Strong qualification

Lussnig strikes twice on the Reiteralm

Nicolas Lussnig impressed at his home World Cup on the Reiteralm.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

On Thursday and Friday, the world's ski cross elite will be making a guest appearance on the Reiteralm in Styria. Due to the rather mixed weather forecast for Wednesday, there was a double qualifier for both competitions on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Nicolas Lussnig from Vorarlberg made a very positive impression.

Last year, the home World Cup on the Reiteralm in Styria was under everything but a good star from a Ländle perspective. Before the comeback attempt by Sonja Gigler from Harden could gain momentum after her cruciate ligament rupture at the 2023 World Championships in Bankuriani (Geo), the police athlete ruptured her cruciate ligament again during training on site. Mathias Graf from Dornbirn - who has since retired - also had to pull out of the two races with unbearable back pain after a jump he had just completed. Claudio Andreatta and Nicolas Lussnig, who made it into the points in Ennstal, were the only bright spots from Vorarlberg.

Confident performances bring qualification
While Andreatta is out of the Reiteralm this year due to a cruciate ligament rupture suffered during the night sprint in Arosa, 23-year-old Lussnig proved once again yesterday that he feels right at home on the Reiteralm. After finishing 15th in the qualification for tomorrow's first race as the best Austrian, the Oberlander also qualified for the second race on Friday in 24th place.

Nicolas Lussnig had a good laugh on the qualifying day on the Reiteralm.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Quarter-finals and more
"I'm really happy with how it went today," beamed the Atomic skier at the finish after qualifying for both races of a World Cup double event for the first time. "The slope is much better to ski this year than last year, but the light changes are very demanding and it's also quite icy in the final section." Klaus has big plans for the race. "It would be cool to make it to the quarter-finals like we did in Val Thorens in December - or maybe even further," explained Lussnig.