At the finish of the World Championship giant slalom, Alexander Schmid states that he missed his goal for the day. After gold in the parallel event, this time the competition overtakes him. Marco Odermatt wins his second title at this World Ski Championships, silver also goes to Switzerland.
The ski poles gave Alexander Schmid support when, two days after winning the World Championship in the parallel competition, he weakly explained his disappointing performance in the giant slalom. "The last two days have been incredibly stressful. Nice stress, but I'm just not used to all the hustle and bustle," said the man from the Allgäu and took a deep breath. After his sensational victory on Wednesday, he only found peace on his physio's treatment bench, Schmid reported after 15th place.
The technology specialist lacked liveliness in his parade discipline. The 28-year-old reacted instead of acting on the ice-covered bald head in Courchevel. He was 3.19 seconds behind Swiss high-flyer and Olympic champion Marco Odermatt, who celebrated his second title in France after triumphing in the downhill. "Wednesday was my day, today wasn't," Schmid summed up the race aptly.
The voice of the introverted athlete from SC Fischen was barely audible over the noise of the cowbells from the Swiss fans. Because nobody was stronger than Marco Odermatt in the duel with the nasty slope, condemned by ARD expert Felix Neureuther as a "glass plate". The Swiss wonder boy, initially placed second, managed a strong final run, 0.32 seconds ahead of his teammate Loic Meillard. Marco Schwarz from Austria gambled away his comfortable half-time lead but saved bronze. The second German starter Fabian Gratz dropped out in the second round.
Despite his criticism of the slope, not only Neureuther saw a "worthy" world champion in Odermatt. "The guys, there's only every 100 years, we'll have a lot of fun with him," he said enthusiastically. Odermatt joins the ranks of the greats: only Toni Sailer, Zeno Colo, Jean-Claude Killy and Aksel Lund Svindal had previously managed the World Championship double consisting of downhill and giant slalom. "It's not quite the big emotions like after the descent, but it still feels incredible," said the 25-year-old.
Schmid was certainly not the favorite for the gold medal. Nevertheless, after five runs in the top ten in the World Cup giant slalom this winter, the Bavarian had reckoned with a chance of a podium. "I also had goals today, but I just didn't achieve them," said the German self-critically.
The slope "L'Eclipse" (darkness) turned into a kind of ice skating rink. Ice skates would probably have been a more appropriate tool on the feet. "I had a hard time with the surface. We don't have these icy conditions that often throughout the season," said Schmid, describing the circumstances as a "big challenge".
The next few days will also be challenging. The world champion doesn't have much time to regenerate. Schmid wants to start in the slalom at the end of the World Cup on Sunday, after which he will return home to Oberstdorf. A reception for the city's new hero is planned for Monday.
And on Tuesday, the technology squad is already leaving for California. The next World Cup races are coming up in a week. As world champion, Schmid will be in focus again - and seek rest on his physio's treatment bench.
