Image: Keystone
After another five podium finishes at the weekend, Switzerland is facing its first victory in the Alpine Nations Cup in 30 years. For Carlo Janka this is not really a reason to celebrate.
Once again this season, the ski weekend is very encouraging from a Swiss perspective. Lara Gut-Behrami and Corinne Suter shine in Crans-Montana with two one-two downhill victories in a row, Marco Odermatt takes second place in the giant slalom of Yuzawa Naeba. This means that the Swiss ski team is already at 43 podiums this winter and is on the verge of knocking Austria off the throne after 30 years. The lead over the arch rivals is now 918 points.
This would be a milestone for Swiss Ski boss Urs Lehmann: “For our entire system, for Swiss Ski, for the trainers and for the team, it is one of the highest awards that can be won,” he said in an interview with of the “Aargauer Zeitung” and explains: “It also shows that we have worked very well at Swiss Ski in recent years. I definitely enjoy our leadership in the Nations Cup. ”
And Wendy Holdener recently announced that she would celebrate a party with the men’s team at the season finale in Cortina should the Nations Cup win succeed.
Yule: “Success in a nation ranking doesn’t help me”
However, not all those directly involved see the gratifying team result as reason to celebrate. “As a solo athlete, I’m not really interested in the Nations Cup,” says Carlo Janka. “There is a lot of enthusiasm about it at the moment, but for us racing drivers it is not that important.”
Slalom specialist Daniel Yule also attaches little importance to the nations ranking: «I am happy for the many Swiss ski fans, but personally I am not interested in the Nations Cup. I am interested in the crystal ball for the victory in the slalom classification. A success in the ranking of the nations is of no use to me as an individual athlete, ”the 27-year-old explains to Blick.
Janka also points out that they have never looked at this rating in the past 30 years. Now it will be “especially inflated by the media”. For this reason, Holdener will have to celebrate the victory party without the Obersaxer. «No, I won’t be there. It is a good thing if we win this cup. But it won’t change my life. »
