In the blink of an eye, Weidle is missing his first World Cup victory

Kira Weidle seems to be getting in shape just in time for the start of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

On Saturday, the skier from Ski-Club Starnberg finished second in the downhill in Zauchensee – her best World Cup result to date.

Starnberg

– It was only a blink of an eye that Kira Weidle was missing for the first World Cup victory of her career. On the descent in Zauchensee, only one ski racer was faster than the 25-year-old from Starnberg: The Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami was just a tenth of a second ahead of Weidle at the finish - that's less than three meters on the 3005-meter-long route.

At first, the reigning Vice World Champion was a little disappointed about her first World Cup victory, which she so narrowly missed: "That's not much and it annoys me a bit," she said.

But at the latest at the award ceremony she was completely happy again and splashed out with a bottle of sparkling wine. “You can't complain about second place.

That means a lot to me right now," she said.

After all, the placement in Zauchensee was her fourth podium finish overall and, after three third places, her best World Cup result to date.

"Back on the podium, that's the main thing," said the 25-year-old, "there are still a few races left this season, including a few big, important ones.

At some point, hundredth luck will be on my side again.”

Kira Weidle: "It's all in my head"

The previous racing season had been anything but satisfactory for Kira Weidle. At the start in Lake Louise, she finished in a decent seventh and tenth place, which she struggled with. After all, after winning the silver medal at the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, she had higher expectations of herself. But somehow it didn't go as planned. The result: Weidle began to ponder and tense up, even crashing downhill in Val d'Isere in 39th place.

"It's all in my head," said Weidle on Saturday.

And to make sure it's free again, she worked with a professional mental trainer during the four-week break from racing.

He apparently pressed the right button at Weidle, because the necessary looseness seems to be back.

"It was really fun.

That's also the key to success for me," said the Starnberg resident.

Kira Weidle is also gaining momentum in the Super-G

The mental work also had an effect at the following Super-G on Sunday.

In her hitherto clearly weaker discipline, she took 16th place, which is good for her standards - after 15th place last year in St. Anton, her second-best Super-G result so far.

The race at the so-called Kölberloch was extremely close.

She was only 0.82 seconds behind the winner Federica Brignone (Italy).

"It's definitely going in the right direction," said Weidle, "I'm a good tenth behind tenth place, there's not that much missing anymore."

Kira Weidle fuels confidence for the Winter Olympics

The results from Zauchensee, one of her favorite routes – she will also be making her World Cup debut there in 2016 – certainly give hope for the Winter Games in Beijing, which are about to start in just under three weeks.

Her second place "of course gives me self-confidence for the Olympics," said Weidle.

Kira Weidle starts in Cortina d'Ampezzo next week

Nevertheless, it is now necessary to confirm the performance.

Next weekend we are going to the races in Corina d'Ampezzo, where Weidle sensationally won the world championship silver in the downhill on February 13 last year.

The dress rehearsal for Beijing then follows a week later at the home races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Status women's downhill world cup after 4 of 9 races:

1. Sofia Goggia (Italy) 300 points, 2. Breezy Johnson (USA) 240, 3. Ramona Siebenhofer (Austria) 184, 4. Corinne Suter (Switzerland) 181, 5 Mirjam Puchner (Austria) 166 6 Nadia Delago (Italy) 162

8 Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland) 122 9 Federica Brignone (Italy) 110 10 Cornelia Hütter (Austria).

Standings in the women's Super-G World Cup after 5 of 9 races:

1st Sofia Goggia 332 points, 2nd Federica Brignone 327, 3rd Elena Curtoni (all Italy) 248, 4th Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland) 206, 5th Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) 205 6th Ragnhild Mowinckel (Norway) 172 7th Corinne Suter (Switzerland) 149 8th Ariane Rädler (Austria) 139 9th Marta Bassino (Italy) 129 10th Ramona Siebenhofer (Austria) 123, ...