Adelboden: Swiss victory is a long time coming

By Published On: January 7th, 2007Comments Off on Adelboden: Swiss victory is a long time coming

ADELBODEN, Switzerland — It was a long time coming, and it came from a very unexpected source.


ADELBODEN, Switzerland — It was a long time coming, and it came from a very unexpected source.
    Marc Berthod won his first career World Cup race Sunday to finally end a three-year winless streak for Switzerland's men, one that stretched to seven years in slalom.
    The 23-year-old skier, a complete outsider who arrived in Adelboden having only completed two of the 16 slaloms, became the first Swiss man to win a World Cup race since Didier Cuche clinched a downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 2004.
    The last Swiss man to win a World Cup slalom was Didier Plaschy at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in 1999.
    ''I had the feeling like Didier Cuche five years ago when he won, like I was dancing on the snow,'' said Berthod, who was runner-up in a super-combi at Beaver Creek, Colorado, last November but was never higher than 16th in a World Cup slalom.
    ''I could really let myself go and liberate myself. It was really great. It's such an incredible gift for me, for Switzerland, for the home crowd.''
    Berthod won with a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 47.42 seconds. Olympic champion Benjamin Raich of Austria was second, 0.26 back, and Mario Matt was third, 0.38 off the pace.
    Once an Alpine skiing superpower, Switzerland has struggled while Austria has taken over for the last 14 years.
    Last year, the Swiss finished the season fifth in the nations standings, with just a quarter of the points Austria collected.
    Repeated changes in the coaching staff, a focus on the nation's stars at the cost of the development teams and poor equipment choices all led to Switzerland's decline.
    ''Things seem to be going better now,'' retired Swiss star Michael von Gruenigen said after watching Berthod post the Swiss men's first World Cup win 103 races.
    ''As a federation we are getting more, better skiers. With Berthod, Daniel Albrecht and Marc Gini the team is going to do well. They are getting stronger and stronger, and they can pull up the next generation, too.''
    Von Gruenigen, a four-time winner of the World Cup giant slalom title, joined the Swiss team in the early 1990s, when the country was still a force and featured Paul Accola, Daniel Mahrer and Franz Heinzer.
    Berthod, the 60th skier to start in the rainy opening run, overcame crumbling, slushy conditions to cross 27th in the opening leg and qualify for the second.
    With the top 30 skiers in the opening leg running in reverse order in the afternoon leg, Berthod kicked out fourth and enjoyed better, cleaner course conditions.
    Berthod watched nervously from the finish as the skiers following him were unable to improve on his time.
    ''I think I feel more relaxed and more capable of achieving a great result when nobody is expecting it,'' Berthod said. ''I think today was perfect because I had a high start number and the conditions ended up playing in my favor.
    ''Of course maybe things will be different now in the future. But maybe not.''

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About the Author: Pete Rugh