“You are world champion”: Gold for Liensberger in the interview

Katharina Liensberger was in the middle of her remarks to representatives of national print media when suddenly a hectic atmosphere broke out. “It is ex aequo gold, it has just been confirmed,” said ÖSV press spokeswoman Manuela Riegler. "What??? Naaaa!” Liensberger shouted her joy. Women's racing director Christian Mitter confirmed over the radio: "You are world champion."

For minutes in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Liensberger could hardly believe her luck. "Oh God! Oh my God! That's super cool! I don’t even know what to say.” She kept bursting out laughing, in between falling to her knees. “I don't really know what I'm doing right now.” Riegler, a former snowboard world champion herself, felt no different. “It’s just brilliant,” said Liensberger, slowly becoming more composed. “I can’t believe it right now, but it’s really true and I’m really happy.”

Liensberger shows her gold medal. © APA / EXPA/JOHANN GRODER

>>> Here you can find the detailed race report

The Vorarlberg woman had just subsequently achieved an ex aequo victory in the world championship parallel singles. After the second run of the final, she crossed the finish line at the same time as her opponent Marta Bassino on Tuesday, but only the Italian was recognized as the gold winner by the timing system. The ÖSV coaches and sports director Anton Giger didn't like it at all. “I thought it would fit like a glove. We’ve already had a season behind us where it would have fit in perfectly,” Mitter said afterwards. ÖSV gives the FIS the decisive information “We already discussed on the course that the rule that the faster one wins from the second run is actually crazy,” said the Styrian. Giger then made the decisive discovery in the rule book. “We had to take a look. Thank God Toni found it, then it worked.”

The rule is clear: “There are ex aequo for third and first place. It's not like that in the preliminary rounds because you can't do it again. But then, when the race is over, there are ex aequo placements, just like in a Super-G,” said Mitter. The ÖSV then instructed FIS employee Mike Curtis to “please do some research because it says so in the regulations.” This is actually stated in the FIS manual for parallel races, point 5. The FIS officially changed the result.

“I think a few questions from before are now unnecessary,” Liensberger continued her interview after a few minutes. “Winning a gold medal is something very special. It's really a dream that came true today." The situation is unreal, but "gold is really what glitters," said the 23-year-old. “We will celebrate what is possible and just enjoy the moment. But tomorrow is the next competition.”

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“You are world champion”: Gold for Liensberger in the interview

There has probably never been such a hullabaloo in the history of the World Ski Championships.

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