Flash Quotes

Very cool, I’m very happy for Sebastian. We’ve known each other for so many years. We ski so much together, [it’s] super cool.

Second run was more my conditions but I tried to push everything I have in the second run [but] made a little too many mistakes – some small mistakes here and there, which I lost some time on – but when I stand with the medal now I’m really happy.

[I’m] struggling still a little bit on the ice but like when it’s today it’s fine. The first run was actually pretty icy but it was very uneven in the first run.

Amazing skiing from Sebastian [Foss-Solevaag, NOR] in the second run. We’ve been training so much together in the years that we’ve been skiing World Cups so it’s really cool to see him taking the step and now winning his second race [after team parallel gold on Wednesday] and first individual medal so that’s really cool and, yes, super happy with the day.

It’s been a year with some up and downs so far. I know I have maybe the top speed in slalom but it’s been up and down, like I said, and I’m very, very happy with the medal today.

I’m very happy with the medal. Now I have a medal in all the disciplines I ski in both the Olympics and the world champs so I can’t complain.

It was very hard. You have two minutes standing before the start gate, thinking about it.

It’s amazing. I don’t know what I should say. [I] never expected that result when I woke up in the morning and I’m super happy with the second place.

To [finish] in the second run with a huge lead was such a great feeling.

I’m very happy about the result, of course – fourth place at the World Championships is fourth place but it was such a nice experience, and, oh, man. I would do it all over again if I could.

It’s amazing to finish off like this. The slalom has been really good this year.

It was of course a good race. I knew after the second run salt is not my [preferred] condition. I still need to improve so I knew I had to try my best [and] it would be difficult because the Norwegians are fast on salt.

I didn’t hear [much] because I was skiing and trying to focus but at the finish line, with the little crowd and such an amazing cheer-up, it’s unbelievable and it’s nice to have the world championships at home.

January was really tough so I just had to reset, go back on little bit flatter slopes, working it up to steeper slopes to get a good run down here and I think I managed it quite well.

Fifteen inversion – that’s never been before for me so it’s going to be quite different. I think it would be better to be top 30 inversion but it is how it is, same as in the first run, so maybe I’m used to the conditions.

Maybe 10 or 20 years in the future I will see my medals and I’ll remember what is behind them. A lot of memories and a lot of work.

A lot of emotion because if you take a medal from world championships it’s always something special. So, good memories and a lot of work.

It wasn’t easy – maybe it looks like it on the TV – but for us it was not so easy but in the end I had a good day and I have silver and so I’m happy and satisfied.

It’s true that I like more cold than warm and for me it’s quite difficult to be focused with this kind of temperature. Yes, it was difficult for everybody today but it was like this. I fought a lot with the conditions but I’m proud of what I did today.

Of course, I am happy. I leave here with two medals so I think it’s good.

She was, definitely. She’s really a great sportswoman and it’s amazing to stand on a podium with her.

I still walk away with a bronze and a fourth medal so I’m happy about that and happy to fight to get one step higher on the podium but sometimes it’s a little bittersweet because I got a podium but I would’ve liked to have felt better skiing, so that’s a little bit of a discrepancy there but it’s still incredible.

I’m really proud of so much of the skiing that I did. Today, the first run, I felt a little bit disappointed. I don’t think I could’ve done something that would change the colour of the medal today but I could’ve done some better skiing that would’ve felt better.

In the race it felt like flying a little bit, just getting faster with every gate and putting all the energy into each turn. Then crossing the finish line with a second ahead [of the field] it’s really amazing.

I was really looking forward to this run. I just wanted to ski for myself, to show what I can.

Yes, that’s a huge resounding yes. I mean, that’s incredible. I had planned for four races – that’s four chances for a medal [laughs] – hopefully somewhere in these two weeks I can do some good skiing.

Now I have a lot of emotions but after two hours, tomorrow I start to be tired because I was here two weeks and I am quite tired. I need rest for the last part of the season.

It was not enough. I understood that today silver medal is good.

[To win] four medals is incredible this World Champs but it’s even more special to see the level of skiing that’s here right now and that everybody’s trying to push, and that’s really cool.

Maybe first run I did a few mistakes and maybe I could [have] risked more but second run I gave everything because we are in the World Championships and everybody wants to give everything that they have inside even me.

I wish I had a better feeling in my first run but I think there was no situation where I came away with anything but bronze today.

