Four gold medals already

Austria wins everything at this World Ski Championships

Melissa Köck and Christoph Lebelhuber celebrated gold in the giant slalom.(Bild: Jürgen Albel)

Austria is winning everything at the World Deaf Ski Championships in Jasna. On Saturday, Melissa Köck and Christoph Lebelhuber won gold in the giant slalom. For the Carinthian, it was her third victory in Slovakia. For Lebelhuber it was his first ever gold at a World Championships.

Lebelhuber says about the particular challenge of skiing as a deaf person: "We not only perceive sounds and noises with our ears, the inner ear also contains the organ of balance. Hearing loss severely impairs the sense of balance. Dizziness and coordination difficulties are the result." Nevertheless, he stands on skis like a one.

Christoph Lebelhuber stood at the top of the podium for the first time.(Bild: Jürgen Albel)

Outstanding second run
His greatest successes before the coup in Jasna were bronze in the giant slalom at the 2015 Winter Olympics for deaf athletes in Magnitogorsk (Russia) and two silver medals in the speed disciplines at the 2017 World Championships in Innerkrems. Now he has fulfilled his big dream of winning his first gold. As with many other skiers, the path to this goal was accompanied by serious knee injuries. But the 35-year-old kept at it and has now been rewarded. After second place in the first run, he really came up trumps in the final, taking over a second off the Italian Loranzi, who was leading at the halfway point.

His main job is as an electronics technician at Fronius in Sattledt. The Upper Austrian says: "Despite my good speech development and my implant, I am often limited by my hearing loss, and the simplest actions can quickly become a big challenge for me. Success in skiing gives me priceless self-confidence and often makes me forget my disability for a valuable time."

The parallel competition continues on Sunday before the title fights end on Monday with the slalom. The shower of medals can therefore continue.