Raphael Haaser secured the second Austrian medal at the Ski World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. During the spectacular victory of the Swiss Marco Odermatt in the Super-G, the Tyrolean won silver on Friday, while the Norwegian Adrian Smiseth Sejersted (+1.15) took bronze. Odermatt was exactly one second ahead of Haaser. Vincent Kriechmayr (+1.20) finished in fourth place, Stefan Babinsky (+1.30) was sixth. Lukas Feurstein (+2.02) narrowly missed the top ten in his World Championship debut.

Haaser: "Solid Performance"

None of the four Austrians managed a flawless run on the course set by ÖSV speed coach Sepp Brunner - unlike Odermatt. Haaser could only keep up with the Swiss in the upper section. "After the middle station, I might have skied around the slope a bit too much, then before the Xandl jump, I was a bit too early on the inside ski, which caused my skis to split apart," he said. "But overall, it was a solid performance again."

Odermatt thus won a World Championship gold medal in his third discipline after his victories in downhill and giant slalom in 2023. The 27-year-old is the first Swiss Super-G world champion since Didier Cuche in 2009 in Val d'Isere. He succeeds the Canadian James Crawford, who had nothing to do with the decision this time and finished 3.41 seconds behind.

Not the First Medal at the Ski World Championships

For Haaser, it was the second World Championship medal after bronze in the combined event in 2023. The 27-year-old experienced a rollercoaster of emotions in Saalbach: The day before, his older sister Ricarda had severely injured her knee in the women's super-G. Her cruciate ligament tear has since been surgically treated in Hochrum, ending her season prematurely.

Kriechmayr missed the bronze medal by just five hundredths of a second. The Upper Austrian competed in his first race since his fall in Wengen, where he sustained a medial collateral ligament sprain in his right knee. "Fourth is always ungrateful, but it was simply not a good run," he said. "Of course, I would have liked to win a medal, but it is what it is. Then I just have to push in the downhill." The knee injury is "a minor thing, it doesn't affect me at all."

"Odi is Amazing"

Babinsky said he couldn't blame himself. "I set out to attack relentlessly, you have to be willing to take risks, even if mistakes happen. It was quite a cool run," said the Styrian. "Odi is amazing, utmost respect."

Norwegian Fredrik Möller finished in fifth place (+1.22), while South Tyrolean Dominik Paris was tied with American Ryan Cochran-Siegle (+1.31) for seventh. Among the other Swiss, Stefan Rogentin (+1.68) was the best, finishing ninth. The race passed by Franjo von Allmen (+2.05), and Alexis Monney did not finish. Canadian Cameron Alexander was not at the start, as he has been struggling with knee pain since his fall in the second downhill training on Thursday.

(APA/Red)

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