Ski fairytale: Haaser wins gold and writes ÖSV history in Saalbach!

Ski fairytale: Haaser wins gold and writes ÖSV history in Saalbach!

Austria is celebrating a sensational ski fairytale! The 27-year-old Tyrolean Raphael Haaser impressively won gold in the giant slalom at the Ski World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. With a time of 2:39.71 minutes, he beat strong Swiss competitors Thomas Tumler (+0.23 seconds) and Loïc Meillard (+0.51 seconds) and thus brought home Austria's sixth medal at this World Cup 5min.at reported.

After his silver medal in the Super-G, Haaser crowned an impressive performance in front of his home crowd. In a race that was accompanied by intense emotions, the Tyrolean admitted: "It's unbelievable, I drove quite well." Amid the sea of ​​flags, Haaser found his way back to his best after a two-month injury break and the mental strain caused by his sister Ricarda's injury-related absences. Marco Schwarz took fifth place after a courageous run, while the well-known Swiss superstar Marco Odermatt only won the “Blech” with fourth place (+0.58), like the press reported.

A historic triumph

Haaser's victory is particularly notable as he is the first Austrian giant slalom world champion since Rudi Nierlich in 1991. Despite the Swiss' previous dominance in the World Cup, where they had previously recorded eleven victories in the giant slalom this season, Haaser triumphed exactly at the home World Cup and thus crowned a fairytale competition. This gold medal is not just a personal success for Haaser, but another highlight in Austrian ski history.