“That was probably my saddest victory,” Vincent Kriechmayr was quoted by Swiss “Blick” before the Lauberhorn races. Exactly one year ago the Upper Austrian was whistled at the award ceremony in Wengen because he was only allowed to start thanks to a special permit from the FIS.
“The feeling of happiness that one normally has after such a success was taken away from me that day because the people in charge at the Swiss Ski Association made me feel really bad,” Kriechmayr recalls last year. “Biggest ski scandal -History “Back then, Kriechmayr only arrived in Wengen after the two official training sessions after his corona illness – and was therefore only allowed to start thanks to a special permit from the FIS. The Swiss ski fans didn’t like that at all.Kriechmayr: “But according to my information, no Swiss functionary protested at the official team captains’ meeting when I received this special permit from the FIS race management. Nobody said anything when I was twelfth in the shortened descent. But my victory in the original downhill was then called one of the biggest scandals in skiing history. That really hurt me.” And Kriechmayr admits that the matter has occupied him for a long time. “Back then, the preparation for the Hahnenkamm races really wasn’t ideal because I was repeatedly asked about Wengen there. But at some point I said to myself that I hadn’t done anything wrong. Everyone else would have driven in my situation if they had been given this permission.” Kriechmayr is playing poker this year This year, by the way, Kriechmayr is playing a little poker in Wengen. In the second training session for the Lauberhorn downhill he finished 26th. However, he slowed down a bit. In the middle section, however, the Upper Austrian was among the fastest. “I also observed the competition. Everyone is holding back, nobody wants to reveal anything. I think I uncovered the most anyway, especially in the middle section,” said Kriechmayr, who had just won the Super-G in Wengen last year without downhill training.
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