Alex Vinatzer is having a difficult time in the slalom. © APA / ERWIN SCHERIAU

Disqualified: Madonna's Vinatzer drama

This season, the night slalom in Madonna di Campiglio will take place not at the end of December, but at the beginning of January. And in the first run, there was a tragic figure in Alex Vinatzer.

08 January 2025

From: det

When Alex Vinatzer spoke about slalom in recent weeks, one word kept cropping up: love/hate. Dancing in the forest of poles is actually the Val Gardena native's speciality, but things have been going wrong for a few months now. While he's been delivering top results in giant slalom, things are just not going well in slalom. And now Vinatzer is also being plagued by bad luck, as he was on Wednesday in the first run in Madonna di Campiglio.

Finally, the Ladinian was back among the best with a brave, fast turn. “Vinni” mastered the first section on the “3-Tre” faster than anyone else in the field, and even after that the 25-year-old was on course for a top 5 finish.

Vinatzer was very strong for a long time.

But shortly before the finish, Vinatzer had a mishap: He approached a gate too directly and not only lost a lot of speed, but also a lot of time. Nevertheless, the 2,07 second deficit would easily have been enough for the second run (around 20th place) - if the bitter news hadn't come in the finish area: Vinatzer was disqualified. In his mistake, he not only touched a gate post, but also got tangled up. That meant the race was already over for the 2023 World Championship bronze medalist.

+++ Click here for the race report +++

For South Tyrol's skiing hopeful, it was the third failure in five slaloms this season. Nevertheless, Vinatzer proved on Wednesday that he can keep up with the fastest in the world. After the disqualification, the Ladinian was already looking ahead. "On Saturday, the slalom will take place in Adelboden, which is a new opportunity for me," he said in an interview with Raisport.

Bulgarian causes sensation, debacle for Italy

The big show on Wednesday was provided by the Bulgarian underdog Albert Popov, who celebrated a sensational victory (click here for the report). Italy, on the other hand, experienced a home race to forget. In addition to Vinatzer, Tobias Kastlunger (37th) and Simon Maurberger (38th) also missed out on the second round. Stefano Gross was the only Azzurro to take part in the deciding round, but did not manage to get past 21st place.