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World Cup Final SoldeuSwitzerland misses the title defense and finishes second in the team competition
After the top performances of Lara Gut-Behrami and Marco Odermatt in the speed disciplines, the team competition was on at the World Cup final.
Here Switzerland loses the decisive run against Norway.
SRF
That’s what it’s about
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The team competition at the World Cup final in Soldeu was scheduled for Friday.
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Switzerland started in the semifinals and showed a good competition.
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Andrea Ellenberger and Co. came second.
After the speed races and before the technical disciplines, the team competition took place at the World Cup final in Soldeu (Andorra). Last year, Switzerland triumphed in this season-ending competition in Méribel.
On Friday there was no success again. The team around Andrea Ellenberger, Camille Rast, Semyel Bissig and Livio Simonet missed out on defending their title and finished second behind Norway. Austria took third place.
Faster time decides twice
Since the field of participants in the team competition was very thin – only six countries took part, Switzerland and Austria were already in the semi-finals without a fight. This is because these two teams are in first and second place in the current season’s national rankings.
In the semifinals, Switzerland faced Germany. Although Rast and Bissig lost their duels, thanks to the top times of Simonet and Ellenberger, the Swiss ski cracks prevailed over the faster time. Norway then waited in the final. The northern European country then clinched victory just over the faster time.
Simonet told SRF: “I just like this discipline. It’s a great competition with the women.” Biting admitted: “In the end I didn’t even look at how close it was. I just knew I had to win.” But he is happy: “Second place is cool.”
Marco Odermatt and Lara Gut-Behrami are great
The World Cup final in Soldeu has gone well for the Swiss ski stars so far. Lara Gut-Behrami finished third in the downhill and won the Super-G. And that’s not all: the Ticino native also won the small crystal globe in the latter discipline for the fourth time in her career. Although Marco Odermatt was disappointing on the downhill, he showed a sensational performance in the Super-G.
Thanks to his first place, Austrian Hermann Maier’s magic points record from the 1999/2000 season is shaking. In the giant slalom on Saturday, Odermatt now needs a third place before he has broken the 2000 World Cup point barrier. But the superstar doesn’t think about that. He said to SRF: “I’ll celebrate full throttle.” The points record is secondary for him.
A total of only six countries took part.
REUTERS
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