In a good mood: Dominik Paris after the Val Gardena Super-G. © det

The next Val Gardena show? Dominik Paris attacks

A year ago, Dominik Paris celebrated one of the most beautiful victories of his career in Val Gardena. Will another fairytale follow from the Ultner on Saturday?

21 December 2024

From St. Christina

South Tyrolean ski fans particularly like to remember December 16, 2023. Back then, a year ago, Dominik Paris rocked the infamous Saslong downhill run in Val Gardena and took his first World Cup victory on South Tyrolean soil in front of 12.000 frenetic fans. It was a highlight in the career of the Ultner, who has already celebrated so many outstanding triumphs in his life.

One thing is clear: Dominik Paris will also be in the downhill on Saturday (from 11.45 am/SportNews-Liveticker) has a very hot iron in the fire. The South Tyrolean superstar showed his strong form on Friday in the Super-G, which he finished in 10th place. In front of 5200 spectators, he might even have made it onto the podium if the 35-year-old had not made a mistake on the way to the Ciaslat meadows, which cost him a lot of time. "That was the coup de grace," he said after the race.

Dominik Paris is one of the hottest candidates for the downhill. © APA/afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

The conditions in Val Gardena were not easy, after all it had snowed a few centimetres during the night. "It was a strange feeling because you didn't quite understand whether you had skied well or badly," Paris analysed. Nevertheless, the Ultner was not dissatisfied after the Super-G, which was also clear from his demeanor. "Domme" stayed in the finish area until the last runner, chatted with his colleagues, smiled and was in a good mood. A good sign with a view to the classic on Saturday.

“We always have fun as a team.” dominik paris

Paris was pleased with the Azzurri’s strong team result on Friday: Mattia Casse won the race, Pietro Zazzi (11th) and Nicolo Molteni (16th) achieved two good results. "The atmosphere in the team is really good, we always have fun. That's also one of the reasons why it's working out at the moment." Christof Innerhofer and Florian Schieder had a tough time with higher starting numbers and less than ideal weather conditions. They are putting everything on the downhill card. The big classic starts on Saturday at 11.45 a.m.

The most important starting numbers