They are one heart and one soul, they practically only come in pairs. It's only logical that Dario and Ladina Caviezel should perform in the same way at their home World Championships. The snowboard couple becomes a leather couple.
20.03.2025, 20:15
SDA
There's hardly anything Dario and Ladina Caviezel don't do together. Yes, the two alpine snowboarders have sought and found each other. Professionally and privately, everything now overlaps. They have been married since last summer, clearly happy, and since then they have referred to and marketed themselves as a snowboard couple.
On Thursday, the 29-year-old from Graubünden and the two-year-old from St. Gallen, who moved from the canton of Glarus when she was a child, added another chapter to their special liaison, which fits perfectly into their joint story. At the home World Championships in the Engadin, the biggest career highlight alongside the Olympic Games, they both sniffed at a medal - and both ended up in fourth place.
Still proud
Anyone who thought that the Caviezels, who have been extremely successful in the past and have already won World Championship medals, would leave the finish area as annoyed as their team-mate Julie Zogg, who made no secret of her disappointment after the quarter-final exit, was very much mistaken. Both knew how close they had come to a medal. But they also knew that such a medal was not to be expected after a difficult season. Accordingly, they took some positives from their bitter 4th place.
"I felt good, the qualification was great, I skied well in the round of 16 and quarter-final, and I was also doing well in the semi-final until that mistake. I think I deserved the medal," said Dario Caviezel on the one hand. On the other hand, he said: "People are always talking about this medal. Of course I wanted it. But somewhere along the line I'm also extremely proud of my performance. Why should I be downhearted? I think we did a good job of promoting ourselves and put on a good show." He had invested a lot to be able to perform like that, including in the material. "That's why it wasn't enough, but I'm still proud."
The fact that they have another chance in the parallel slalom on Saturday and that this joint 4th place was therefore not a missed 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' will of course help them to come to terms with the situation. And the passionate hobby painter took the fact that the snowboard couple was referred to as the leather couple on Thursday with humor: "Leather couple or 'chocolate' couple, whatever," he said with a laugh.
Ladina Caviezel, known as a guarantee for winning small finals, also knew how to classify her bittersweet 4th place: "Of course the disappointment is huge at the moment. But if I look at the whole season, that was certainly one of my best races. And at my home World Championships. From that point of view, I have to be satisfied."
Julie Zogg as a contrast
Back to Julie Zogg: The 32-year-old from Mels, also known as a model professional, had actually started the parallel giant slalom as the strongest Swiss trump card. The 2019 and 2023 slalom world champion has collected four podium places in the World Cup this season, the last two in the giant slalom. Although that's fewer than in her most successful years, when she was number 1 on the scene, Zogg felt ready for great things once again after complicated months with plenty of equipment problems, not least because she hired her own private serviceman for the home World Championships.
But in what was probably her last World Championship parallel giant slalom - as things stand, Zogg is set to retire after next winter's Olympic Games in northern Italy - all hopes were dashed in the quarter-finals. "I'm here to win a medal, not to 'cucumber' behind or just be a bit in front," said Zogg briefly and walked away.
