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The first half of this World Cup winter is history. And at first glance, the Swiss men’s team’s halftime record looks brilliant. In 21 races, head coach Tom Stauffer’s team achieved eight victories and a total of 15 podium finishes.
But upon closer analysis it becomes clear that without the exceptional athlete Marco Odermatt (26) we would have little reason to celebrate. The superstar from Lake Lucerne gave us 14 podium places this season. Besides the towering Odermatt, only one Swiss has reached the podium in recent months: Daniel Yule (30) from Valais in third place in the Kitzbüheler Slalom.
If you subtract Odermatt’s 1256 points in the Men’s Nations Cup, we are no longer first, but third behind Austria and France.
Memories of Austria
This reminds some skeptics of Austria in the era of Marcel Hirscher (34). Because the player from Salzburg achieved a series of victories in the giant and slalom between 2012 and 2019, almost no one noticed that there was a big gap at the ÖSV behind the eight-time overall World Cup winner. The rude awakening came after Hirscher’s surprising dismissal five years ago: in the 2019/20 giant slalom season, no Austrian made it into the top 5.
Fortunately, Swiss-Ski has a head coach in Stauffer who is so down-to-earth that he will not be blinded by Odermatt’s brilliant performances. And Alpine boss Hans Flatscher also correctly assesses the current situation in the ski country: “Apart from Odermatt, the results of our men’s team do not match the potential and expectations. And it is very clear that we expect a little more from some athletes in the second half of the season.”
The problems of Meillard and Zenhäuser
Last winter, in addition to Odermatt and Yule, Loïc Meillard (27, four times), Ramon Zenhäuser (21, three times), Niels Hintermann (28, once), Stefan Rogentin (29, once) and Gino Caviezel (31, once ) ) also shone with top performances -3 placements. This was also expected this year, especially from Meillard and Zenhäuser. “But with Loïc the biggest problem was that his binding broke open twice in the giant slalom with very good splits without him doing anything wrong. After such incidents it simply takes a few races before confidence is completely restored. And with Ramon it becomes clear again that slalom is a mental discipline. Ramon has the necessary basic speed, but at the moment he can never quite reach the finish line.
Hope for the future
But Flatscher thinks it’s only a matter of time before these athletes greet you from the podium again. The Alpine boss also points to the positive development of his young guard. “Alexis Monney, Franjo von Allmen, Arnaud Boisset and Sandro Zurbrügg have already indicated several times this winter that they will not need too much time to reach the top.”
It is also gratifying that former giant slalom specialist Justin Murisier (32) has already placed in the top 5 in speed races twice. Also that ten Swiss were in the top 30 in the Super-G in Bormio during New Year’s Eve week.
Two more Super-G races are scheduled for this weekend in Garmisch. It is quite possible that thanks to Odermatt we can cheer again.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
