The Olympic silver medalist Gstrein: Ötzi melts the ice

From 7 to 10 (Levi), from 6 to 15 (Val d’Isère) or from 4 to 13 (Alta Badia). And somehow it would have been fitting for these messed up games by the Austrian men’s team if Fabio Gstrein was third at halftime the medal everyone longed for would have given it away.

Quiet connoisseur

But in the very last race, the ÖSV runners managed to stop the run of these games, and the “Ötzi”as Fabio Gstrein is called by everyone, gave the lie to all skeptics.

The 28-year-old didn’t fall behind in the second run, he even made a leap forward and won the silver medal greatest success of his career a. “It’s a great satisfaction. I’m really having fun with it.”

The rather restrained cheering somehow suits Fabio Gstrein. With his teammate Manuel Feller, the medal celebration would certainly have been more excessive – his fan club didn’t let themselves be stopped from celebrating even after Feller’s exit in the first run – but Fabio Gstrein is more of the type of quiet enjoyer who doesn’t want to be in the spotlight.

Frustrated follower

The slalom specialist from Sölden also had a shadowy existence for a long time this winter. Fabio Gstrein started the season as Austria’s number 1, but then mostly found himself in the role of follower and place driver. When Gstrein couldn’t even qualify for the second run of the classic in Adelboden, even the Olympic starting place seemed in danger. “The season was brutal, I just drove around the area,” remembers Gstrein of these moments of frustration Wife Lisa didn’t just speak to one’s conscience. “She pats me on the fingers and tells me not to just hang around in the back.”

Cheeky noble technician

The trend change for the better took place in Kitzbühel. With the best time in the second run, Gstrein not only recommended himself for the Olympic squad, but suddenly the handbrake that had previously blocked him was released. With fifth place in Schladming at the latest, the certainty returned that “I can be at the front again.”

In the first slalom run on the Stelvio it took the scoreboard to even notice that he was on course for a medal. “I was really shocked that I was third,” says Gstrein, “the ride didn’t feel good at all.”

The second run was a real masterpiece in terms of ski technique and nerves. Gstrein’s method may not be completely understandable for a layman – “drive boldly towards the gate and the ski will go around the gate” – but the Ötztaler achieved the best running time, which was rewarded with silver.

The second medal cannot outshine the problems in the ÖSV men’s team, but it at least provides a little peace. “It’s not nice when the trainers get hit on the head and the writing is bad,” says Fabio Gstrein. “This medal is also proof that that we are doing a lot of things right.“