Tears after triumph

Sad Feller message to his dead friend

Manuel Feller wrote his dead friend's name in the Saalbach snow in the hour of triumph.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Manuel Feller thought of his loved ones even in the hour of his greatest triumph. Immediately after his second place at the World Cup final in Saalbach and winning the small crystal globe, the Tyrolean thanked his deceased friend.

Feller is presented with his first crystal globe, cheers with the 13,600 fans and then sinks to the ground. On the finish slope, the Tyrolean writes "Mathi" in the snow with his right index finger and then points up to the sky. "Yes, it's very emotional for me," says the slalom king in an interview with ORF. "I wrote the name of a friend who sadly passed away a year and a half ago, two days before Sölden, in the snow. He didn't have much to do with skiing, but he had a big influence on me and my friends' personalities. I definitely wouldn't be the person I am today if it hadn't been for him. His two brothers were there too, they are also good friends of mine. I just wanted to share a brief moment with him."

His buddy didn't have much to do with skiing, "he was more of a skater and snowboarder," explained Feller. "He really influenced me in music, and he was the cohesion of our whole circle of friends and had a massive impact on my personality. I definitely wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for him."

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"I'm Tyrolean, I drink every schnapps"
But that's all the more reason to celebrate. "I'm Tyrolean, I drink every schnapps," Feller says. "Let's see how long I can hold out. Because if I don't celebrate, then I don't know. Tomorrow evening I have to be fit, I have another TV appearance." Manu" will appear on ServusTV together with Stefan Kraft.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Feller will be supported by family and friends at the party marathon. Many of the 13,600 fans were from the Fieberbrunn native's home region. Even his 80-year-old grandmother came to cheer on her grandson live as he lifted the crystal ball. And to see him again with long hair, as cutting was on the agenda for the evening.

The Saalbach-Hinterglemm region has "less to fear from him than from my friends", said Feller and laughed. "I hope they are still halfway fit when I join them. When the day is so long, you don't actually get to eat much and then go full speed ahead into a party like this, it can be over very quickly."

"A lifetime of training for parties"
"It's just wonderful, especially in front of a home crowd," said Feller, who expressed his gratitude to all his fans who have supported him this winter and over the years. "It's the best you can imagine. Unbelievable, what more could you want. If you were writing a script, this is probably how you would write it. That I can celebrate my greatest success at home in Austria, a few kilometers as the crow flies from my hometown. With so many friends who are important to me, with family and acquaintances."

Alongside the births of his two children, this was "certainly one of the best moments in my life". Incidentally, his recently damaged index finger no longer caused any problems when lifting the object of desire. "I've trained all my life for this party," said the runner-up in last season's slalom.