Every day we’re going on the hill and just pushing to be a higher level. At this point in my career, there’s not a lot of things left to accomplish on paper but I still feel motivated to ski faster and especially on days like today, when I see the level of skiing that’s possible… I want to go training tomorrow [laughs]. It’s like, ‘Let’s keep pushing’. Maybe not tomorrow [laughs] but that’s the level that got all of us here, that’s the motivation, and watching some of the skiing today, it was inspirational.

Of course I wanted more, maybe to take gold today because I feel good in slalom but it was not enough today because Katharina, she was really fast. She skied perfect today. So, I am happy with my silver medal.

There are so many people in the background working for me. I can just say thank you so much, from all of my heart.

It’s amazing that it all comes back. If you really want something, the whole universe does something I think for you. It’s just amazing and I’m so glad that I could show that today.

Thank you so much to everyone who always helps me, the whole team that does so much for me. I am just the one that shows it.

I really, really wanted the gold medal, especially in slalom – it was so often so near and so close and [my] first time on the leader board after the first run and now I won this race and it means so much to me. It’s amazing.

It’s amazing. It’s so incredible. I don’t know what to say. I really gave it all today and I worked so hard for it, everything I did in preparation.

I will try to ski as fast as possible and then we will see.

At the end, it’s still second place so everything is open and of course it’s going to be really tough for the second run because it’s really warm and we are there with Katharina [Liensberger, AUT] so anything can happen.

When I finish strong then we’ll see what’s happening.

When I crossed the finish line I felt like I could go a little bit faster.

I really had fun and now I just want to focus on the second run, just give it a hundred per cent because you really have to push from the start to the finish line.

I just wanted to focus on myself and my skiing and give it all. It was a cool, cool run.

It looks really steep, the slalom hill. It looks even from the top to the finish, not icy, not too aggressive and not salt yet, from what I saw yesterday. I think it’s going to be salt on Sunday, and it’s steep the whole way so I think it’s a really nice slalom hill.

I have a really good set-up for salt, but since it’s only the last part today that’s salt, I can’t use it because then it’s going to be even worse at the top than what it is. But that’s how it is at the moment.

I don’t feel confident in GS at the moment. I’m struggling. And also when it’s three different types of conditions in one slope it’s quite bad because then it’s impossible to find one set-up that works.

It has a better taste. I was already really happy, but I came here for the GS.

Of course he was behind me so it was better but I’m really happy about his medal.

I was so happy for him. He managed to make his first podium during the world champs, and at home in Italy, so it feels just so nice for him, and of course we are friends: we’ve been on tour for a very long time now, so I was really happy for him.

It’s part of the game. It’s a tough sport for that because obviously you can make a mistake so easily. It was tough, it was really on the first pitch because it became so dark and you couldn’t ski the lines and everything

I think it’s going to take me some time to understand what is happening right now.

It’s a big day for me and my home team. The first steep part was so dark and bumpy, I was trying to hold my line, my skis were fighting against me. It’s a long steep, bumpy, dark second run – a real World Champion GS.

It feels unreal. It’s been a tough day. The slope was so nice but it wasn’t too easy to ski on it so today I’m just really proud of what I’ve done, about my mindset, about my skiing

It means a lot to me, first time on the podium. I was so many times close to a big result, but always I made some mistakes. It was a dream, but in the last times it has become a nightmare.

But right now I’m the gold medallist in giant [slalom] and it’s just incredible.

I did some mistakes and I didn’t know what to expect at the end but I saw green but I’m a bit kind of sad for Alexis [Pinturault, his teammate, who fell], of course. It would have been amazing to be both on the podium.

It feels unreal right now. I can’t believe it. The second run was so tough.

I had some problems but I think everybody feels not so good but yeah, it was a good run and I’m happy about it.

Everything’s open. Half a second [behind leader Alexis Pinturault, FRA] on such a long giant slalom is nothing so we will see. I will, for sure, try my best as usual.

It was like a fight from the first to the last gate. I’m really happy with my first run so looking forward to the second one.

It was tough, the longest slope we’ve had, 20 seconds longer than our average courses. I’m a power skier, so it was fast, then I struggled when it got softer. That’s something I’ve got to improve on.

It’s given me a confidence boost. I had a lot of trust in myself and confidence in my skiing. I think that’s what I need to bring into the next races.

