Paris second in the super-G in Cortina won by Odermatt- Corriere.it

Surprise. One heat from equaling the record of victories in the Ski World Cup, the famous 86 first places of Ingemar Stenmark, Mikaela Shiffrin sees her omnipotence jammed. The second slalom of Spindleruv Mlynon the day that in Cortina gives Dominik Paris the first podium of the season, beaten alone by Marco Odermatt in super-Gends in fact with the success of Lena Duerr.

The German, late by 67 cents in the first heat, guesses a perfect second descent, under the banner of total attack. Conversely Mikaela, for the first time in a while, fails to give continuity to her action and to be explosive enough to close with her progressions. Perhaps he exaggerated with the management of the advantage: in the first split he had already lost 4 tenths, then he reacted and maintained a margin of 2 tenths up to the final stretch, where everyone expected the winning paw: it didn’t come, 6 hundredths of a difference awarded Lena (the first success of a career that is becoming important now that she is 31 years old and no longer a youngster) and punished the American.

Too bad, there was also a particular situation that would have made the moment of engagement with Ingo, a champion of the 70s and 80s but in reality a champion without era, perfect: thisthat of Spindleruv Mlyn in fact the track on which Shiffrin made her World Cup debut 12 years ago. Equalizing the record in the same place as the debut seemed like a script written by fate and would have a special meaning. We don’t believe it was a defeat – relative, however: second place, ahead of Croatian Zrinka Ljutic, a talent of the future in clear evolution, is still worth the podium 134 of a crazy career – born from the psychological weight of what was about to happen and by the consequent short arm.

After victory number 85, on Saturday 28 January, the Colorado girl had declared that she felt free from her head and not experiencing any stress because the record was now within reach. More simply, then, Mikaela in the circumstance seemed human, in short, one that she herself can make mistakes. The image of the skier-robot, punctual and relentless, remains in stand-by and perhaps not a bad thing. At 27, already the record holder of precocity in reaching the highest peaks of skiing, Mikaela only has to slightly postpone joining the Swedish champion and then overtaking to have no one left in front of him. I’ll try again after the World Cup and the Swedish stage of Aare seems to be the one most in favor of the missed historic step in the Czech Republic.

Perhaps Stenmark will be in the stands to follow her: In the past few days, Ingemar said in an interview with Corriere della Sera that he does not know Mikaela and wants to fill this gap, also because he admires her and believes it is right that she should hold the record . And now the blue joys, having said that in the slalom for the first time after time immemorial the rapid gates women’s team managed to score all the girls registered (there were four: Gulli, fifteenth and the best at the finish line; Rossetti, Della Mea, Tschurtschentaler). But the important news comes from Cortina, and from the second super-G on Olympia delle Tofane, returned after 33 years to host men’s trials. Dominik Paris, who started with the number 1, didn’t think he had a good race at all.

Instead, the first podium of a troubled season arrived and so far without flashes: second behind the Swiss Marco Odermatt – again elusive and in the distance at the top of the Cup standings because the Norwegian Kilde jumped a goal ending up in the massacre of those who they did not finish – and ahead of the Austrian Hemetsberger. For Italy there is also the top ten by Giulio Bosca, ninth (an exploit after so many bad lucks), and by Christof Innerhofer, tenth and not yet willing to give up. Unfortunately Mattia Casse missed out, on the podium on Saturday and this time in race-2 finished in the nets, but the return to the top in Paris is good news. I didn’t expect this result and now I regret that in the finale I could have pushed the comment of the recovered Val d’Ultimo cuirassier more.

In the super-G, a specialty that saw him world champion in 2019, Paris had lost authority after the knee injury from which he recovered not without difficulty: the descent seemed to have remained his fort. Instead, this result is heartening, just a few days before the World Cup in France: I hope to bring confidence and security, I hope I do well, says Domme. It deserves credit: perhaps this vintage’s clouds are behind us.