Stefan Rogentin is considered a hot medal candidate in the super-G in Saalbach on Friday. One day before the race, however, he has to qualify for the World Championship downhill. The 30-year-old is not very enthusiastic about this.
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- The men's super-G takes place on Friday at the World Ski Championships in Saalbach and Stefan Rogentin is considered a hot medal candidate.
- Rogentin, however, has to start qualifying for the World Championship downhill on Thursday and, unlike his direct competitors, cannot save any energy. Unsurprisingly, the 30-year-old is not enthusiastic about this.
- Beat Feuz shows understanding for Rogentin's concerns, but at the same time gives him hope.
Stefan Rogentin is the third-best super-G skier in the World Cup this winter. Only high-flyers Marco Odermatt and Vincent Kriechmayr have scored more points in this discipline so far. And so Rogentin is considered a hot candidate for a medal in the World Championship Super-G on Friday.
Compared to Odermatt and Kriechmayr, however, Rogentin has the disadvantage of not yet being seeded for the World Championship downhill on Sunday. This has been decided by the Swiss-Ski officials. Rogentin will have to line up for qualification in the second downhill training session on Thursday and fight against team-mates Marco Kohler and Lars Rösti for the last Swiss starting place.
The energy-sapping program
Saving energy is therefore no longer an option on Wednesday. "If you have to do the qualifying in the second training session, then you have to see how it works in the first training session," Rogentin makes clear in the SRF interview. "You also need energy again, which others are naturally saving now."
Rogentin doesn't want to complain too much. But he is clear: "Qualifying before the Super-G - when I'm number 2 in Switzerland and number 3 in the world - is not good for me personally from a tactical point of view. But I don't make the decision, I just have to accept it in the end."
In view of the busy World Championship program, the downhill qualifier on Thursday is certainly not an advantage for the Swiss. "There's another race on Friday. Saturday would be the third downhill training session - and then there's another race on Sunday," says Rogentin. "That's actually five days of racing. That's why you have to make sure you don't need too much energy and manage it well."
A good omen?
Beat Feuz can understand the medal hopeful's thoughts. "I understand both views - the athlete's view, but also the association's view. We have a luxury problem," emphasizes the SRF expert. "What would the other two say if you put Rogentin in fifth place? It's a difficult topic."
But Feuz gives Rogentin hope. "There have often been qualifiers - and sometimes it hasn't hurt," says the 37-year-old, who knows this from his own experience at the 2015 World Championships. Back then, a certain Patrick Küng also had to qualify for the World Championship downhill in Beaver Creek - and ultimately became World Champion ahead of bronze medallist Feuz.