I was like… I’m not sure. Maybe if I was a second up, I would have been like, ‘okay’, but half a second. I watched the video back and I lost a lot of time at the bottom. I wasn’t sure. Fourth, it is what it is.

It was nowhere near perfect but when you’re attacking, you’re making mistakes and I definitely had a lot of mistakes. But I’m pretty proud of the mentality I had today.

It’s bittersweet. It’s my best result of the season, but also quite disappointing when you’re fourth and just missing the medals. But I really gave it my all today.

It’s really fun to compete with her right now.

At the moment I can’t think about anything else. But I’m super happy, and it is coming, everything at the right time. I am so thankful for my team and for everyone who helped me, especially with giant slalom, to work for it.

I feel so great. I have no words for it because it’s amazing. I skied with my heart, with full one hundred per cent. I was nearly out of the course, and I didn’t [crash]. I really pushed and it was not easy. It was a long course setting, and I had to finish strong. I’m super happy.

She’s so strong. She’s been strong the whole world champs and really the whole season. It’s really cool to watch her skiing and she’s bringing this amazing attitude, every race taking the right risk and having really good skiing.

It wasn’t perfect but it was what I was trying to accomplish so it’s pretty cool.

So, today I was like “OK, the first run is good but the race for sure isn’t over” and I think I know better than anyone how it can be to just throw it away in the second run so I was trying to push and be aggressive and do the best I could every turn.

I didn’t know what to expect coming in today because I know I can ski fast but the last giant slalom World Cups since Kranjska Gora I had some trouble, especially in the second run.

I was pushing, second run for sure it felt a little bit wild from the start, I got that mistake at the bottom which cost me, but overall I’m happy with the day, it was some good progress for me.

Obviously it hasn’t been an easy season for me and I wanted to give it my all today, and I really tried my best. Sometimes when you’re pushing it, you make some mistakes, and that’s kind of what I had on the second run, but I’m pretty proud of getting out there and full attacking as much as I could. I lost quite a bit of time down the bottom. I still have a lot of room to get better.

I will try to get better, be a better person, be a better athlete.

I think at the world championships there is always somebody that has no pressure and can go 100 per cent. There are some girls really skiing good from the back and the slope was perfect so they had the chance. It’s normal at big events to have outsiders, great skiers, so I’m not surprised.

It was a nice World Championships and I’m sorry that I didn’t reach a great result for my country but I tried my best so I can be proud of myself.

It was pretty easy. There was some space to attack all the way and there is no pitch, but it’s a good course for GS because the slope is turning and the slope is all moving and there’s a lot of bumps so I think it’s really cool as a giant slalom. Really long but really good also.

It didn’t go as I planned and how I was hoping for, but that’s sport. It’s never so easy.

Nothing, I just slipped away. That’s skiing.

It felt really good when I was skiing it, but you never know. I felt really nervous at the top, I don’t know what was going on, but I had a pretty good game plan, I watched a few and it looked like you could just attack the entire thing, so I tried to push and let it go, and it seemed to work.

I wanted to come here to Cortina and compete in this race, 100 per cent. But the team event and a
gold medal? I don’t know, I don’t think I dared to look that far.

It’s kind of funny. We always have this rivalry, you know, but we’re also good friends. So it was
great fun and it’s always fun to be the fastest, and to beat the Swedes is definitely good.

They were really strong today. They were winning a lot of runs. They did a really good job today.

I’m kind of speechless, I haven’t had many words after this. It’s amazing and it’s so fun to win this
with my teammates and it couldn’t have been better.

So I have to bring that confidence to the slalom. That’s what I always do at world champs or Olympics – I always do some races before, in the Olympics or world champs so I’m not only thinking about the one race. For me, it helps.

I really wanted to do this [team] event so I don’t have just one race at the world champs, so it’s always good to start off with a gold medal, I would say.

Yeah it’s nice that we’re still a small but a strong team. We showed them that we are strong without big stars here too so it’s really fun for the whole team.

I only know that if you’re in doubt of something, I’m always stopping because if you finish then I think it’s easier [for officials] to say, ‘Yeah, but you kept going’. If it’s something [to question] I always stop right away, so it’s no discussion then.

Jakobsen went on my inside ski and I saw it in my vision that, OK, he’s going there, like falling in, and I’m not risking my health and my legs for this so then I stopped right away and went to Markus Waldner [FIS Race Director] and he totally agreed with me so there was actually no discussion, so we had to go up and do it one more time.

