The cancellation of the Aspen descent (with no chance of recovery) raises discussions for a race that was allowed to continue when the irregularity and also the danger of the same was now clear. The CdM leader doesn’t tell them, the weather should be better for Saturday’s appointment.
A somewhat historic protest, to stop a show that was no longer a show, given that today we witnessed one of the worst recent performances of the World Cup.
Downhill number 1 in Aspen, waiting to experience a regular one hopefully, with the weather looking promising for Saturday’s challenge (off at 19.00 Italian time, 11.00 local time), was thus effectively stopped by the same protagonists of the white circus, even before the FIS and Markus Waldner, after 24 descents of which over fifteen in impossible conditions for a fair competition.
Sure, sorry for Adrian Smiseth Sejersted who had done his thing and dreamed of his first victory, but it was right also because not only did a whole series of athletes have no chance to play it, as well as endangering their own safety given that the visibility had worsened a lot along the entire track, but not even most of the big names had been able to express themselves on the levels that everyone expects.
Thus two descents remain on the calendar, with the crystal ball of the queen discipline almost in the hands of Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who has maintained his 156-point margin over Vincent Kriechmayr, the only one who can still undermine him. Who couldn’t do anything starting with number 15, to finish more than two and a half seconds behind Sejersted, was the reigning downhill world champion, Marco Odermatt, who thundered on the microphones of SRF Sport despite his usual calmness, but also firmness: “I knew from the beginning that the race was over starting with 15th – the general leader’s words on Swiss TV – You make many sacrifices, to then compete in races like this. It’s true, our sport takes place outdoors and we all know that there can be small differences in terms of weather, but seeing athletes take seconds for no reason has little to do with fair competition. What if someone got hurt?”
Also for the Azzurri, starting with Dominik Paris and Mattia Casse who had been perky in practice, but today going down with 10 and 12 they had already finished very far from Sejersted, a new chance on Saturday before the closing super-g.
