Dominik Paris writes South Tyrolean ski history on the Saslong

Since February 14, 1969, ski races have been held on the Saslong as part of the World Cup. The classics on the more than 3300 meter long race track are the downhill and the Super-G, which have been held regularly in Val Gardena since 2002 (a Super-G was run on the Saslong for the first time in the 1983/84 season). But giant slaloms, slaloms and alpine combinations were also held in the South Tyrolean ski destination.

There have been several South Tyrolean podium finishes over the years, for example by Gustav Thöni, Herbert Plank, Werner Heel and Patrick Staudacher. The local ski fans had to wait until December 20, 2014 for a South Tyrolean to be on the podium in both races.

It was made possible by Dominik Paris, the reigning vice world champion in downhill, winner of three World Cup races (including on the Streif) and in the form of his life in early winter 2014: fourth, third, fourth, fifth, third and second. These are the placings of the 25-year-old from Ultimo in the first six races of the 2014/15 season. This has now brought Dominik Paris into third place in the overall World Cup, behind Kjetil Jansrud and the Austrian Marcel Hirscher.

Regarding his second podium within 24 hours at his home race in Val Gardena - after third place in the downhill on Friday, he came second in the Super-G on Saturday - Paris said: “It wasn't easy to find the right line because you didn't understand has where you can take risks and where you can't. But I managed to drive fast. A thank you again to the OC, because it was anything but easy to organize a ski race on a green meadow. Normally the Saslong is more of a highway with jumps. Not this year. The races on the Saslong were more difficult than ever before, we were challenged to the last,” explained the Ultner.

Kjetil Jansrud: “It’s almost a little scary”

The fact that the top performances in Paris are currently being overlooked is due to this year's dominator of the speed scene, the Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud. His record in the first six races of the season is almost perfect, with four wins and two second places.

“It's a great feeling to come down and see the green light flash on the scoreboard. You always want to win, you fight for it every day and you always attack. Somehow I managed to always be at the front this year. It's almost eerie and surrealistic. I also made a few small mistakes today, but they didn't turn into a big mistake. I'm in a good balance and the only thing I can analyze is that I'm currently skiing and that I'm probably doing it better than the others at the moment. It's just running on its own at the moment. Incredible."

Truly unbelievable. There's nothing more to add to that.

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Dominik Paris writes South Tyrolean ski history on the Saslong

The World Cup “classics” have been taking place on the Saslong since 1969. After 45 years, Dominik Paris has achieved a special feat: he was the first South Tyrolean to stand on the podium in both races.

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