It’s one of the best world championships for team Germany. We will enjoy it and we will celebrate it.

Perfect. The last two weeks are great days for team Germany.

Yesterday was a little bit pity about the 4th place. It’s OK, but it’s not a medal. Today I didn’t want to think about deja-vu and we won the bronze.

It was a long time ago since I did the team event and I’m super happy that I got to do a race for the team today. It was nice to feel that you’re not so alone. It’s not so often.

We didn’t come here as a favourite team so we are super happy to walk away with a medal. I’m happy I did some good runs today.

Finally, and it’s amazing here in Cortina.
We don’t have all the crowds, the public, but OK now I have a medal so I can think to the giant (slalom) without pressure and for now I am enjoying this moment.

We know that the blue line was slower and in the red one you can go faster so sometimes you have to be lucky. I think today I was a little bit.

I’m sorry that we fight with Fede at the beginning but for me it’s like this, it’s our sport. We are fighting one against the other so sometimes you are with your teammates, sometimes with other girls. But it’s the same when we are at the start gate.

I knew I can get it but in this sport you don’t know, so I just tried to push every turn from the start gate to the finish. It’s really amazing.

I just wanted to push as hard as I can. It doesn’t matter, the course. We know that the blue was tougher and slower, but I tried to push and go fast, because then we knew we’d be on the red and it would be nice to ski.

It took a lot of energy but I knew I have it and just raced every run as fast as I could and I showed my best performance today and that’s why I’m really happy.

I was a little bit confused in the finish line, it showed just 0.00 and I didn’t know what was going on afterwards. And of course that we could be both at the top, that’s really amazing, and just to win a gold medal, that’s a dream of everyone and a dream of mine came true today.

Actually today I am just really happy about my skiing. I managed to do what I wanted to do. Of course it’s a gold, of course it’s the first one in history. But it’s tough to say something about it. I’m just happy about my skiing, and my mindset, and that’s it.

The day started really early, we woke up at 5.15am to go to the qualifications. So it’s been a long day, but I didn’t plan anything, I just wanted to push as hard as I can, and I managed to do that, so I’m really happy.

It’s just amazing today. I’m so happy with my result. To finish with the gold medal together with Marta is so great. Just amazing.

That we can be equal first with Marta, that makes me very happy.

I’m so happy for the gold medal, it’s just brilliant. Winning a gold medal is really something special. It is a dream that came true today.

The blue course is really difficult today, it was just a bit more challenging and I definitely forgot to stay on my outside ski

I don’t know, I like the start gates. I think as athletes we are all super competitive so this is an interesting way to bring it out of everyone and I had a lot of fun. I don’t know, I just like it.

It’s not a tough result for me actually, it’s a really good result. My best result at a World Champs before this was 16th or something like that so 4th is incredible.

We’re pushing each other. The whole team works pretty well. The coaches – it’s super fun to work with them. The third gold medal at the world champs for us, it’s pretty amazing.

Super-G was a little bit surprising for me today. I had four days of Super-G (training) this year so I was pretty lucky that it went pretty well.

After my bronze in the super-G and two very good races today in the Alpine combined, a silver medal is good, but naturally four hundredths of a second is very tough [to take].

It’s better to be 0.04 behind in the World Championships than the World Cup.

Second place and a silver medal in the World Championships is good. It was a great battle.

I’m a little frustrated about the mistake I made.

I knew it’d be a close battle. My goal was to give it one hundred per cent.

It was really icy today, like in a normal slalom, so it was pretty tough for the downhill guys. But it was a good fight with Alexis [Pinturault, FRA, silver medallist]. Four hundredths was on my side so I’m pretty happy about that.

I’m really happy about that. The Super-G was pretty fun in the morning and then it was a pretty tough slalom today.

I don’t know, it’s just a lot of amazing work from the team and it’s a great generation that we have right now and sometimes if it just goes well, it goes well, and you just ride the wave.

Chocolate and cheese, of course [laughs]. No that’s just cliché.

When Petra [Vlhova, SVK, silver medallist] came down and [her time] was really close to me I thought it’d be extremely hard that someone can ski that close to Mikaela because the other girls had even more time to make up to her.

I wasn’t sure actually because I didn’t know how Mikaela skied. I knew that I lost some speed, I didn’t push as much as I wanted to but I hoped for it.

