From Vinatzer to the Innerhofer posse: the tops and flops

TOP The weather: Anyone who wasn't there couldn't believe it: for 15 days - from February 5th to 19th - not a single cloud graced the blue sky over the Trois Vallées, the 3 ski valleys with Courchevel, Méribel and Val Thorens-Les Menuires. This made the work of the organizers led by FIS race directors Markus Waldner and Raimund Plancker extremely easy: the program ran smoothly, the piste conditions were perfect, and the atmosphere among helpers and athletes alike was perfect.

The French: They are proud, they are sometimes a bit rude, but they are nice and helpful. And educated: No matter whether you know them or not, everyone is greeted, morning and evening. And if you don't speak French, you can easily learn a little English.

The superstars: In 2021, this role was shared by Mathieu Faivre, Vincent Kriechmayr, Katharina Liensberger and Lara Gut-Behrami, who raked in gold several times. In 2023, as in 2019, the focus was on Mikaela Shiffrin with 1 gold and 2 silver, while in the men's race it was the exceptional Swiss rider Marco Odermatt. His “perfect ride” on the downhill goes down in skiing history, and he also won the expected giant slalom gold.

Marco Odermatt delivered. © APA/afp / LIONEL BONAVENTURE

Marco Schwarz: They are dying out, the all-rounders. Black is one of the remaining ones. With his World Cup medals 6 (silver combined) and 7 (bronze giant slalom), the 27-year-old Austrian has once again impressed, and what's more: in the downhill he missed bronze by 0,04 seconds in fourth place, in the super-G and in the He came sixth in the slalom.

The surprises: Anyone who had bet on James Crawford (Super-G), Maria Therese Tviberg (Parallel) and Laurence St-Germain (Slalom) as world champions would have gone home with a lot of money. And whoever sees a Greek (AJ Ginnis) winning silver in the men's slalom will immediately become a millionaire.

South Tyrolean trainers and service people: They are a long-running favorite in the ski circuit: the South Tyrolean trainers have won again. Luis Prenn and Roland Platzer (Swiss women), Daniel Dejori, David Fill and Agneta Platter (all Austria women) – their protégés all won medals. And then of course coaching legend Much Mair and Daniel Dorigo: They played a crucial role in Federica Brignone (combination) and Marta Bassino (super-G) winning gold.

Alex Vinatzer & Michael Mölgg: One is the athlete who won bronze in the slalom, the other is his service man and younger brother of former ski star Manni Mölgg. What Vinatzer conjured up in the snow on the last day of the World Cup was a real masterpiece. For the still only 23-year-old, it is the second World Cup medal after team event bronze in 2. And he also came fourth - in the 2019 slalom in Cortina.

Florian Schieder was one of the bright spots. © ANSA / Guillaume Horcajuelo

Tobias Kastlunger and Florian Schieder: If Kastlunger had predicted someone last November that he would compete in two World Championship races in February 2023, they would probably have called him crazy. Like Florian Schieder, the Enneberger is one of the new faces of South Tyrolean ski racing. Kastlunger came seventh in the combined and 15th in the slalom. Schieder was one hundredth unlucky in the downhill. He also achieved 7th place, just 0,20 seconds short of bronze. Strong World Cup debut!

Norway: The fact that this country continues to produce top athletes almost makes the competition shake their heads. With 9 medals at the end, the Scandinavians were the team with the most precious metal (behind Switzerland and Austria with 7 each). The Vikings' driving skills, mental strength and team spirit are exemplary.

Federica Brignone and Marta Bassino: The pressure was on, but they delivered! It wasn't top star Sofia Goggia who made the big headlines, but the other two great ski ladies from the “Azzurri”.

Flop Dominic Paris: It was a used World Championships for the Ultner: out of the Super-G and “only” eighth in the downhill – despite the difficult start to the season, those weren’t his expectations. In the Super-G he was on his way to winning precious metal, but survived a violent fall unscathed. The confidence of the best days was missing on the descent, which resulted in several small mistakes. Nevertheless, he was very close to bronze: only 0,24 missing.

The Innerhofer posse: Okay, it was agreed in advance that Christof Innerhofer would do the Super-G at the World Championships and Matteo Marsaglia would do the downhill. Because Inner drove outstandingly in the training sessions (1st and 2nd), it was astonishing that he was still left out. Of course that caused a stir. The FISI coaching staff will hopefully learn the lessons from this and send their athletes to qualifying in the future. Fighting against the clock is still the fairest solution.

Michelle Gisin: One could feel sorry for her: Having competed as a two-time Olympic champion and multiple World Cup medalist, this time she was miles away from precious metal. The low point was 28th place in the giant slalom, while in the slalom she didn't make it into the top 30 and left the finish area in a hurry and crying. The reason for the crash is probably mainly due to their change of material last summer (Rossignol to Salomon). Even their experienced service man Christian Gamper from Ulten was at his wits' end as a ski judge.

Austria: In 2021, Austria was by far the most successful ski country (5 titles, 1 silver, 2 bronze). This time Conny Hütter & Co. were hoarding a lot of medals - 7 in total - but they searched in vain for a gold one. The last time that the self-proclaimed ski nation number 1 did not have a world champion was in 1987 in Crans Montana. And: With 7 fourth places, the ÖSV was often dogged by bad luck.

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From Vinatzer to the Innerhofer posse: the tops and flops

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