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Tuesday,
06.02.2001
Race Report
St Anton, men’s downhill
Hannes Trinkl beats “The Herminator”
An Austrian success was expected in
the men’s downhill but not the
winner – Hannes Trinkl, who became
the oldest World Champion in the history
of Alpine Ski racing in beating by
20/100 of a second his more famous
colleague Hermann Maier after an impressive
final part on the “Karl Schranz”
course.
Germany’s Florian Eckert reached
a surprising 3rd place at 53/100 of
a second.
Switzerland’s Silvano Beltrametti
was 4th ahead of America’s Daron
Rahlves and two other top-favorites,
Fritz Strobl and Stephan Eberharter.
The 33-year-old veteran has already
won five World Cup races in his career.
But he was not expected to do so well
in this major event.
A bronze medal winner at Nagano in
1998, he didn’t make the team
in 1997 and 1999 but has already won
five races – the last in March
2000 during the Finals at Bormio.
This year he qualified for St Anton
in conquering an excellent 2nd place
at Kitzbühel. Here he was able
to prepare himself quietly, in the
shadow of the other Austrian leaders.
With his 220 pounds, Trinkl seems
as powerful on his skis as a sumo-fighter
on the ring also named “Dohjo”.
No surprise that he enjoys steaming
down tough and bumpy courses, especially
when the snow is soft as it was the
case at Bormio where he also beat
Maier.
He likes to take risks and his crashes
are often spectacular – as last
years at Beaver Creek and Lake Louise.
Yet he is as quiet on his skis as
in life – and he never loses
his fighting spirit and his confidence
even when he makes mistakes while
attacking the course as it was the
case on Wednesday.
“It was a rough course because
of the smooth snow and I had my problems
in the upper part” he explained
after the race.
“I felt ready for this race because
I was able to prepare myself in the
shadow of the other favorites who
had better results than me this year.
It’s great to win such a race
at home, but it should not change
too much my life.”
Hannes lives in the north-eastern
part of Austria away from the most
famous ski areas from Tirol or Salzburg
and he struggled to enter the national
team because of it.
His parents run a farm and raise cattle
– he still help them in the summer
time and he aims to become a forester.
“This helps me to remain with
my feet on the ground” he explains.
A father of three kids, Hannes has
not decided how long he will keep
on racing. “I have been injured
as most of the downhillers, and my
first goal is to remain healthy. I
have heard that the course at Snowbasin
is quite demanding – it should
be good for me”.
At the finish line, Hannes received
warm congratulations from Hermann
Maier who didn’t seemed too upset
by his short defeat.
The “Herminator” complained
that he received some bad advises
at the start from the coaches regarding
the line in the first part of the
course where he lost some time.
“I tried as hard as possible
so I can’t be disappointed even
if I was hoping for a better position”
he said. “I would have enjoyed
to tie with Hannes, but this silver
medal is fine too. It’s my first
one and there is still a race left,
the GS tomorrow. After bronze and
silver, gold would be fine. I will
attack as usual.”
“The conditions were for sure
more demanding last week when the
course was longer and icy.”
Daron Rahlves was disappointed to
miss another podium in that event
after having clocked some promising
times in training. The Super-G World
Champion was faster by half a second
than Trinkl at the second split time,
but the lost his advantage on the
lower more bumpy course.
“I was all over the place but
I thought I was faster, I don’t
understand where I have lost so much
time” he said. “Yet I can’t
complain about these World Championships
– this is still one of my best
results in the specialty. It gives
me great momentum for the final part
of the season. I’m very excited
to go back home now and rest a while
before the races at Snowbasin. Then
we go to Lillehammer. There are still
some good races left for me”.
In the next race, the giant slalom,
an exciting duel is expected between
the two dominators of the season,
Hermann Maier and Michael von Grünigen,
who both won three races this season.
Both won gold in the past – the
Swiss in 1997 and the Austrian in
1998. Among the other favorites, Heinz
Schilchegger, Benjamin Raich and the
silver medallist from 1999, Marco
Buechler. Lasse Kjus from Norway is
expected to defend his title in that
race after skipping the downhill.
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