I lost my skis a couple of times and I lost my rhythm a bit and some speed there. That was too much to be in touch with Mikaela [Shiffrin, USA, who won gold] today. I think she did a perfect slalom – I really wanted to see that run because it must’ve been really nice to watch.

It was really hard. It was so icy. On top, it was OK but then when we came down to the Super-G slope it was so, so slippery.

She was perfect in super-G and also in slalom.

Parallel, GS (giant slalom) and slalom, so it’s going to be tough for me but I am here to fight.

Of course, if you have a medal then you are a little bit quiet and you can focus for the next races. But even if I didn’t take a medal I continue.

It was a difficult slalom because the foundations were really icy and I didn’t have good feelings because I don’t like this kind of icy. But it doesn’t matter because I took second place, silver medal.

Yes and no, I guess. It’s, for sure, a higher impact on my knee and that’s what I notice a bit more but I haven’t skied many days’ slalom since I started here today. So that [race] was a chance, it was a cool chance to have but we’ll see.

So, it’s fair for the whole field but sometimes it’s intimidating to go on that surface and think ‘OK, this is like going into battle’. You have to get really psyched up and do the very best skiing in order to come down fast and even get to the finish.

For me, it felt like ‘Bambi on Ice’. It was not fun, to be perfectly honest. It’s sad that they inject it like they do – I don’t see the reason why because the conditions here are perfect as they are. But anyhow I’m guessing since they’re having both us (women) and the men skiing here they do it for that reason.
For sure, the advantage is with the slalom skiers today.

It’s definitely a tough slalom, the conditions are really well prepared but it’s a real slalom. And I think it’s absolutely necessary especially for the men coming down, skiing on the same track.

There are some points I can improve and be cleaner and do that better but I’d rather have that than just not throwing it also. That way, I’m very happy with the Super-G.

I’m happy that we decided to put this in the plan this World Champs. It was a really nice day, beautiful weather, a really great track for both events.

Yeah, for sure. It was the progress that I’m looking for and a step in the right direction.

Real name is James but I go by Jack because when I was young my sister couldn’t pronounce James so she just called me Jack.

I guess about five years ago I used to be quite the slalom skier on the Nor-Am tour, podiums [18, including two in slalom], contending for the overall, but since we moved to speed it’s definitely regressed a bit so hopefully I can bring back some of that old slalom skill.

The snow here and the style of the hills is a lot like the hills in Canada, and the snow, so it
definitely felt a lot more like home and what we train on every day, so pushing out of the
gate it was pure confidence, (I) didn’t have a worry in the world, and with the high bib
number it made it easy to just send it.

I skied well. I’m very satisfied with this run of super giant slalom but with Loic Meillard
[SUI] just over three tenths of a second behind me [in sixth] I still need to stay focused and
prepared for the second run.

It was a good run. I knew it was important not to make mistakes. The snow was relatively
easy which allowed me to take risks.

I was already pretty happy with my downhill skiing and I had the confidence back already
on Saturday [when the women’s downhill took place] so I just tried to refill that feeling.

Yeah, we have to. Bad races come and you just have to turn the page and go on. Skiing is a
sport like this so every day and every race has its own story.

The track had a little bit more space so it was best for me. I had more space to push the
turns and I think I did well.

I put my best skiing on the slope. I didn’t have a good feeling in the super-G race last week [in which she came 18th] so I just wanted to go, like, full attack, mind free, don’t think too much, and the track had a little bit more space so it was best for me.

They’re both legends, of course. Hermann Maier is an Austrian legend but Bode Miller too. Bode won, I think, in every discipline. I was always a fan of these two guys and to be on the same step as them is…

Yeah, that’s true. Of course, I already had my medal and I wanted to show my best today. I wanted a second medal, of course, but gold is amazing.

I wanted to go straight. [There was] a little slipping. I don’t know what I can say – it was good enough and I’m now really proud, of course.

It’s pretty amazing. It was a difficult race. It was not perfect. I lost a lot of time in the last part of the race but I was pretty fast in the middle part. It was good enough, and that’s it.

Today I tried to focus again on the new race and I thought at the start, ‘Christof, push now how you would if it was your last race’, because only when you say it like this would you give 101 per cent. This was my way of thinking today.

It was not easy for me, especially [after] the first race [he finished 23rd in the super-G on Thursday]. I was really sad and nervous after the first race because my race was finished after the third gate.

