The ski pensioner drove over the Streif as a forerunner in training and stole the show from the downhill stars.
The task of a forerunner is clearly defined: He should ski down the slopes and test them before the stars, ideally as quickly as possible, but without risking his neck and neck. Those responsible then make it dependent on the impressions and findings of the test drivers whether a race can be started.
The forerunner, who wore the start number F5 at the first training session in Kitzbühel on Wednesday, F for Forerunner, had completely different intentions than testing the Streif for its suitability for racing. He wanted, or at least that’s what he was quoted as saying, above all to prove his own suitability for a patrol.
Big fanfare
On the official start list, the skier was listed as Lars Tragl from Sweden, but the target speaker turned up, the helicopter circling over the Streif and all the photographers, who positioned their long lenses in the direction of the local mountain minutes before start number 1, were closed recognize that F5 could by no means be a Otto-Normal forerunner.
It was the customary and well-known fanfare when Marcel Hirscher appears somewhere. And be it only as a supporting act for the stars. “The sporting appeal of conquering the Streif has always been on my list,” Hirscher said in a press release.
Clear pointer
More could not be elicited from the 32-year-old after his foray, during which the clock officially did not run. The eight-time overall World Cup winner said he was “banned from speaking” at the finish line and pointed meaningfully to the logo of his main sponsor.
The pointer in the direction of Fuschl reveals what Marcel Hirscher was really primarily concerned with: attention and headlines. And the man from Salzburg is not the first to choose the Kitzbühel stage for this, where the staging is everyday and where, despite a number of corona infections among the World Cup journalists, more reporters were at the finish line during the first training session than elsewhere at the races.
subtle criticism
Hirscher had planned his appearance as a precursor well in advance. The days before he had trained with the former head of racing, Axel Naglich, on the Streif. According to fellow racers, he had skied the uppermost sections of the Mausefalle and Steilhang about 40 times. He didn’t want to admit the vulnerability of making a slip during his run and ending up in the safety net. And lots of test drives also mean lots of opportunities for perfectly staged pictures. An action clip, a behind-the-scenes interview and an interview are to be released before the weekend.
The PR campaign did not meet with approval everywhere. “I don’t look at the forerunners,” said double Olympic champion Matthias Mayer. “But if you really want to attract media interest, then you can do it naturally.”