Copper Mountain, USA – Alexander Schmid โand Fabian Gratz boosted their Olympic qualification chances with strong performances at tehโฃ second โgiant slalom โฃWorld Cup event in Copperโ Mountain, Colorado, on Sunday. Schmid surged โto tenth place from 24th after โthe first run, while Gratz achieved his career-best World Cup finish in 13th.
The results mark important progress for the German ski team โas they aim to secureโ spots for the 2026โฃ Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (Febuary 6th to 22nd). โฃSchmid and Gratz โeach secured half of the โOlympic standard, requiring one top-8 finish or two top-15 placements โคto fully qualify. Anton Grammel finished 19th,earning partial qualification after achieving half the standard at the Sรถlden giant slalom earlier this season.
Austrian Stefan Brennsteiner claimedโฃ his first World Cup victory, finishing ahead โof Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen and Croatia’s Filip Zubฤiฤ. โ
Theโข competition saw a surprising early exitโฃ for Swiss favorite Marcoโ Odermatt, the reigning overallโ World Cup champion, who โฃwas eliminated in the โฃfirst run despite holding a lead. โฃFellow germans โJonas Stockinger โคand โคHannesโ amman also failedโ to advance โfrom theโ first โคround, while โLinus Straรer was disqualified.
Source: โคntv.de, sue/dpa/sid