The 2002/03 season of the Alpine Ski World Cup organized by the FIS began on October 26, 2002 in Sölden and ended on March 16, 2003 on the occasion of the World Cup finals in Hafjell and Kvitfjell . 35 races were held for men (11 downhill runs , 6 super-G , 8 giant slalom , 9 slalom , 1 knockout slalom ). For women there were 32 races (6 downhill runs, 8 super-G, 9 giant slaloms, 8 slaloms, 1 knockout slalom). There were also two combined scores for men and one for women.
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, there were three winners in one race: The simultaneous Andrine Flemmen , Nicole Hosp and Tina Maze shared first place in the giant slalom in Sölden. The highlight of the season was the 2003 World Cup in St. Moritz .
Giorgio Rocca won the slalom in Wengen on January 19th, preventing the sensation man N ° 65 Akira Sasaki from winning and with it the first Japanese World Cup victory with a lead of 4 hundredths .
First World Cup victory for the Liechtensteiner Marco Büchel , who won the Super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in his 115th race with N ° 25 on February 23rd with a lead of 0.13 over Stephan Eberharter .
Women:
In the triple ex-aequo victory at the Sölden giant slalom on October 26th, Nicole Hosp came with start no. 36 to her first success, where she was 11th after the first run.
New overall sponsor
On September 26th, Audi became the new World Cup sponsor, replacing Café de Columbia after seven years of title sponsorship. The German automobile manufacturer has concluded an open-ended contract with FIS, and the parties have agreed not to disclose the amount. The new season began with the Forum Alpinum in Sölden, which focused on various rule changes and the economic situation. FIS President Gian Franco Kasper said that although some places had problems with television because of the church bankruptcy , there were 57 people interested in the title sponsorship. With regard to the rule of thirties, Kasper was of the opinion that the best would drive again in practically the same group and with the same conditions. ÖSV President Peter Schröcksnadel demanded that the season opener should not burden the ÖSV quota with regard to races, and that the ÖSV would not be deprived of the procurement law in its own country with regard to a future venue for the season opening.
The competition consisted of four parts: First there was a qualification for all runners, from the 30 for the second "act", a parallel slalom - although there was a difference between the women's and men's competition - remained. The men did not complete the duel in Part II in parallel, but one behind the other, with the faster one also progressing. The best time holder from the first “portion” went against the thirtieth, the second against the twenty-ninth, etc. Of those, 18 drivers remained, because there was a “lucky loser” for three -Regulation “, there was another parallel slalom. This served to determine the nine finalists who contested a "normal" individual slalom. In the women’s part I was already driven at 2 p.m. on December 14th (victory for Sonja Nef ahead of Anja Pärson and Laure Pequegnot - since Carina Raich came in 30th, this was the first pairing - and when Nef, who was clearly ahead, lost a stick , Raich won), on December 15th the other parts were available from 10:30 am. The men handled the entire program on December 16, with the first part being held at 12 noon and the others as a night event from 5 p.m. We did not make it into the thirties finals. a. Bode Miller , Alain Baxter and Rainer Schönfelder, who has been leading in the Slalom World Cup so far . It was curious that Giorgio Rocca had lost to Reinfried Herbst in Part II, but had progressed as a "lucky loser" - and the Italian was second in the final classification. There were narrow leads in each of the finals: Pärson was 0.02 s, Kostelić 0.01 s faster - the winning times were 38.03 s for the women and 34.32 s for the men. The mode, which is difficult to understand for runners, media representatives and spectators (in addition, drivers with very good times in previous "files" were sometimes at the bottom of the ranking) gave rise to strong criticism and was not included in the 2003/04 World Cup calendar .
Rule changes
The regulation of the falling order of the first 30 runners in Downhill and Super-G was made at the FIS Congress in Portorož (May 31). The starting order in the downhill was determined after the non-stop, whereby the best with start number. 30 turned; Super-G: the current N ° 1 started as thirtieth.
Special events
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, there was a triple ex-aequo victory: On October 26th, Tina Maze, Andrine Flemmen and Nicole Hosp shared first place in the giant slalom in Sölden. The race had developed into a wind lottery, after two cancellations it started at 11:30 a.m. instead of 9:45 a.m., which is why the second run (12:30 p.m.) had to be postponed accordingly. Martina Ertl was one of the victims of the gusts of wind. As the 38th, the Sölden winner from 2000 had to pack her things after the first run. - The total budget in Sölden was € 135,000, both winners received € 23,500 (although this had to be divided into thirds for the women).
The Swiss downhill trainer Fritz Züger was dismissed on December 2nd by head trainer Karl Frehsner on the grounds that it had nothing to do with the poor Lake Louise result, but that things had added up and at some point there would be a limit.
