, finishing just one hundredth of a second ahead of Loïc Meillard. "I've probably never had as much luck as today," says Odermatt in an interview with SRF. "I would have preferred to save my luck for the World Championships when it comes to the medals, but of course I'm happy to take it."
Three days ago he went full throttle in the Kitzbühel downhill, now he had to find his rhythm again in the giant slalom. "It's not always easy with the change of disciplines. You can't expect every run to be perfect," explains Odermatt.
He continues: "In the first run, the ski didn't do what I wanted it to. I managed it better in the second run by changing and also adjusting my mindset." He himself had not expected that there would be a big catch-up race like last year. "It was a good reaction."
One man's joy is another man's sorrow. Loïc Meillard, the leader after the first run, only finished in fourth place in the end and is upset: "Missing out on the podium by one hundredth is just annoying. The frustration is huge. You can spend a long time looking for where the problems were, but it's no use."
However, Meillard already has the chance to react on Wednesday. Then the legendary night slalom is on the program in Schladming. For Kristoffersen, it is also the chance to finally make the Planai "his home" again. After all, he has already won the night slalom here four times, although the last time was in 2020.
