In the World Cup race in Gurgl, Swiss skier Melanie Meillard drops out and shows a lack of effort. Felix Neureuther is angered by the lack of fighting spirit.
Dropping out of a slalom is generally nothing to be ashamed of. The alpine discipline with the narrowest gate distances claims its “victims” race after race. Felix Neureuther knows this all too well from his active time.
But what drives the ARD expert to anger is when athletes don’t even try with all their might to stay in the course after making a mistake. This is what happened with Swiss skier Melanie Meillard at the World Cup slalom in Gurgl.
Felix Neureuther gets angry at the ARD microphone
Neureuther angry after Meillard’s exit
Meillard got off the ideal line when entering the steep slope and then drove past the gate without any recognizable reaction.
“Yeah sorry, that’s almost a refusal to work,” grumbled the former slalom ace. “You have to fight to stay in the race. You can’t just drive out of a slalom like that,” he was annoyed.
“You have to see that you…”, he started, “…have a little fighting spirit,” commentator Tobias Barnerssoi completed Neureuther’s sentence. “Yes of course. This is a World Cup race,” the ski legend agreed.
The day before, the multiple World Championship medalist was still enthusiastic about Linus Strasser, who was able to master a similar situation. “Look how you saved that. I love it,” Neureuther raved.
Injury history decisive for Meillard’s exit?
In Meillard’s defense, however, it should be said that she has struggled with several injuries in her career – including a torn cruciate ligament. An acrobatic rescue operation may have simply seemed too risky for the Swiss.
The difficult conditions in Gurgl also presented some athletes with problems.
Unsurprisingly, Mikaela Shiffrin mastered the challenge best, leading after run one ahead of Lara Colturi and Wendy Holdener. Lena Dürr still has every chance in the final after fifth place.