The Kitzbühel races (Super-G, Downhill) started earlier, at 11 a.m., at the request of the FIS. This was done to enable the runners to have the same lighting conditions despite the introduction of the new rule of thirties.
The FIS attacked six runners, including Daron Rahlves, Lasse Kjus and Kjetil-André Aamodt, during the final training session in Beaver Creek, and disqualified them from the race because of the use of unauthorized equipment (protective devices such as knee protectors that did not meet the prescribed wind permeability). The ÖSV was given 999, because co-trainer Günther Gerhard (he was blocked for the descent) had given the ÖSV runners unauthorized signals before the last jump.
In the men's giant slalom in Val-d'Isère, Christoph Gruber was third after finishing 29th in the first run.
The women's slalom on Semmering was a night slalom, with the first run starting at 4:00 p.m. and the second at 6:45 p.m.
On January 5th, a pair of siblings won a World Cup race for the first time on the same day: Janica Kostelić the slalom in Bormio (before Elisabeth Görgl) and brother Ivica in Kranjska Gora (before Rainer Schönfelder).
Comeback of Hermann Maier (N ° 13) at the giant slalom in Adelboden on January 14th; He started the race at 11.21 am, but missed the second run in 31st place (0.05 behind the thirtieth Ambrosi Hoffmann).
On January 25, the shortest men's downhill run in World Cup history in Kitzbühel, due to the postponed start (winning time 1: 09.63), and the first US downhill World Cup victory on the Hahnenkamm by Daron Rahlves were registered. However, there was already a US downhill winner on the Streif in 1959 with Wallace "Bud" Werner.
Hermann Maier was described by the media as "madness": he won - only 13 days after his re-entry into the World Cup - the Super-G in Kitzbühel, which he made up on January 27th, ahead of 4 other Austrians: Gruber, Eberharter, Schifferer, Knauss ; Maier's market value increased by 30% and was stated by his sponsor Raiffeisen at € 13 million per year.
For the first time there was an ex-aequo men's slalom victory in the World Cup: in Shigakogen, Palander and Schönfelder drove at the same time on March 8th.
media
The ORF announced austerity measures with regard to the broadcasts of foreign races from 2003. Only the race will be broadcast, there will be preliminary runs from Vienna. This would save € 35,000 per race. The ÖSV rejected these plans, because this would mean that its sponsors would not be presented enough on TV.
Injuries
Men's:
Mario Matt , only seriously injured in the shoulder after a fall on January 20 when entering the Kitzbühel Slalom, suffered another injury to the capsular apparatus of the damaged right shoulder in a fall while jogging on September 26, had to undergo an operation and saw a break from 3 months. It was said that a bone was to be removed from his hip to stabilize the socket in the shoulder.
On October 10th, the 30-year-old Christian Greber from Mellau fell so badly during Super-G training on the Pitztal Glacier (got stuck at a gate and fell down a steep slope), tearing all the ligaments in his knee and the Partella tendon; he came to the clinic of Dr. Christian Schenk in Schruns and was operated on for three hours (shear fracture, vascular compression); Greber had precisely planned the civil wedding with his long-term friend Cornelia for October 11th.
Paul Accola fell while driving on the Rettenfachferner on October 25th and suffered a tear in his Achilles tendon and a tear in his left ankle. In addition, he was diagnosed with vertebral fractures. Displaced stable fractures were found in three thoracic vertebrae, but according to the Swiss team doctor Dr. Walter Frey were not dangerous. Accola was operated on that same evening. A break of several months was expected.
On December 15th, one day after his downhill victory in Val-d'Isère, Stephan Eberharter (N ° 2) fell in the first round of the giant slalom just before the finish and injured his right knee; An examination in the evening at the University Clinic in Innsbruck revealed that he had “only” sustained a bruised bone and a bruise; From the ÖSV point of view it was scandalous that for FIS race director Hujara the continuation of the competition was more important than the removal of Eberharter, which had taken 40 minutes. This also led to violent verbal duels (Alpine boss Hans Pum raised the possibility of negligent action on the part of the race director, Hujara countered with a complaint for defamation if Pum did not apologize), which only occurred in a discussion between Hujara and Pum on December 20th were cleared in Val Gardena.
Women:
Hilde Gerg fell on the second descent in Lake Louise on December 2nd and suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in her left knee - this was confirmed during an examination in Munich , but an operation was not necessary for the time being; so she returned to racing on December 21st in Lenzerheide.
