Berlin – Ski racer Dominik Schwaiger threw his arms up and let his emotions run free. “I had a great feeling and fought to the goal,” reported the 30-year-old German on ARD after he raced to fifth in a Downhill World Cup in Bormio for the first time on Tuesday. With the best speed result in his career, the sports soldier from WSV Königssee cracked the national Olympic standard for the Winter Games in Beijing in February. “Simply great, although I messed up a bit upstairs,” said Schwaiger.
The victory on the brutally steep and enormously feared Stelvio slope once again went to Dominik Paris from South Tyrol. The Italian was at the top of the podium in Bormio for the seventh time in his career – for the sixth time in the downhill. The Swiss overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt came in second, 0.24 seconds back, followed by compatriot Niels Hintermann (+0.80).
The other German starters had no chance on the icy and restless slope. Josef Ferstl came in 16th, the World Cup runners-up Romed Baumann and Andreas Sander took 22nd and 28th. “I don’t really know what to do here. It’s difficult for me, ”said Sander, who had always struggled in Bormio. The relationship with the notorious slope is now “a lot worse”. Simon Jocher retired after a driving error.
Thanks to Schwaiger’s notable success, all German athletes from the five-man speed team have now met the standard for the Winter Games. However, there are only four starting places per event. “Then we just do Schnick, Schnack, Schnuck who goes along,” joked Schwaiger.