In 2018 they won Olympic gold in the team competition, now they are in danger of missing the Winter Games. Daniel Yule and Ramon Zenhäusern have to bet everything on Kitzbühel.
20.01.2026, 05:01
20.01.2026, 07:36
SDA
"Frustrating." That's how Daniel Yule summed up the slalom in Wengen. A lot of things went well, he said, and he felt better on the skis. "But two mistakes cost me a lot." He missed out on the top 15 again by just a few hundredths, finishing 18th and still only fulfilling half of the selection criteria for the Olympic Games. This is not how he had imagined it.
In order to realize his Olympic dream, Yule decided to take a drastic step after last season. Because his development had stagnated, he changed supplier after 19 years with Fischer. However, it took longer than expected to get used to the new Atomic skis. "The skis have a different character. I underestimated that a little," says the man from Valais. "I find the Atomic skis more aggressive."
The problems are evident in certain situations on the slopes. Patterns developed over the years no longer work. "As soon as a difficulty arises, I resort to the 'Fischer solution', which doesn't work on the Atomic skis." Yule had to adapt his skiing style in individual passages and in certain snow conditions. Not an easy task at almost 33 years of age.
Zenhäusern's high quickly flattened out
Ramon Zenhäusern shows that a liberating blow does not have to be sustainable. In Adelboden, it still looked as if the 2018 Olympic slalom silver medallist had regained his footing. The next disappointment followed a week later in Wengen.
He had previously exuded confidence. Zenhäusern said at the media meeting on Saturday that he felt "tip-top". The 15th place in Adelboden, achieved thanks to a strong second run, had done him good. He won World Cup points for the second time this season. "I'm fit, healthy and hungry. And I'm looking forward to the start tomorrow," said the 33-year-old.
But in the race there was no sign of the easy-going Zenhäusern. He seemed tense and clearly missed the second run. "It's not funny when you can't find a recipe," he said afterwards on SRF. He is often good in training, but rarely in the race. While Yule cites the change of skis as the main reason, Zenhäusern has been at a loss for some time.
Kitzbühel as last hope
Four starting places are available to Swiss-Ski in the slalom, three skiers have fulfilled the selection criteria so far. Loïc Meillard was practically set as World Champion, and Tanguy Nef has proven his potential several times this season. Matthias Iten has made a name for himself with two superb rides in Val d'Isère and most recently in Wengen. The 26-year-old from Zug is now ahead of the two skiers from Valais, Yule and Zenhäusern, in the internal race. But the coaches have the last word.
In order to convince them, Yule and Zenhäusern need a similar exploit in Kitzbühel as Iten did in Wengen. Based on his past, Yule is more likely to achieve this. He won there twice (2020 and 2023) and also finished third on the podium twice (2018 and 2024). Zenhäusern, on the other hand, has "only" two 6th places from 2018 and 2019 as his best results.
But regardless of the statistics, both know that anyone who doesn't make it into the top 15 twice in eight races has only lost something to a limited extent at the Olympic Games.
