NOVINKY

The first two ski races of the 21/22 season took place in Sölden this weekend. Right at the beginning, one of the most difficult giant slaloms of the entire season. On Saturday, the women´s race took place, followed on Sunday by the men´s. In bright sunshine and, above all, finally in front of spectators again, the two races happened. On site was also LEKI race director Hans-Peter Kummer:

"The atmosphere in Sölden was great, there were especially a lot of young spectators. The piste was smooth but still had good grip - perfect conditions for our athletes. As the glacier melts more and more, the race track changes. The steep slope is getting steeper and steeper, and at the bottom it is getting flatter and flatter. That's why the transition to the flat is now the absolute key point. If you make a lot of speed here, you can really profit at the bottom. All in all, a great race weekend for LEKI and an amazing start!"

Duel between Shiffrin and Gut-Behrami

The women's race on Saturday developed into a duel between Mikaela Shiffrin and Lara Gut-Behrami, who raced in a league of their own. After the first run, Gut-Behrami led by just two hundredths of a second ahead of Shiffrin. But with the fastest time in the second run, Mikaela Shiffrin was able to take the victory ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami. After 2014 the second opening victory in Sölden for her. Gut-Behrami missed the third triumph in Sölden, but was also very satisfied with second place. Katharina Liensberger, Meta Hrovat, Valerie Grenier, Tessa Worley, Nina O Brien and Ramona Siebenhofer also finished in the top ten.

Odermatt from third to first place

The men's race was a little tighter than the women´s race. The top 12 were all within a second. The fastest? Marco Odermatt. Whenever his coach put in the second run, he won the race. Also, in this case. After the third-best run time in round one, Odermatt raced to the top in the second run and took home his fifth World Cup victory. Also top ten finishers were Zan Kranjec, Gino Caviezel, Alexis Pinturault, Luca de Aliprandini and Filip Zubcic.

Focus on the Olympic Games

Since the first World Cup race always takes place quite early at the end of October, it remains to be seen how the athletes will develop over the course of the season. The big goal: a medal at the Olympic Games in February in Beijing. "The challenge will be to reach the absolute peak of performance in February, because for most athletes the focus is clearly on the Olympics. It will be seen who manages to keep a constant form throughout the whole winter. But what has also been shown in the past: starting the season with a win is rarely wrong," explains the LEKI racing director.