Threader (skiing)

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In skiing, a “threading in ” or “threading in” ( English straddle ) is the colloquial term for incorrectly passing a gate, in which the inner ski is led past on the wrong side of a gate pole and the pole thus gets between the inner and outer ski. Peat errors of this type primarily affect alpine skiing , but are also possible in other sports such as ski cross or snowboarding .

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Steve Missillier immediately after a threader in the slalom

According to rule 661.4 of the International Competition Rules (IWO) of the FIS , a gate is considered to have been correctly passed if both ski tips and both feet of the competitor have crossed the gate line - an imaginary line between two goal posts. This is not the case when threading, which means that a gate error is committed. The most frequent threaders in the slalom discipline , as the athletes can choose the narrowest line around the gates due to the tilting pole technology. Threaders often end up falling, especially when the pressure on the gate bar opens the binding on the inner ski. If a runner threads, whether consciously or unnoticed, and ends his run anyway, this will result in disqualification and a fine of 999 Swiss francs in accordance with ICR rule 628.8 .

Prominent examples

In January 2012, several of Marcel Hirscher's alleged threaders in the Alpine Ski World Cup attracted particular attention . After he had actually threaded the slaloms in Wengen and Kitzbühel without realizing it and had driven on, the rumor spread that he had already made a goal error on his first goal in his victories in Zagreb and Adelboden . His direct competitor for the overall World Cup, Ivica Kostelić, reacted angrily. It was only after hours of video analysis that Hirscher and Felix Neureuther , who were accused of something similar for Zagreb, were acquitted of their suspicions. The conflict between the runners, described by the Austrian media as the “threading affair”, was settled with a public reconciliation before the Night Race in Schladming . From then on, Hirscher used so-called vulture's beaks, plastic attachments on the ski tips, which are supposed to reduce the risk of a threading-in with narrow lines.

Possibly race-deciding threaders in the context of major events have defeated Bode Miller and Benjamin Raich in the combined slalom in Turin in 2006 or Marcel Hirscher in the slalom in Beaver Creek in 2015 in recent years . Stefan Luitz did not pass the last goal in the first round of the giant slalom correctly at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and thus awarded second place in the battle for the medals.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b International Ski Competition Rules (IWO) Volume IV - Common Alpine Skiing Regulations. FIS , July 2013, accessed February 1, 2018 .
  2. ^ Reconciliation in Schladming. ORF , December 25, 2012, accessed on February 2, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Hirscher will never forget this victory. Oberösterreichische Nachrichten , January 24, 2012, accessed on February 2, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Jens Hungermann: Drama about German youngsters just before the goal. Die Welt , February 19, 2014, accessed on February 2, 2018 .