Self-irony: French woman takes breakdown with humor

Katharina Huber's fall in front of the first gate was not the only strange incident of the weekend in Semmering. A Frenchwoman was responsible for that.

30 December 2024

From: do

The Women’s World Cup had a lot to offer this weekend in Semmering: The sensational Slalom victory by Zrinka Ljutic and the Triumph of Federica Brignone in the giant slalom on Saturday were absolute highlights. The headlines were also made by the Starthaus breakdown by Katharina Huber and the bitter injury of Andrea EllenbergerAnother curiosity was initially somewhat overlooked – that of Clara Direz.

The Frenchwoman qualified for the second round of the giant slalom in Semmering with a solid first run and also showed a decent performance there. The mishap, however, occurred after the finish line: Direz, who stretched forward to trigger the timing as early as possible, completely lost her balance and landed roughly in the snow. What initially looked dramatic, the likeable Frenchwoman took with humor.

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A post shared by Clara Direz (@clara.direz)

She shared the video of her mishap on social media and commented on a self-deprecating note: "Chapter 3 of the Ski Book: Stretching out your hand at the finish line is pointless and won't help you make up 2,56 seconds. My head took a hit, it hurts a bit all over today, but overall I'm fine. Luckily the helmet did its job as a helmet."

Direz suffered no serious injuries and finished the race in 26th place – fortunately, her fall only happened after the finish line.

Keywords Winter sports Alpine skiing Clara Direz Semmering Giant slalom