Skaters compete for a silver and bronze medal at the World Cup

Rogla (AFP) – Ramona Hofmeister shrugged her shoulders after the desperate final, but fell happily around the neck of teammate Selena Jörg as vice-world champion.

Leading German ice skaters raced for a silver and bronze medal in the parallel slalom in Rogla, Slovenia. “This is really indescribable,” said Hofmeister from Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

One day after Jörg Gold’s victory in the parallel giant slalom, the athletes from Snowboard Germany had to only admit defeat to Russian Sofia Nadirschina. But then they were both jubilant on the podium for the World Cup winners – Hoffmeister was, above all, relaxed, and Jörg was somewhat surprised. “We are really podium buddies,” Hofmeister said. “Sharing this is amazing.”

While Hofmeister (Bischofswiesen) won her second World Cup medal after bronze in 2019, Sonthofen’s Jörg won three plates: after two titles in 2019 and 2021 and now bronze in Rogla, she is the most successful German skater in World Cup history. “I don’t have words for any of this,” she said. “After yesterday, my head was so tired. Everything was so touching. And blatantly, that was enough for the podium. I never would have expected that.”

In the grand final against 17-year-old Nadirschina, Hofmeister risked everything and was knocked out in her catch-up race. “I’ll get the gold again,” said the 24-year-old, but does not mourn the missing title for a moment. But there has to be a celebration first. “We’ll definitely open a beer.”

After the disappointment on Monday when she was disqualified from the premier favorites in the quarter-finals, Hofmeister showed no weaknesses this time around. The previous season’s World Cup winner and current leader said she felt “extra pressure” again.

Jörg had only lost Vengeance in Monday’s final against Nadirschina in the semifinals. In the small final, the 33-year-old narrowly beat Megan Farrell of Canada. “It was amazing,” said national team coach Paul Marx. Sporting director Andreas Scheid gave a “very positive summary” of the World Cup.

In contrast, the title fight for Cheyenne Loch Foam Schliersee, who lost the quarter-finals due to an early foul against Farrell, remained without a happy ending. Caroline Langenhorst was eliminated from Bischofswiesen in the first round.

Unlike the women, the men experienced another disappointment: as the day before, all four of the rookies around Stefan Baumeister (Ice-bang), who won two bronze medals at the World Cup in 2019, missed the finals. The gold went to Benjamin Karl, who asserted himself in the final against fellow Austrian Andreas Bromiger.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210302-99-657875 / 4