South Tyroleans in Kitzbühel: Between anger and pride

The South Tyrolean speed elite displayed a range of emotions after the Kitzbühel Super-G. Florian Schieder, Christof Innerhofer, Dominik Paris, and Max Perathoner answered questions.

23 January 2026

From Kitzbühel

From:
Christoph Niederkofler

Up until the Hausbergkante, everything was still possible for Florian Schieder. At the third split time, the Kastelruth native was only 0,25 seconds behind. the eventual winner Marco OdermattStarting with the high bib number 49, he not only came close to his first career top-10 finish in the Super-G, but even to a sensational podium. However, the following jump went wrong and Schieder crashed. The good news is that the 30-year-old escaped the incident unharmed.

"I got slightly thrown off at the Hausberg edge, which is why I had such a high air height. I never would have imagined that I would ever have problems with a jump," Schieder later told the newspaper. SportNews"I arrived on one foot and had to go into the snow."

Schieder: "A great feeling from the very first corner"

In the preceding sections, the South Tyrolean found his much-discussed flow. "I had a great feeling from the very first turn, the slope was in perfect condition, the skis were fantastic," he raved. The fateful meters before his fall had somewhat surprised him. "That section was much more direct than I had anticipated. Once the frustration subsides, the good feeling I have right now will definitely prevail again."

"I would love to go back up right now." Florian Schieder

At best, he can translate that into a top finish in Saturday's downhill race. He twice finished second on the Streif in 2023 and 2024; as they say, third time's the charm. "I'd love to be back up there again right now," Schieder said, clearly motivated.

Innerhofer: “Hats off to their courage”

Christof Innerhofer likely had a similar feeling. The 41-year-old from Gais finished tenth in the Super-G, a result he was satisfied with. "I pushed hard at the top, but then, like last year, I went too far left on the Hausberg," he explained. "That gets me into trouble because I'm not carrying enough direction through the bump. That's how you get hit with the full force of the compression."

Christof Innerhofer achieved another top placement. © pentaphoto

The veteran skier, who was entered in a Kitzbühel race for the 49th time in his career, also emphasized his approach: "Hats off to the courage I brought to the slopes, to the willingness to take risks. With a perfect run, I'm six-tenths of a second faster." Dominik Paris was considerably more succinct after his eighth-place finish. "What's the point of saying much? There's always something," he said. "It's not good enough like this. The slope is so easy, everyone's giving 150 percent. There are no particular difficulties. A win is impossible if you make mistakes."

Perathoner and his “wonderful day”

Max Perathoner headed to the interview with a smile. The 23-year-old from Val Gardena finished in the points (28th) in his debut on the Streif – his second such result in his still young career. "A wonderful day," he summarized his run on what is arguably the most famous slope in the world. "A huge crowd, so many people you can hear all the way to the starting gate. Seeing so many people at the finish – I've only ever experienced that here."

Max Perathoner at the World Cup in Kitzbühel. © ANSA / ANNA SZILAGYI

In front of his family, Perathoner conquered legendary sections like Seidlalm, Lärchenschuss, Hausbergkante, and Traverse. How did he approach this unprecedented challenge? "I didn't want to invent anything, just stick to the line and push myself to take a certain risk," he explained. "I think I did pretty well from the Hausbergkante onwards. I really messed up the first section, I realized that immediately. But from the Hausbergkante onwards, it worked perfectly."