Marcel W. Perrenreporter sports
7.45 a.m.: “Breakfast”
Beat Feuz is having breakfast in the Hotel Schweizerhof. As befits a farmer’s son from Emmental, he fortifies himself with cheese, ham, bread and some honey. However, his appetite is not particularly pronounced. While other athletes go to the buffet a second time, Feuz leaves it at one portion. Not far from the Schweizerhof, Beat’s longtime downhill rival Aksel Lund Svindal treats himself to a hearty brunch this morning. “Beat will find out next year that breakfast on the day of the Hahnenkamm descent tastes much better if you don’t have to ski down this dangerous slope yourself…”
8:34 a.m.: Dressen gondola
The triple Streif winner arrives with his teammate Justin Murisier at the valley station of the Hahnenkamm cable car. All gondolas are labeled with the names of the Hahnenkamm winners. That’s why a Feuz cabin hovers over Kitzbühel. But the ball lightning climbs into the gondola with the inscription Thomas Dressen. This is remarkable because the German screwed up Feuz’s first Streif triumph at the last moment in 2018. At that time, the Schangnauer was in the lead after the first starting group. But then Dressen with starting number 19 benefited from the constantly improving visibility and was ultimately two tenths faster.
9.17 a.m.: Circuit inspection
During the route inspection below the Mausefalle, Feuz reached the position of his trainer Manfred Widauer. The Tyrolean completed the first session with Beat in 2014 at a time when, due to the aftermath of a severe knee infection, it was unclear whether the 1.72 meter man would make it to the top again. But then the Feuz/Widauer duo won all the big downhill titles. But what does the successful coach from the Kitzbühel region think his Swiss protégé is capable of at the Dernière? “Beat will probably not show the very last willingness to take risks this time, as he did with his really big victories. But I am sure that he will once again deliver a sparkling clean, technically flawless ride.”
10.45am: Warm up with Paris
The 2017 downhill world champion arrives at the start area 45 minutes before the start of the race. In addition to Feuz, one of his best friends, three-time Kitz champion Dominik Paris, is warming up. The South Tyrolean reveals: “The Beat and I always have fun together. Two sentences are enough for us until we hold our bellies laughing. » Once the Feuz and Paris families even vacationed together. “It was a lot of fun, but also quite exhausting because Beat and I had to keep chasing the kids.”
11:55 a.m.: The last ride
The moment that causes great melancholy among many fans has come. Feuz is at the start of the race for the very last time. And the 35-year-old, who has 17 World Cup victories to his credit, is off to a really strong start. At the last split, the father of two is four tenths off the podium, but on the last leg he’s still six tenths behind third-placed Ami Travis Ganong. But that is irrelevant on this day. “Of course, in the last section things didn’t go as I had imagined. But until then I was once again on very solid skis. But the most important thing is that I’m healthy at the finish line.”
The first to hug the Neo-Alpine pensioner in the finish area is teammate Niels Hintermann. “I will miss Beat not only because of his outstanding athletic skills, but also because of his apt sayings,” says the Zurich native. Hintermann delivers a sample of the special Feuz humor: “When I had almost no voice in Wengen, Beat said to me: ‘My favorite people from Zurich are those from Zurich that you can hardly hear’.”
Now he is a ski pensioner: Downhill king Beat Feuz celebrates at the Kitzbühel finish(00:51)
12.05 p.m .: Handshake with “Terminator”
After briefly hugging his girlfriend Katrin and their two daughters Clea and Luisa, Beat’s big interview and congratulatory tour begins in the Kitzbühler Ziel Stadium. Racing colleagues, supervisors and journalists bow to our downhill king. And “Terminator” Arnold Schwarzenegger shakes hands with the Olympic champion at the end of his outstanding career. Feuz laughs: «In previous encounters, Arnie always praised my thick thighs. He didn’t do that this time. Maybe I’ve already lost some weight…”
1.37 p.m .: After work beer
It’s time for a beer after work: Feuz toasts his colleagues, trainers and outfitters with canned beer.
2.10 p.m.: Off to the hotel
Before going to the hotel, he waves to the audience one last time. Bye Beat, it was wonderful with you.
All information about the ski season 2022/23
Now it’s back to dancing through the forest of poles and thundering down the downhill slopes. Here you will find everything you need to know about the new ski season.
Now it’s back to dancing through the forest of poles and thundering down the downhill slopes. Here you will find everything you need to know about the new ski season.