The result is OK but here it is only important to win medals.

[I had] good training yesterday. I felt not that good at skiing on the run because it was really aggressive so it was hard to ski, more powerful, but in the end, yes, super happy.

I was really, really happy. It was a good feeling. I had this good feeling at the start. I was really in shape and I felt good so I felt, ‘You can do it, maybe you can surprise’. I felt it at the start.

I saw one hundredth [and thought], ‘Oh, oh, that could be, hopefully [a medal]. I then saw the time and we were really fast – 1:37 – and I thought, ‘Ooh, maybe. It was a good one’.

It is unique. We have it just here.

It would be so nice if he can win this race again [following his super-G gold on Thursday]
but let’s wait for a few racers. Congratulations to him.

I tried my best. I tried to ski very fast and tried to win a medal but without this big medal it is not what I really want. But nevertheless I try my best also for the future and never give up.

I got this bump on my outside ski and it was pretty OK with the first section and I tried to
push hard in this turn to get some speed over the flat would be very important.
But, yeah, it’s the world champs, and the first three count. I tried my best.

I took an early [bib] because I knew a little bit of wind was coming. Maybe this is a decision after the training run yesterday. [The course has] become more bumpy and it was the choice to start [early].

Yeah, it’s a tricky part, for sure, and I had to do very well. In the end, I had the mistake there and I lost a lot of time. And also in the turns. It’s so turny.

I am young and I am hungry for more.

Yeah I did a big mistake at the second split and I always knew you could win a lot of time or lose a lot of time and today Corinne [Suter, SUI, gold medallist] won a lot of time and I lost a lot of time.

So, it was not my side to make it, so that was way easier for me to ski and be free and not have the medal in the mind. That was pretty good for me.

It’s well-deserved. She had an amazing run and she’s one of the best skiers in downhill so it’s really well-deserved.

It did. It took away the pressure from my side because you know it’s always the whole team, we want a medal at the World Champs and we already had one with Romed.

And then today was a new day, I felt really good in the morning so I just knew I had done everything I could.

It was more about recovering because we had two long days and yesterday I was really, really tired. Today, I felt better, and I had time to sleep. It has been an amazing day.

Today at the World Championships yeah it’s really nice and surprising.

I always knew in downhill there were more chances [to win] and I started with a silver medal in super-G and this was already amazing for me.

It wasn’t hard to keep pushing because when you start racing, it’s something different.

But I knew I could do it and I think the whole team and the whole World Cup circuit knew I could ski fast.

My run was really good. I did what I wanted, what I needed to give me the space and take the speed with me. I am super happy.

Today was two goals for me. The first one was to discover this slope for the combined and also trying my best for the Super-G today. So it was a really good day taking good information [for the combined] and also making a great performance.

This slope is pretty nice because it can (suit) all the athletes in the start. There is a really long gliding part in the second section and there is a technical one in the first section. So everybody can make a great result here in Cortina so it feels pretty good because that’s not the case everywhere.

In Super-G I was always around but never really on the podium in the last years so I feel pretty happy about my performance. Claiming this bronze medal is something really special and I’m pretty proud about how I handled the day.

To be honest I did just watch two guys and I saw you can’t take this part at 100 per cent. You have to take out some speed but I watched [Italian Dominik] Paris and he just did it pretty smooth and I thought, ‘This is how I’m going to do it’. – On whether starting with bib No.20 allowed him to learn from the mistakes of earlier skiers at one particular section of the course

Maybe a little bit. I started this season with start No.53 so it’s kind of a surprise that it happened in super-G. I thought if I have a chance, it’s going to be in downhill but to make it on the first day, it’s amazing. – On whether the medal surprised him

It’s pretty special. It’s good to give something back. They took me when I was down and they believed in me and it’s a great feeling. – On winning a medal for Germany after switching from Austria at the start of the 2019/20 season

At the moment, I’m happy. Nice to start the Championships, of course.

It was not almost perfect but today it was really tough.

I watched the guys performing with bibs 1, 2, 3 and they all missed the gate, so a really tough race for me.

It’s a step forward and that’s important and makes me happy and makes a lot of
confidence.

It’s very good, it’s my best [super-G] result of the season . I didn’t ski so well in super-G [in] the last races.

I changed [it] a little bit. I wanted to push a little bit more but then I tried to brake a little
bit more and to stay on the course and make the difference.

