As of: February 22, 2024, 8:45 a.m
By: Paul Hopp
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Successful at the Passo Tonale: (from left) Ludwig Höfler, Heidrun Höfler, Peter Grünebach and Marianne Grünebach won medals at various distances at the “Winter World Master Games”.
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It wasn't exactly pleasant.
At the “World Master Games” the participants had to brave sub-zero temperatures.
A quartet from the district managed this very well.
Vermiglio
– The participants in the “Winter World Master Games” certainly couldn’t be sensitive to the cold this year.
At the world's largest winter sports event for senior athletes, the temperature was minus five to minus ten degrees Celsius, at least during the cross-country skiing competitions.
A quartet from the district apparently had no problems with this.
The married couple Peter and Marianne Grünebach as well as the father-daughter team Ludwig and Heidrun Höfler were successful in action - they also won medals in almost all of their missions.
Subzero temperatures on the trail at World Master Games
The Winter Games for athletes over 30 took place in Lombardy for eleven days.
Around 2,000 participants from all over the world were counted.
They now even exchange their self-made recordings with athletes from Japan, reports Peter Grünebach.
This time the setting was the Italian region of Lombardy.
Competition venues for disciplines such as biathlon, ice hockey, ski mountaineering, short track, figure skating and curling included places such as Sondrio and Bormio.
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The Nordic ski athletes competed in Vermiglio, which is located on the Passo Tonale right on the border between Trentino and Lombardy.
The trails “were perfectly prepared,” says Peter Grünebach.
Both he and the other three district athletes completed an extensive program.
Races were available over three distances: short (5 or 7.5 kilometers long depending on the age group), medium (10/15) and long (15/30).
Heidrun Höfler has an exciting duel with the Dane
On the short distance in free style , Heidrun Höfler
(born 1976/W45)
had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it finale.
The Rottenbuch native ran the 7.5 kilometers in 28:38.6 minutes.
She missed the bronze medal by just 1.7 seconds.
Fourth place behind the Dane Maliina Abelsen was recorded.
“Bad luck,” commented Peter Grünebach on the close race outcome.
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Over the middle distance (15 kilometers), Heidrun Höfler then turned the tables: With a time of 1:07:08.8 hours, she left the Dane six seconds behind and won the bronze medal.
Two days later, the Rottenbuch native won the silver medal in the women's 4 x 2 kilometer relay with the German team behind Italy.
Heidrun Höfler completed the skating part much faster than the second German in the relay.
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At the end, Heidrun Höfler shone in second place over the 30 kilometers in free style.
Peter Grünebach said she had a “great race”.
She crossed the finish line after 2:11:49 hours, almost seven minutes faster than the third-placed Dane Abelsen this time.
The Italian Patrizia Panizza (2:01:05) won confidently;
She completed her fourth gold medal in skating style at these competitions.
Marianne Grünebach takes bronze in the short distance
For
Marianne Grünebach
(born 1954/W65) the Winter Games began with a bronze medal.
On the short distance (5 kilometers) she delivered a remarkable performance with 27:52.0 minutes.
At the last “Winter World Master Games” to date, held in Seefeld/Tyrol in 2020,
the Pollinger woman won three plaques
(2 x silver/1 x bronze).
In the middle distance (10 kilometers), Grünebach, who recently celebrated her 70th birthday, also finished the race in third place (1:11:07).
She didn't start the long distance (15 kilometers) due to a cold.
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Peter Grünebach
(born 1948) and Ludwig Höfler (born 1947)
completed their races in Vermiglio in the same age group, the M75 .
On the short route there was an all-German podium in free style.
Grünebach (18:23) finished second, Höfler (23.229) crossed the finish line in third place. The victory was won in a superior manner by 75-year-old Josef Ilgner (Brigach/Black Forest) in 16:11 minutes.
Ludwig Höfler is on top of it in the middle distance
In the middle distance, “
Ludwig Höfler
did everything right,” praised Peter Grünebach.
The Burggener crossed the finish line in second place on well-waxed skis.
Höfler (50:48) relegated former Italian ice hockey professional Franco Frigo (51:26) to third place.
Peter Grünebach (53:20) says he immediately realized that he was wrong with his choice of liquid wax.
He finished fourth at the finish.
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Ludwig Höfler had special reason to be happy in the relay races.
Together with Konrad Blum, Ilgner and Ludwig Saller, the Burggener won the gold medal.
Höfler acted as the starting runner in the classic style.
In the end, the German quartet finished almost six and a half minutes ahead of the second-placed French.
Peter Grünebach shines on the long distance
In the long distance it was Peter Grünebach who was at the top of the podium.
The Pollinger was the first to leave the starting box and after one kilometer he was overtaken by the Italian Frigo.
Grünebach was able to rely on his skis that day and noticed that he was faster than his competitor on the steep climbs on the two-kilometer loop.
On the third lap, the German started to overtake and immediately increased his lead.
“At minus ten degrees your lungs whistled,” reported the Pollinger.
Grünebach kept his pace until the end and came home winner after 1:03:59 hours.
The gap to Frigo was 51 seconds.
Ludwig Höfler had to pay some tribute to the efforts in the previous days;
With 1:09:55 hours he came fourth behind the Frenchman Alain Malatrait.