Reichelt returns in warm, dark Garmisch training

GARMISCH, Germany – After a spectacular crash last week in Kitzbuehel, Austrian star Hannes Reichelt was initially expected to miss 2-3 weeks after being diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left leg. However, after some restful days off and a brief on-snow test on Wednesday, the defending champion in Garmisch made the decision to give Thursday’s downhill training run a shot.

Although missing a gate on the upper section of the course, Reichelt managed to set the pace in the first training run with a time of 1:57.06 seconds, 0.60 and 0.68 seconds ahead of a pair of Norwegians with Kjetil Jansrud and Alexander Aamodt Kilde in second and third, respectively.

“I still have a little pain in my knee from my crash in Kitzbuehel, but I’m happy to be back,” Reichelt said after his run. “Yesterday, I trained in Seefeld (AUT) and it worked, so today I had to test with speed, and I’m satisfied with how it went. I missed a gate at the top, but I was fast.”

The speediest American on the day was Andrew Weibrecht in 10th, although he also missed gates in his run. Weibrecht was followed in the top 30 by Wiley Maple in 18th, Jared Goldberg in 21st, Marco Sullivan in 23rd, and Steve Nyman in 28th.

Overcast skies, warm temperatures, soft snow, and flat light were all factors on Thursday, as two issues in particular were brought to light by the athletes.

The FIS is experimenting with new dye colors this week in Garmisch after last week’s Kitzbuehel downhill had to be called off prematurely due to flat light. Organizers hope to determine if the standard blue dye is visible enough compared to other colors in low visibility situations. Green and purple dye is being tested in several sections of the course, and the final decision on dye color will be made based on athlete feedback. Garmisch is known as one one the darkest tracks on tour and provides a perfect testing ground for new colors.

Initial reports from the athletes indicate that the new colors were barely noticeable at race speeds, as only small portions of the track were marked. But as American Travis Ganong pointed out, more of the track may need to be dyed in order for a real test to take place.

“I didn’t even notice the new colors, you couldn’t even see them,” Ganong said. “They used them so little that it was not really a good test. They just have a couple of lines here and there. If they want to test something, you need to have like, maybe 20-30 seconds of the course all the same color so we can actually see it.”

“I think it’s good that they’re trying new things,” Weibrecht added. “One thing with blue (dye) that I think is sometimes tough is that when it’s really flat light the snow looks blue and then the dye looks blue, so it doesn’t provide a great contrast.”

Another point of contention for the athletes was a mid-course jump that was quite large, even after organizers shaved down the takeoff by about 70 centimeters. Even with the soft snow and slower speeds, athletes were landing well into the compression, raising concerns about flight distances at race speeds.

This week’s athlete representative, France’s Adrien Theaux, will bring both of these issues to the organizers before race day.

A second training run is scheduled for Friday, although weather is expected to move in and possibly alter the program ahead of Saturday’s race.

Official Results