Mikaela Shiffrin also wins the fifth slalom of the World Cup winter in Semmering, but is allowed to inspect the course setting in the 2nd run longer than the competition - which is why Swiss-Ski is even considering a protest.
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- There is currently no way around Mikaela Shiffrin in the slalom. In Semmering, she takes her fifth victory in the fifth race of the season in this discipline.
- However, an irregularity before the second run triggers discussions. The jury changed the course slightly at short notice when most of the athletes had already completed their inspection.
- The exceptions: Dzenifera Germane and Mikaela Shiffrin, who are given an extra quarter of an hour for their inspection as a result. "This has given them an advantage," explains Swiss women's head coach Beat Tschuor.
The night slalom in Semmering provides material for discussion. On the one hand, due to the precarious slope conditions, which caused enormous time lags and a record-breaking drop-out rate in the first run. As many as 39 of a total of 79 racers were eliminated in the first run - including 16-year-old World Cup debutant Giada D'Antonio.
On the other hand, an irregularity during the inspection of the second run caused a stir, as the race jury decided to change the course setting slightly at short notice. At this point, most of the racers had already completed their inspection - with the exception of Dzenifera Germane and Mikaela Shiffrin.
According to media reports, it was Shiffrin of all people who complained about the passage in question and prompted the jury to rethink the course. Specifically, it was about a long turn into a hairpin, which the serial winner felt was too dangerous in the poor slope conditions.
Swiss head coach Tschuor considers protest
The result: unlike their competitors, Shiffirn and Dzenifera were given an extra quarter of an hour by the jury to inspect the course and thus also avoided disqualification, which is normally imposed for an excessively long inspection.
"I spoke to the jury after the race because we basically lose the race by 9 hundredths," women's head coach Beat Tschuor told SRF. "They gave these two athletes more inspection time and that gave them an advantage. I wanted to find out whether we should lodge a protest."
The officials then explained their actions to him in a comprehensible manner. "A protest would have been rejected," says Tschuor, who explains: "It was important for me to send a signal that this is not the way things should be and that it has to be fair for everyone. That even those who are on these committees know what is at stake and are aware of the consequences. I am clearly of the opinion that the races must be decided on the track."
