Kriechmayr:

“I could have done better myself”

Vincent Kriechmayr was the best Austrian in Crans Montana.(Bild: AFP/APA/Maxime Schmid)

Excuses? Not from and with Vincent Kriechmayr! Although Austria's speed routinier might have "grabbed" the podium at the downhill in Crans Montana on Saturday with a higher starting number, he was ice-cold in his ORF analysis: "I could have done better too."

Asked by ORF interviewer Rainer Pariasek about the initially difficult, then gradually improving conditions, Kriechmayr said: "Maybe a higher number would have been better. It's always difficult for the FIS officials to decide whether they should have let the race start better. But I could have skied better." After all, the Swiss Alexis Monney, who started the race with bib number six directly in front of Kriechmayr, "skied tremendously" directly in front of him. Conclusion: "I could have done better."

Just missed the podium
"Vinc" narrowly missed out on the podium. He was just under four tenths off the money mentioned and thus third place. Fourth place was still the best result for an Austrian in the downhill - on the course where the World Championship medals will be contested in 2027.