YANQING, China – “Rather easy”, “comprehensive”, “interesting”, alpine skiers were finally able to discover the Olympic downhill slope of Yanqing on Thursday during the first official training.
“She’s easier than I thought. She is super pleasant, all in the sun, it’s not often that we have that on the World Cup. She is rather interesting, I found it fun […] It is well done, well thought out, but not very difficult ”, judged in the mixed zone the French veteran Johan Clarey (41 years old).
Apart from the Chinese competitors, very far from the level of the best, no international skier had ever practiced the “Rock” track, a long white ribbon of 3 km which winds in the solid mass of stones and dry trees of Yanqing, virgin of natural snow.
The track and the entire area were created especially for the Beijing Olympics.
“It’s new for everyone, the athletes, the coaches, so it’s a big challenge for us to find the perfect settings,” said Marco Odermatt, leader of the World Cup.
“There are a lot of blind doors (which skiers see at the last moment, editor’s note), now we have to find the right line,” added the Swiss prodigy.
“Key passage”
“I was a little nervous at the start,” admitted Austrian Matthias Mayer, double Olympic champion (downhill in 2014 and super-G in 2018), who opened training with bib number 1 in sub-zero temperatures. almost pleasant by the sun.
“I missed two doors, I still have work to do tomorrow! “, he launched, while the skiers still have two official training sessions on Friday and Saturday before the race on Sunday, the first on the alpine skiing program of the 2022 Olympics.
Many skiers compared the snow to that found on North American trails.
“The snow conditions are among the best I’ve ever seen,” said Austrian world champion Vincent Kriechmayr, as if in response to critics who denounce the use of 100% artificial snow for the Olympics.
“My first impression is very good, it’s quite smooth but I didn’t find the course so easy, almost every section presents a difficulty. »
“There is everything, a lot of cant, ground movements, a little slope, sliding parts, parts where you have to cut into the steep”, detailed the Frenchman Maxence Muzaton. “There’s a passage upstairs where a few have missed doors, which I think conditions a lot of things. In my opinion this is one of the key passages of the track. »
Knowing these characteristics, which skier could this slope be suitable for?
“Mine, mine!” jokes Matthieu Bailet. “It reminds me of an American profile, where everyone can express themselves, there are no major difficulties and the snow is quite easy to master. We all have our luck there. The wind is disturbing, can come from all sides, we hope there won’t be too much on race day,” said the Frenchman.
Canadian James Crawford clocked the fastest time of the day. Four skiers went faster but missed gates.
