Kira Weidle looks helplessly at the slope. The new downhill world champion Jasmine Flury had done something better in Méribel. But what? Top favorite Sofia Goggia is also disappointed. She is disqualified and continues to wait for gold in the World Cup downhill.
A stone on the piste might not have been so bad for Kira Weidle's analysis this time. With this mishap, the German ski racer explained the poor performance at the start of her World Cup in the Super-G - on the descent she now looked in vain for reasons. The Starnberg woman let out a cry of astonishment, trudged helplessly from interview to interview and shrugged her shoulders again and again after her eighth place at the Alpine World Ski Championships in France.
"I can't explain why I lose so much in the upper part, where there's nothing in it," said the 26-year-old, who traveled to Méribel with great ambitions after winning the World Cup two years ago. Her gap to the surprise Swiss winner Jasmine Flury, who has only won one World Cup race in her career, was 0.61 seconds. Her tears caught up with her as victory was assured. Second was the Austrian Nina Ortlieb ahead of the Swiss title defender and Olympic champion Corinne Suter.
Weidle experienced the next disappointment after her 23rd place in the Super-G, when a stone on the piste demolished her ski and slowed her down. "Was it the sun or the wind?" - Weidle was still looking for explanations minutes after the race. "It's a shame because it's just not the result I wanted," said the native of Stuttgart.
Weidle wanted gold. With a healthy dose of "mercilessness and uncompromising" the speed specialist wanted to conquer the rock made of iron, as the "Roc de Fer" slope is translated. "Everything was right in terms of attitude and aggressiveness. It was really a good and committed ride," said the otherwise self-critical SC Starnberg athlete. It was 0.49 seconds short of third place.
The medal window was open more than a little. Because, of all things, Weidle's role model in terms of "attack and full throttle", the Italian gold favorite Sofia Goggia, slipped up. The 2018 Olympic champion threaded a gate and was disqualified. At least Goggia, the dominant downhill skier in recent years, was able to avoid a fall. "I'm sad because I didn't perform as well as I can," said the Italian on ZDF after arranging a goal on Saturday and being eliminated. After all, the 30-year-old was just able to prevent what could have been a serious fall.
Goggia has been the dominant downhill skier in the World Cup for years. She has won four of the previous six races of the season in this discipline. After gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang, she won silver at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. However, Goggia, who is known for her risky driving style, will have to wait a little longer for a World Championship medal in her flagship discipline. She missed her home game in Cortina d'Ampezzo two years ago due to injury.
"I actually thought I was in a good mood. It was about hundredths of a second," said Goggia after the surprising victory of Swiss Jasmine Flury in Méribel, France. "I'm disappointed. I gave everything. But that's life." Sometimes you think things are guaranteed, she said of the medal that all experts expected and ultimately missed: "But they aren't." For Weidle, the big event in Méribel ended without the hoped-for precious metal. Nevertheless, the descent made her feel positive. "In terms of skiing, that was where I want to go again. It just wasn't enough that day," she said. The search for the reasons initially continued.