It was a little bit windy on the course and the hill is pretty good. They had good
preparation. It was hard and icy.

It was a problem with the speed. You have to pray a little bit to come in on a high line to bring down the speed.

The race is over when the last [skier] comes in so you always have to wait.

And experiencing it like that it’s just a reminder that no matter what event I do having that mentality is always going to be more fun.

The goal is to not have expectations anyway because the only thing that does is put pressure on you and then it’s harder to produce the right skiing when you have the pressure. So, today I had moments where I was thinking ‘What if I could win?’ and then I was thinking ‘No, get rid of that’. Because it just doesn’t matter, I have the plan, I want to ski and execute that and just focus on that because it’s the only way I am going to enjoy the day and coming down to the finish.

That’s satisfying but it’s more of a testament to my coaches and the team helping me get the right preparation and have the exact right attitude here than it is you know about any of the tragedies that happened.

As much I would want to connect it and say it was somehow fate that I would come to this super-G and all these things have come together and some destiny thing, it’s not. I had a couple of really great days super-G training in the last two weeks and we came here, I had a good plan and I was able to execute it for the most part everywhere.

The things I have experienced this year and this day are actually separate. There’s been some crappy stuff happening in the year but we came out today, it was sunny, I was just so looking forward to racing on this track in super G, it’s a track that I really like and I had an amazing run minus like 10m and I have a medal. – On this medal coming after her challenging year off the slopes

I got really pushed out wide and then I felt like one of the course crew slipping, just ploughing snow and that’s not fast. But it ended up being still OK.

My tactics the whole course were quite aggressive and it was feeling just amazing so I felt like, ‘OK, I can push this spot’ but I went over that small piece of terrain and I was a little bit too loaded on my left ski and also not quite enough direction so I had to land loaded on the left and it was something like not able to make the transition right and dive down on it so then I couldn’t stay close enough.

It was just such a pleasure to ski and I’m really glad that we were able to race today and the wind wasn’t something crazy and now we’ve started. World Champs is on.

I’m super pleased. I had such a good feeling skiing the hill – I don’t know, I just loved it. It was just so much fun. I had a mistake but even with that I felt like it was still fun. I was just thinking, ‘That’s not very fast, but who knows?

(On whether her medal will help her in future races) I hope so, yes. I take it day by day and I will see what happens on Saturday [in the downhill].

Normally (with Lara) we have the same programme but it’s not always that we train together. Sometimes, and sometimes not.

It’s amazing. (with Lara) We train together and know each other also next to the slope, and when we can train together we can push each other so much to the limit and I think this why we are so fast at the moment.

It’s amazing especially because the last races were not so easy for me. A lot of people
asked me what’s wrong, and I started to study also a little bit. The pressure was really high
today and I was also more nervous than normal and so I’m super happy with the silver
medal today.

I took a lot of speed with me for the last part and then I just knew where I have to go.

Yes it was a little bit special. The snow has changed a lot. Sometimes it was a little bit more
soft but then more aggressive. I just tried to ski down and just did my best.

A few days ago, my technician told me the same, ‘We’re not dying any more if you’re not winning’. It’s not that it’s not important but I’m happy. I found my dream home with my husband and there are plenty of things besides that.

I also finally know how much I’m worth and it’s not that if you win a gold medal your career is worth something and if you’re not winning you’re not worth anything.

I finally have a lot besides skiing. My life is not just about if I’m skiing well or not.

It was the first time that I knew that my life wouldn’t change if I would win or not. I didn’t
ski to win the gold medal. I just skied to show what I can and that was a big difference if I
compare this year and the previous editions.

In the past, I always wanted to win gold and it never happened. Today, sure, I was nervous
and I wanted to ski the way I want and that sometimes produces too much pressure.

“In the last few days up to 80 centimetres of snow have fallen at high altitude. If it had stopped we would have been able to prepare the slope but it continued and we had to cancel for safety reasons.”

“About 350 people and 14 snow groomers are working on the slope, but when the machines are working, the operators cannot be there, and vice versa. Everything has to be coordinated.”

“The latest snowfalls have forced us to get back on the track with the vehicles. The accumulation (of snow) is huge, and the guys haven’t slept for two days while preparing the slopes.”

beautiful Alps, great powder, historic

Cortina is… adrenaline, emotions, Italia