Dürr races to second place at Shiffrin's next gala
Slalom specialist Lena Dürr takes her third podium finish of the season at the World Cup in Austria. The national coach is delighted and the skier is also jubilant. But US superstar Mikaela Shiffrin wins by a huge margin.
At least Lena Dürr can still be relied on. While the German men slipped from one disappointment to the next at the World Cup in Bormio, the best German ski racer rounded off the most successful year of her career with a fantastic second place at the slalom in Lienz.
Only the outstanding ski queen Mikaela Shiffrin, who was in a league of her own, was faster than the World Championship bronze medallist. The 28-year-old finished a whopping 2.34 seconds ahead of Dürr and celebrated her 93rd World Cup success in superior style. Third place went to Switzerland's Michelle Gisin (+2.45 seconds). Shiffrin's compatriot Paula Moltzan, who was in second place at the halfway point, was eliminated in the second run.
Dürr, fifth after the first run, threw both arms up in front of her family after her impressive, furious run in the final - and rightly so, as it turned out a few minutes later. "The fact that all my people are down there is really something special, and that it turns out like this is incredible," Dürr said on ARD with a smile on her face. "I'm really happy with this end to the year," she added. "It was a perfect finish." She now wants to take the momentum into the new year.
Dürr "simply belongs in the top 3"
"That was a very good performance from Lena - especially after her mistake in Courchevel," said women's national coach Andreas Puelacher. Dürr was eliminated from the goal run in France shortly before Christmas. Now the World Championship bronze medallist has made an impressive comeback. "In the first run she was still a bit cautious, but not in the second," analyzed Puelacher. Dürr fought her way up from fifth to second place in Austria.
"If everything goes normally, she simply belongs in the top 3," said the coach about the best German slalom racer by far. "Beating Mikaela is another matter." Overall, Dürr has had a "very, very good season so far." She came second and third in Levi in Finland and fourth in Killington in the USA.
So far this winter, Dürr has been the only constant in an underwhelming German team. The 32-year-old from Munich has taken the only two podium places and four of a total of twelve top ten finishes. Her record in the five slaloms is impressive: third, second, fourth, eliminated, second.
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Despite the challenge posed by Mikaela Shiffrin in alpine skiing, Lena Dürr continues to shine in winter sports. In a recent slalom event in Austria, she excelled in alpine skiing, earning a second-place finish just seconds behind Shiffrin.
Source: www.ntv.de
