HEAD double victory in the Downhill in Wengen

The HEAD Worldcup Rebels celebrated a double victory in the Lauberhorn Downhill event in Wengen on Saturday: Vincent Kriechmayr from Austria won by 34 hundredths of a second ahead of Beat Feuz from Switzerland. Also on Saturday, Lara Gut-Behrami celebrated her 34th World Cup victory in the Downhill in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee. Ariane Rädler raced to her first World Cup podium, finishing third in the Super-G in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee on Sunday. There were more podium finishes for the HEAD team on Sunday in the Super-G with Corinne Suter in second place, on Friday in the Downhill with Beat Feuz in third place and on Thursday in the Super-G with Matthias Mayer also finishing third.

"We had to move up some of our athletes in the end, and then there was also the special situation with Vincent Kriechmayr. Winning first and second place in a classic like Wengen is a real highlight," emphasises HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "Now that we have one classic in the bag, we are fully motivated for the races in Kitzbühel. The lads are looking great. I think it's good that the jury gave Vincent Kriechmayr the go-ahead. Due to a lack of decision-making at official level, he was unable to take part in the final training run. For me, it was a decision for the athlete and for the sport. We may have situations like this at the Olympics as well, and again, the decision needs to be in the athlete's best interest."

"Ariane Rädler is a brilliant ski athlete"

"Lara Gut-Behrami is now fully fit again, and the Cortina event is coming up next. That's a race that really suits her style. Following her performance in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee she's looking very confident going into the next weekend," said Rainer Salzgeber. "Ariane Rädler is a brilliant ski athlete, and we will see a lot more from her. She started the race with bib number 2. That's not an easy place to start from. She had to really give it her all, and she did a great job. She has a couple of difficult years behind her and is now delivering very high performance consistently."

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"I really put my heart into it today"

For Vincent Kriechmayr it was his tenth World Cup victory, the second in Wengen following up from 2019. "I really put my heart into it today, gave it everything I had. Everyone has to find their own line through the Brüggli-S section of the run. For me that worked out great. The course has quite a different character when you ski it from the very top," said the Austrian, who was not able to compete in a training run due to Covid, but was given clearance to start at the last minute by the FIS. Just behind Kriechmayr, Beat Feuz crossed the finish line in second place in his 200th World Cup race, bagging a HEAD double victory on the World Cup's longest Downhill run. Matthias Mayer from Austria finished fifth, James Crawford from Canada 14th and Ryan Cochran-Siegle from USA 15th.

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Beat Feuz also podiumed in the first Downhill

In the first Downhill race on a shortened course on Friday, Beat Feuz also raced to the podium in third place. "It was a good run, but it wasn't perfect. I could have taken the Brüggli-S section a bit faster. It wasn't possible to try that out during the final training run. I also made a small mistake at the bottom end of the course. But it was a good run, and it's nice to be up with the leaders again," said the Swiss athlete, pleased with the result. In the same race, Matthias Mayer finished in sixth place, Ryan Cochran-Siegle was eighth, Vincent Kriechmayr twelfth and Johan Clarey of France 14th.

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Matthias Mayer finishes third in the Wengen Super-G

The race weekend in Wengen started on Thursday with a Super-G in which Matthias Mayer celebrated a podium finish in third place. "There are a few sections that you have to ski pretty much at the limit. That's where you can cut down your time. I attacked well and made sure I kept up the speed on every section," said the 31-year-old. James Crawford also had reason to be pleased, finishing in fifth place, his best World Cup result so far. Previously, the Canadian athlete was sixth in the Super-G in Kitzbühel in 2021. Josef Ferstl from Germany finished in sixth place and Vincent Kriechmayr was ninth. In the final Slalom event in Wengen on Sunday, Alexis Pinturault from France finished ninth, Albert Popov from Bulgaria was twelfth and Alexander Schmid from Germany finished in 14th place.

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Second victory this season for Lara Gut-Behrami

The women competed in Downhill and Super-G events in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee this weekend. In the Downhill on Saturday, Lara Gut-Behrami raced to her second victory of the season, her first in the Downhill. "The last two months have been anything but good. I'm glad I was able to get back into the rhythm now. I was able to ski at a high level for three days. I hope it stays like this now," the Swiss athlete explained at the finish. Her compatriot Corinne Suter finished in seventh place, Austrian athletes Christine Scheyer and Ariane Rädler finished tenth and eleventh and Elena Curtoni from Italy was 13th.

"Definitely the best day in my career"

Ariane Rädler snatched the first World Cup podium in her career when she finished in third place in the Super-G on Sunday. Fifth place in the Super-G in St. Moritz in December 2021 was the 26-year-old Austrian athlete's best result previously: "I was extremely nervous starting with bib number 2. My heart was racing. A dream has come true for me. Everything in the past has now been worthwhile. Luck was on my side today. So many people believed in me and supported me. I hope this podium will see me competing at the Olympics. That was my main goal at the start of the season. Today is definitely the best day in my career." Corinne Suter is also skiing better and better. The Swiss athlete finished second to bag her first Super-G podium this season. Also among the top ten were Elena Curtoni in eighth place and Lara Gut-Behrami, who finished tenth.