A mountain, a plan: Strasse sudden medal candidate

Between suffering and joy lies very little in the life of a skier driver. In the career of Linus Stressed, suffering once even seemed so great that the 29-year-old Munich thought of a career end. About four years ago, the slalom driver in the training was one of the fastest, but then also missed the competitions. With his coaches he tumbled on a new approach to the races and found him again - the fun of skiing. An attitude that crowned him on Tuesday to the first German winner at the Nightfall classic in Claiming.

• Special petrol station moment
• I, my skiing and the mountain

When the German national anthem in the destination entrance of the Maracanã Stadium of the Ski Port - as the former Alpine Star Felix Reuther called the Planar - sounded and Stress looked at the night sky with glassy eyes, he possibly thought of the time at that time. Or at the sobering start in this winter, after which hardly anyone had expected more with a podium place. Even the Olympic qualification, the stress came into Adelaide with his third place in the middle of January, seemed in danger.

There are many doubts about a month later and will probably forget. Suddenly Nigh rider Stressed is even the medal candidate at the Winter Olympics in Beijing (4 to 20 February). In addition to the Norwegian Lucas Breathe, Austria's Manuel Feller and Kristopher Jacobsen from Sweden, Stress is the only one who retreated this season twice on a podium in the slalom. To speak of Konstanz, in view of the other results - 14th place and three zero numbers - but measured.

Special petrol station moment

Between sorry and something here is so little, Stress stated after his famous Claiming victory. Therefore, he wants to enjoy the moment now. A moment that did not quite surprisingly came, as Stress betrayed later. Of the G'winner today, Starter, someone had spread at a gas station on his way to Claiming. St raster delivered.

I, my skiing and the mountain

The fact that the Upper Bavarian is now one of the best slalom riders in the world, is also due to a ripening process he went through. Street approach to the races has changed. From a young funny, which emphasized mainly his great idol Reuther, has become an athlete who persecutes his own path. I, my skiing and the mountain, the plan of the Berber is.

A plan that seems to look up any of many form fluctuations in spite of (still). With five podium places - including two wins - St raster has been the most successful German in the World Cup since last season. Linus has been one of the fastest for years. Very nimble and very movable, says sport director Wolfgang Maier his protégé. In many races he just goes to wild and impetuous.

On the 16th of February, the SLALOM competition Olympics is on the program. Even then Stress wants to concentrate again - and to his skiing. And on the mountain. If one succeeds at the end, that's the most beautiful thing there is.