Oct. 26, 2013

The women ran the 2 legs of the Super G in front of a crowd that will be in full-party mode right now in this pulsating resort at the southern end of the Otztal valley. The home crowd left in good spirits with a 2nd and 4th place although losing to Switzerland and just being ahead of a German racer does not usually fit well with the Austrian psyche. There should be plenty of pale faces to blend into the glacier snow tomorrow – Solden parties mighty hard and the festivities were in full flow by late afternoon.

The men are set to race their 2 legs tomorrow, whilst the fan clubs are awarded prizes based predominantly on the bizarre if their street parades were anything to go by. My vote would be for a French fan club that created a beach float with sunbathing woman and board-shorted partner busy grilling fish on an open fire – random in the extreme. Race results from today:

1. Lara Gut (SUI) 2:25.16

2. Kathrin Zettel (AUT) 2:26.00

3. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) 2:26.44

4. Anna Fenninger (AUT) 2:26.57

5. Tina Weirather (LIE) 2:26.74