Concussion after Isolde Kostner's training fall in Lake Louise on December 4th: The runner lifted it in the middle section at the steepest point of the route, tilted and landed in the net, falling on her back and head. She remained unconscious for two minutes, was brought to the finish by helicopter and then taken by car to the “Mineral Springs Hospital” in Banff by the attending physician and two doctors from the Italian team. This fall brought a one-hour break in training (best time: Carole Montillet). For Kostner, the accident meant a break from racing. On December 17th, after trying to train in Madesimo, she announced that she would not return until 2003.
Patricia Bassis suffered a fracture of the seventh vertebra in the Super-G in Val-d'Isère (December 13) after her serious fall (she drove into a fence at 110 km / h); she was first brought to the Hôpital à Bourg Saint Maurice, then transferred to Grenoble and operated there on December 14th.
^ "Ski: Audi new World Cup sponsor". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 235 of October 9, 2002, p. 35; POS .: Column 5, second contribution
^ "Kasper: 'There is no talk of a crisis'" and the glossary "Power struggle ÖSV - FIS". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 250 of October 28, 2002, p. 31; POS .: bottom left or box in columns 4 and 5
↑ "Two girls have already been knocked out" in "Kärntner Tageszeitung" No. 292 from 15./16. December 2002, pp. 56, 57.
↑ "It wasn't just Rainer who was annoyed". In "Kärntner Tageszeitung" No. 293 of December 17, 2002, pp. 36, 37.
^ "Three in the final - and Hosp third in the end". In "Kleine Zeitung Kärnten" No. 347 of December 16, 2002, p. 28.
^ "Gentlemen test the knockout format on Monday". In “Salzburger Nachrichten” No. 291 of December 16, 2002, p. 23; POS .: right column
↑ "A winner with lumbago and a critical face". In "Kleine Zeitung Kärnten" No. 348 of December 17, 2002, p. 33.
↑ "Ivica Kostelics slalom victory by KO". In “Salzburger Nachrichten” No. 292 of December 17, 2002, p. 21; POS .: middle
↑ "Number for the day". In »Tiroler Tageszeitung« No. 249 from 25./26./27. October 2002, p. 37; POS .: Columns 6
^ "Wind lottery with three main hits". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 250 of October 28, 2002, p. 32.
↑ "The first big row among the Swiss skiiers". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 281 of December 4, 2002, p. 31; POS .: bottom left
^ "Kitz 2003 with an earlier start time". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 237 of October 11, 2002, p. 32; POS .: Column 1, first contribution
↑ "FIS took tough action". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 285 of December 9, 2002, p. 25; POS .: columns 4 and 5
^ Column "In a nutshell" with the title "Sonntag-TV". In »Tiroler Tageszeitung« No. 300 from 28./29. December 2002, p. 31; POS .: Column 6
↑ "The ORF saves and skiing becomes speechless". In "Kleine Zeitung" of December 15, 2002, p. 46.
↑ "Operation necessary". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 225 of September 27, 2002, p. 29; POS .: Column 4, below
↑ "Greber crashed badly in the Pitztal". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 237 of October 11, 2002, p. 31; POS .: Column 5, first contribution
^ "Unlucky Accola". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 250 of October 28, 2002, p. 31; POS .: columns 4 and 5
↑ "Günter Hujara considering the advertisement". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 292 of December 17, 2002, p. 25; POS .: Column 6
↑ "Adjusted differences". In »Tiroler Tageszeitung« No. 296 from 21./22. December 2002, p. 33; POS .: Column 6
↑ "Götschl back on the podium". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 285 of December 9, 2002, p. 26; POS .: bottom left
↑ "World Cup for Hilde Gerg again a topic". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 286 of December 10, 2002, p. 25; POS .: Column 6
↑ "Severe Kostner fall overshadowed the training". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 282 of December 5, 2002, p. 33; POS .: bottom left
↑ "Lake Louise without Isolde Kostner". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 283 of December 6, 2002, p. 33; POS .: Column 6
^ "Kostner will be out until the end of the year". In »Tiroler Tageszeitung« No. 284 from 7./8. December 2002, p. 35; POS .: Column 6, third contribution
↑ "Kostner only celebrates its comeback in 2003". In "Tiroler Tageszeitung" No. 293 of December 18, 2002, p. 31; POS .: Column 6, second contribution
↑ "Serious fall with a happy ending". In "Kleine Zeitung Kärnten" No. 345 of December 14, 2002, pp. 48, 49.
↑ "Two girls were already knocked out" with the subtitle "Bassis was operated on". In »Kärntner Tageszeitung« No. 292 from 15./16. December 2002, pp. 56, 57.
Stephan Eberharter
Janica Kostelić
Carole Montillet
Michael von Grünigen
Anja Pärson
Kalle Palander
Bode Miller
Kjetil André Aamodt
Marco Büchel
Davide Simoncelli
Akira Sasaki
Hilde Gerg
Mélanie Turgeon
Claudia Riegler
