Several hundred cross-country skiers from all over the world took part in the Masters World Championships in Seefeld/Tyrol.
A trio from the district also did a good job.
Seefeld
– There was something going on at the “Masters World Cup”, the unofficial world championship for cross-country skiers aged 30 and over: seven races were on the program for around 900 athletes from all over the world within six days in Seefeld/Tyrol.
Warm weather made for difficult conditions.
A trio from the district nevertheless put themselves in the limelight.
Ludwig Höfler even won a medal in the relay.
Peter Grünebach achieves his goals in Seefeld
One man, one word - that's how Peter Grünebach
thinks
.
Pollinger (74) had already booked a place for the Masters World Championships in Seefeld in June 2022.
If he had known at the time that the World Championships in winter triathlon were taking place in Norway at the same time, he would have made a different decision.
But Grünebach, a proven triathlon specialist, stuck to his commitment to pure Nordic skiing.
At the age of about 60, he switched to cross-country skiing as a career changer from alpine skiing.
He describes himself as "rather inexperienced".
There were two main goals for Grünebach: not being last and “no falls with health consequences”.
He achieved both.
With a smile, Grünebach summed it up: "It was still fun, although no one shared their waxing secrets with me."
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Each participant could complete a maximum of three individual starts, and there was also the chance of being nominated for the relay.
Grünebach chose the free technique three times.
On the short distance (7 kilometers), the man from Pollinger took 27th place out of 36 in the M9 class (men between 70 and 74 years) with a time of 29:35 minutes.
"The trails were soggy and in the deep Sulz the risk of falling and injury was omnipresent - especially on the fast descents," reported Grünebach.
This applied to all other races.
Softened snow presented special challenges
The middle distance was 15 kilometers, in this competition Grünebach finished 27th, leaving seven athletes behind.
The clock stopped for the Pollinger after 1:08:31 hours.
The winner, the Finn Sakari Matikainen (b. 1949), reached the finish line after 48:19 minutes.
"The advantage lay with those who had snow on their doorstep this season, such as the Scandinavians," says Grünebach.
In the older age groups, the Germans remained without a win.
The overall best German in Grünebach's age group, Karl-Heinz Baltromejus (born 1952) from TSG Schotte, who finished fourth three times, still managed to cover around 2,000 kilometers of snow (including runs on glaciers).
Grünebach had recorded 350 kilometers for himself this winter.
Despite everything, things went well for the German team.
In the end, the first place in the national ranking was recorded.
The 150 women and men between the ages of 31 and 86 won 72 medals (24 gold, 28 silver, 20 bronze).
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At the end of the competitions, some of which took place on the trails used in the World Cup, Grünebach tackled the long distance.
Due to the weather, it was shortened from 30 to 20 kilometers.
With a time of 1:17:12 hours he ended up in 19th place among 23 starters.
Heidrun Höfler completes three individual starts
Although it was "only" an unofficial world championship, the referees watched with eagle eyes that everything went according to the rules.
Heidrun Höfler
felt that
right away at her first appearance.
The athlete from Rottenbuch was disqualified for the short distance (7 kilometers) in the classic technique.
She unintentionally made a style mistake in the so-called technical zone, which was immediately sanctioned.
+
World Cup as a family affair: Ludwig Höfler from Burggen and daughter Heidrun Höfler.
© private
In the following races, Höfler was spared such problems.
In the afternoon of the same day, the endurance athlete started on the short distance in skating style.
With a time of 27:06 minutes, she took 13th place among 15 classified women in class W4 (45 to 49 years).
The slushy snow had bothered Höfler.
Some of the participants sank ten centimeters deep.
She completed her third individual race over the middle distance: Höfler ran the 15 kilometers in free technique in 1:02:43 hours, which brought her twelfth place.
Ludwig Höfler leads German squadron to silver
Ludwig Höfler
(75) had problems with the bindings on his skating skis
twice .
That had given him a lot of trouble on both the short distance (5 kilometers) and the middle distance (10 kilometers).
The Burggener fell a total of three times – he was denied top places in the M10 class (75 to 79 years).
But the veteran stayed cool.
When he was nominated for a relay assignment, he was of course there - and brought the German quartet the silver medal as the last runner.
Equipped with new bindings, Höfler (b. 1947) did not allow himself to be unsettled by the falls beforehand.
In the relay over 4 x 5 kilometers he even took the final position.
In third position, he was sent on his journey by Joachim Kretzschmar (born 1946).
Höfler overtook the American Bob Gray and thus moved up to silver.
As a result, however, he had to fend off the Finn Paako Vaino, who roared at great speed from behind.
But the Burggener fended off the attack and crossed the finish line as a sovereign second.
Ludwig Höfler is unlucky twice with defective bindings
Karlheinz Schmitt (born 1944) and Ulrich Friedemann (born 1946) from Starnberg had completed the classic part in the team.
Together the relay came to a time of 59:27 minutes.
The Swiss team proved to be in a class of their own, winning gold with 54:00 minutes.
Norway took last place in this competition (1:06:32).
The trail had been treated with salt overnight and was "wonderfully prepared", according to Höfler.
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The conditions in the previous races were far more difficult.
Like his daughter, Ludwig Höfler started the World Championships with the short distance in the classic style.
The skis didn't cause him any problems there - in sixth place (16:29) among 23 athletes, he delivered an excellent result over the 5 kilometers.
Colleagues Schmitt (5th) and Friedemann (7th) were directly in front of and behind him.
The Norwegian Kjell Johnsen won (15:06).
In the skating race in the afternoon, Höfler had problems with the binding for the first time.
With 19:35 minutes he took 13th place among 19 classifieds.
Over the middle distance (10 kilometers) in free style, the man from Burgener came eleventh (37:44).
