One Strobl After the Other
St. Anton, Austria
February 13, 2000
 
Men's Super G
Today, for the second time in the history of the World Cup, two racers shared a super G victory. So this double win in St. Anton, on the final part of the new "Karl Schranz" downhill course to be used next year at the coming FIS Ski World Championships, won't be a first in the history books.
 
 
Fritz Strobl
 
But it is the first win for 27-year-old Werner Franz, who has accumulated an impressive series of 15 second and third places in the past eight years of World Cup racing. And it might be the first time that racers with the same last name have won back-to-back races. Josef Strobl (no relation to Fritz) won yesterday's super G.
 
Franz shares his first gold with his long-time teammate and companion Fritz Strobl, who has won four downhill races in his career, including the Kitzbühel downhill three weeks ago. Fritz Strobl missed the podium yesterday by only a few hundredths of a second.
 
"I only lost half of a second on the winner in the first race here and I knew that I can ski better," said Strobl.
 
"My trainer told me to take a low start number and to be more aggressive — he was right," he added. "The course was still in good shape and I could attack the course the way I wanted. It's a great feeling to do so well on such a tough slope. I was an excellent super G skier when I entered the team in 1996, but then I focused more on the downhill races after winning three races during the 1996-'97 winter. I was also 3rd in December 1998 at Innsbruck."
 
Werner Franz was happy to share his first success with his good pal, who he's known for a long time. "We are the same age and we already competed against each other in school races," he said. "He won his first downhill at Val d'Isère, beating me by only 2/100 of a second. The Austrian downhill team worked hard last summer with the new trainer, Robert Trenkwalder, and we have dramatically improved our technique in the turns. We are very motivated and there is a stimulating competition between us and the super G/GS team."
 
"My trainer told me to take a low start number and to be more aggressive — he was right...." — Fritz Strobl (AUT)
 
Said Strobl, "I'm happy to share this success with Fritz — it's a double joy in a way for us!"
 
After an average run down the mountain, Hermann Maier had to be content with 3rd place. Falling on the course yesterday, Maier failed to finish a super G for the first time in his career. Prior to that, he had only lost three super G races since November 1997. Despite this current slump, Maier says he still hopes to be able to set a new record of points in the Overall World Cup before the last race at Bormio.
 
Sweden's Fredrik Nyberg moved up from his 5th-place finish yesterday to 4th place today, while Switzerland's Dicier Cuche and Austria's Stephan Eberharter, 2nd and 3rd on Saturday, finished 5th and 8th this time. Eberharter finished right behind Norway's Kjetil Aamodt, who is slowly recovering from the flu.
 
American Daron Rahlves, who skied out of the course yesterday, reached a solid 12th place this time, but none of his teammates were able to score points. Rahlves, who fought back after his disappointing disqualification Saturday, says this results is a great boost for him.
 
"I can build up my confidence with this 12th place - this is really one of the toughest super G hills on the road and you need to be really strong to make it among the top 15," he said. "The course was less slick that Saturday, but still very rough for guys starting in the back. With this result, I'm part of the first group which is always very important. But I aim for more — to be on the podium, too."
 
 
Hermann Maier clocked the same fast intermediate times as his teammates and seemed able to take a sweet revenge after Saturday's incident. But he made a huge mistake at the last jump before the finish line. Luckily, he managed to stay on his feet, but he finished with a delay of 26/100 of a second on the leaders. He was more upset after today's race than he was on Saturday, after skiing out of the upper part of the course.
 
"I raced like a chicken today, I was afraid to ski out again and I didn't not dare to attack the course, as I'm used to," he said. "The visibility was not the best, too. I should have taken a lower number today, too — it was snowing harder when I started and the course was already rough. But this was not the main problem today, I normally handle such kinds of conditions well. I was not aggressive enough, because I felt insecure after my problems from yesterday and I was not focused enough. I badly wanted to win here in Austrian and I tried too hard on the first day."
 
 
FranzThe "unplugged" Herminator was aiming for a third consecutive win, like he managed last November in Beaver Creek. But he's obviously tired after three months of outstanding skiing and great successes. In fact, if he has another strong result in giant slalom at Adelboden, Switzerland, next Saturday, he might take a two-week break, skipping the races in Hyongpyong, Korea.
 
If he can increase his lead on Switzerland's Michael von Gruenigen in Adelboden, he may well skip the trip to the resort of Yong Pyong, three hours north of Seoul. He was 3rd there in 1998, a week after the Olympics at Nagano.
 
"I'll see how I'm skiing next week — it's a long trip to Korea just for a single race," he said.
 
His teammates Werner Franz and Fritz Strobl plan to fly to the East Coast of the United States this week to take part at the first winter Goodwill Games held in Lake Placid, NY. They will certainly enjoy the change after their intensive weeks on the World Cup tour since the end of November. Both are established downhill specialists who have scored great results on all kinds of courses, including Kitzbühel, where Strobl won the downhill while Werner finished 2nd (for the 9th time in his career) in the super G.
 
The next men's races, a giant slalom and a slalom, will take place next week end in Switzerland's Adelboden. Another great battle between Hermann Maier, Michael von Gruenigen and Benjamin Raich, who toped the rankings in the past, is planned.