Copper Mountain, USA – Alexander Schmid and Fabian Gratz boosted their Olympic qualification chances with strong performances at teh second giant slalom World Cup event in Copper Mountain, Colorado, on Sunday. Schmid surged to tenth place from 24th after the first run, while Gratz achieved his career-best World Cup finish in 13th.
The results mark important progress for the German ski team as they aim to secure spots for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo (Febuary 6th to 22nd). Schmid and Gratz each secured half of the Olympic standard, requiring one top-8 finish or two top-15 placements to fully qualify. Anton Grammel finished 19th,earning partial qualification after achieving half the standard at the Sölden giant slalom earlier this season.
Austrian Stefan Brennsteiner claimed his first World Cup victory, finishing ahead of Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen and Croatia’s Filip Zubčić.
The competition saw a surprising early exit for Swiss favorite Marco Odermatt, the reigning overall World Cup champion, who was eliminated in the first run despite holding a lead. Fellow germans Jonas Stockinger and Hannes amman also failed to advance from the first round, while Linus Straßer was disqualified.
Source: ntv.de, sue/dpa/sid
