With this training, Vincent Kriechmayr tricked his way to the Lauberhorn victory

It was exactly 10.44 a.m. when Vincent Kriechmayr catapulted himself out of the Wengen start house on Friday morning – and swung back three meters later. It is perhaps the strangest scene of the ski season so far, which at the same time has a stale aftertaste.

Because a good 26 hours later, the Austrian shows an amazing run on the Lauberhorn descent and wins the longest descent in the world for the second time after 2019. The fact that Kriechmayr is at the start on Saturday, just like on Friday, is due to that mini training run from Thursday – and a special permit from the FIS.

“Of course I understand that discussions are now arising,” explains Kriechmayr in an interview with SRF after the race. “I wasn’t optimally prepared. That’s why I had the now-more than ever mentality at the start today.” He is very grateful that he was allowed to start in Wengen. “I was sitting at home in top shape, but I shouldn’t have been allowed to drive,” said Kriechmayr.

There will be more such cases, in which hopefully a similar decision will now be made, the Austrian explained. “The opinions of my ski colleagues like Beat Feuz or Marco Odermatt are more important to me personally than other opinions,” said the visibly emotional Kriechmayr. “They understood that I was starting today, they thought it was good and fair.” He didn’t decide to start. “The only thing that matters to me is what the other athletes find.” The Lauberhorn winner told ORF: “Of course, such a decision is easier when it comes to a name like me or Beat Feuz. It may well be that the FIS is more likely to move.” Ultimately, however, you have to look at the drivers. “It cannot be that an athlete is in top form at home.”

“Of course he had fresher legs than all of us,” admitted second-placed Beat Feuz. “On the other hand, you have to see that not many drivers can do such a strong ride on this track without proper training.”

Actually, the 30-year-old Kriechmayr would have missed the classic races in the Bernese Oberland due to Corona. After a negative test, he was allowed to leave the quarantine early and arrived in Wengen late on Wednesday evening. Actually too late, because the double world champion from 2021 missed both training sessions and would not have been allowed to start for the two descents.

But the International Ski Association once turned a blind eye to him. As an exception, it would be enough if Kriechmayr did a short training run on Friday morning before the official track inspection of the athletes at 10.45 a.m. He doesn’t have to contest this completely, it would be enough if the Austrian just drove out of the starting gate for a moment. This is how Kriechmayr’s alibi training ride came about.

Switzerland and France, among others, lodged unsuccessful protests on Thursday. On Friday, Walter Reusser, Alpine boss of Swiss-Ski, was beside himself with the special treatment of Kriechmayr. “I feel like in kindergarten,” said Reusser to 20 minutes. “That’s a cheek!”

The anger of the Alpin boss was directed exclusively at the association; He would not blame Kriechmayr himself. “If he wins a descent, I’ll be happy for him. After all, he was the best on the mountain, »explained Reusser. It is questionable whether the Swiss team would still see it that way on Saturday, after Kriechmayr of all people snatched Beat Feuz’s fourth overall victory from under his nose.

Even after the Austrian’s victory on Saturday, Reusser was still angry. In an interview with the Tamedia newspapers, he said: “Kriechmayr was the best on the mountain, I take my hat off to that. It wasn’t easy for him, everyone actually knew that the decision was completely unfair. He, too. But it’s like this: I’m still ugly because of it. And proud of the fact that my people perform without trickery, are open and honest and stick to the regulations. »

There is no bad blood between the Swiss and the Austrians, Reusser continued. “It’s not primarily the fault of the Austrians, they were just clever and let their network play to get their athletes to start.” On the other hand, the 45-year-old was angry at the World Ski Federation: “But the FIS failed completely. Kriechmayr received special training so that he could start. If you bend everything to fit certain people, that’s just not okay.”