Speed lady surprises

ÖSV girl races to her debut victory with number one

Marie Therese Haller made her first appearance in Obdach.(Bild: Roro)

Great joy among Vorarlberg's young hopefuls. At the FIS giant slalom in Obdach, Styria, Marie Therese Haller from Kleinwalsertal was able to celebrate her very first victory at FIS level. Leonie Zegg from Lech delivered a big surprise, finishing in third place with a high number.

"Some people came up to me before the start and said that I should definitely take advantage of the number one spot," reveals Marie Therese Haller. Words that the skier from Kleinwalsertal took to heart, outdid the competition and went into the final 0.98 seconds ahead of her closest rivals.

Nerves of steel
There, the 18-year-old showed nerves of steel and relegated Tyrolean Sarah Huber to second place by 81 hundredths of a second. "Not everything worked out as I had hoped in the end. That's why this success is all the better," said the godchild of Stefanie Schuster, bronze medal winner of the 1999 World Championship downhill in Vail, delighted with her very first victory at FIS level.

Leonie Zegg was able to celebrate third place and her - by far - best FIS points to date in the giant slalom.(Bild: Peter Weihs/Kronenzeitung)

From the Four Hills Tournament to the podium
Haller's roommate Leonie Zegg was also able to celebrate. The Lech native, who has primarily shone in the downhill and super-G so far, skied to seventh place with number 38, from where the 20-year-old improved to third place in the final with the second-best time (+0.86). "Even in the last training sessions, things went very well in the giant and I knew that I could achieve a result like this if I also performed like this in the race," beamed the head skier, who was keeping her fingers crossed for boyfriend Jonas Schuster at the Four Hills Tournament qualifiers in Innsbruck and Bischofshofen.