Vincent Kriechmayr:

“In hindsight, that was pretty naive of me”

Vincent Kriechmayr(Bild: GEPA)

The knee is holding! Vincent Kriechmayr proved his worth during the endurance test with second place in training. He was completely pain-free during the run - but he also says: "In hindsight, that was pretty naive of me."

"That's very positive," said Vincent Kriechmayr, beaming with the sun on Wednesday in Saalbach. This was not so much due to second place in the first downhill training session, but rather the fact that the stress test for his damaged knee was a success. "I didn't notice anything during the run," the 33-year-old breathed a sigh of relief. It was only at the finish that he had to struggle with pain again - just like after every training session in recent days. He smiled away the pain, preferring to talk about his successful ride: "My aim was to push hard to test my knee - that went very well."

(Bild: AP/APA/BARBARA GINDL)

Which means that "Vinc" is back in time and ready for the hunt for gold just 18 days after his fall in Wengen, which included a pulled inner ligament. "It was only just over two weeks - I wouldn't say that I'm at a big disadvantage," says the 2021 double world champion, whose nerves were put to the test recently.

"In hindsight, that was pretty naive"
"It was a new situation for me. I thought I would be more patient - but patience was something I had to learn." Although he put his patience to the test anyway, desperately wanting to be there in Kitzbühel - before he gave up a start with a heavy heart. "In hindsight, it was pretty naive of me to think I would be competitive there. The pain was just too much, I couldn't even manage with injections," Kriechmayr now takes it with humor. "I just didn't want to sit at home and have the feeling that it might have worked after all."

(Bild: GEPA)

"That's an advantage"
Now it works again. Which he proved impressively. "It's an advantage that we know the track well," says "Vinc". "But this advantage no longer plays a role in the race." After inspecting the Schneekristall course, he would have "expected it to be faster", but he definitely considers it to be worthy of the World Championships. "It's not an easy descent, there are lots of bends that you have to hit. You have to push yourself to the limit on the steep slope, there's a lot of time in there," says "Vinc", who left it open yesterday as to whether he would take part in the second training session.

He will definitely be there on Friday, when the super-G gets down to business. In addition to Kriechmayr, Raphael Haaser, Lukas Feurstein and Stefan Babinsky, who won an internal qualifier in Hinterreit against Daniel Hemetsberger, will start for Red-White-Red.