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Katharina Liensberger (l.) And Marta Bassino (r.) Both received gold
Photo: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
The premiere of the parallel competition at the Alpine World Ski Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo was a memorable one, albeit in a negative sense.
"I don't want to see such a format at a World Championship," said ARD expert Felix Neureuther, who made contact with men's race director Markus Waldner during the race.
The Italian overall World Cup winner Federica Brignone spoke of "the most unfair race of my career".
And then there was also confusion about who actually won.
But one after anonther.
Bassino wins the duel - right?
In the parallel format, the athletes race against each other twice, each one once on each course.
Basically, the times are then added up and the faster one goes further or - in the final - wins the competition.
But if you fall in the first run or accumulate a deficit that is too great, the time does not go on forever, but stops at 0.50 seconds.
In the women's final, the Italian Marta Bassino and the Austrian Katharina Liensberger faced each other.
Liensberger started the first run on the much faster course and took more than half a second from her competitor.
However, as mentioned, there is a maximum advantage of five tenths of a second in this competition, which you can take with you in the second round.
Liensberger was allowed onto the track half a second before Bassino.
After a thrilling duel, the two opponents crossed the finish line in parallel.
The world champion was now called Bassino, because she had set the faster time in the second run.
The fact that Liensberger was the faster rider in all of the two races no longer played a role due to the maximum advantage.
Liensberger can still cheer
Thanks to the unequal track conditions, Bassino celebrated gold, Liensberger only came second.
The Austrian was already giving interviews in the finish area when she found out that she had not only won silver, but even gold, just like Bassino.
"There are clear regulations that allow simultaneous runners," said ÖSV women's head coach Christian Mitter immediately after the race.
"We already discussed on the track that the rule that the faster one wins from the second run is actually crazy." According to information from the "Standard", ÖSV sports director Toni Giger intervened at the FIS ski association to give them two gold medals must.
That was granted.
TV expert Neureuther, who had to see a German Alexander Schmid falling in the race for third place in the men's competition, stuck to his verdict: “This is not a good advertisement for skiing.
A disaster."
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mfu / sid / dpa