After double rejection

ÖSV girls already have guaranteed places in the World Cup

Austria's EC speed ladies have dominated the season at will so far, winning all four downhill races and taking ten out of twelve possible podium places.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

"We need fixed places for the World Cup that we can get in the European Cup," said ÖSV head of men's Marco Pfeifer recently. A statement that Roland Assinger - Pfeifer's counterpart in the women's event - would immediately endorse. It's a good thing that the first "final announcement" has already been made before the end of January.

After the two EC downhill races in Sella Nevea were canceled following heavy rainfall, only the final race in Kvitfjell on March 16th appears on the calendar. One thing is certain: the Carinthians Nadine Fest and Carmen Spielberger, who are without a squad, can no longer be displaced from the top 3 of the downhill rankings and will have a fixed World Cup ticket and A-squad status in winter 2025/26.

Nadine Fest is in the lead in the European Cup downhill rankings with 380 out of a possible 400 points.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Her Carinthian compatriot Carmen Spielberger is second on 320 points after one win, two second places and one third place.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Olivier has a hand on the fixed ticket
Victoria Olivier has one hand on the third downhill ticket up for grabs for next season. With 215 points, the racer from Auer is currently 79 points ahead of Leonie Zegg from Lech and Sara Allemand (It), who is tied on points. This means that in order to snatch the starting place from "Vici", one of the two would have to finish at least second in Kvitfjell and Olivier would have to finish no better than 30th. Janine Schmitt (Sz) would also have a mathematical chance, but she is already 95 points behind Vici.