First Team World Championships for Germany.

 The German Ski Team finished the 2005 World Championships on a high note with a surprising yet deserved triumph in the first ever Team Competition organized during the FIS World Championships.
The group lead by established veterans as Martina Ertl, Hilde Gerg, Monika Bergmann Schmuderer and Florian Eckert beat the Austrians by just three –points despite the presence of top-champions as Renate Goetschl, Benjamin Raich and Michael Walchhofer.
France came in 3rd 12 points behind the Germans while USA was 4th only a point away from the podium.
It’s a great revenge for the German athletes who were not so lucky in recent weeks – especially for the 2001 combined World Champion Martina Ertl, who skied out in Super-G and slalom and finished 4th in giant slalom. She was happy to share the success with her brother Andreas, who competed in combined and slalom.

"I'm really delighted by this victory, we all fought very hard for this title which means a lot to us," said Martina after the awards.

"I achieved quite a strong run in Super-G and I found a good rhythm in my slalom run as well. It's quite an exciting and fun competition which requires some tactical approach. It's important to ski fast yet even more to finish the races and score low points. It's nice that our team became the first one to get the title in this competition. It's quite important for us after the disappointing past weeks." 
The Austrian Federation, who dominated the men’s individual events (ten medals for Benjamin Raich, Michael Walchhofer, Hermann Maier and Rainer Schoenfelder) certainly expected the win this first Team Competition. Yet Nicole Hosp, who crashed in her slalom run and Benjamin Raich, only 5th in slalom, were not able to ski at their usual pace, which cost the decisive points to the team.

 5 medals for Benjamin Raich

At least, Benjamin equalled the record of medals set by Lasse Kjus in 1999 with this silver medal – his fifth in total. A two-time World Champion (combined and slalom), the Tyrolian also grabbed silver in giant slalom and bronze in Super-G. He was the greatest winner of these World Championships.
France was lucky that Canada and USA struggled in the slalom runs. Bode Miller, winner in Super-G as Daron Rahlves, skied out in slalom as Patrick Biggs, the promising newcomer of the Canadian team. Pierrick Bourgeat was a strong 2nd in slalom while Jean Pierre Vidal, excellent 5th in Super-G, was a solid 4th in slalom.
The other teams were never able to fight for victory – even Italy despite the wonderful success of Nadia Fanchini in her Super-G run.
This Team Event was definitely an excellent and fun way to conclude these World Championships which were quite exciting on a technical point of view, confirming the class of superstars as Janica Kostelic, Anja Paerson, Benjamin Raich, Bode Miller and Hermann Maier. Congratulation to them!


Goodbye Valtellina – and see you all in Torino next year and in Are in February 2007.

Patrick Lang