Matthias Mayer skips Soelden as 10 Austrians take to the start

By Published On: October 22nd, 2015Comments Off on Matthias Mayer skips Soelden as 10 Austrians take to the start

The head men’s coach of the Austrian Ski Team, Andreas Puelacher, announced that 10 men will start for the host nation in the opening Audi FIS Alpine World Cup race of the season, a giant slalom scheduled for Oct. 25 in Soelden.

The Austrians will be without Sochi downhill gold medalist Matthias Mayer, who suffered severe leg bruising resulting from a training crash earlier this month. Mayer was reportedly skiing very fast in GS, with training times rivaling those of last season’s GS titleholder, Marcel Hirscher, when the accident occurred. He was hoping to be healthy in time to start in Soelden but will opt for a more patient start to his competitive season.

“Of course this is very bitter, but my reasoning says no. The pain is still too great and therefore it makes no sense to start on Sunday,” Mayer said. “My goal now is to race at the end of November in Lake Louise at the first speed competitions. That should be possible.”

Hirscher leads the 10-man squad, which includes Christoph Noesig, Philipp Schoerghofer, Hannes Reichelt, Romed Baumann, Marcel Mathis, Roland Leitinger, Vincent Kriechmayr, Manuel Feller and Christian Hirschbuehl.

Hirscher will be looking to defend his victory from Soelden last season, which helped him ultimately overtake Ted Ligety as the GS crystal globe winner, a title previously held by Ligety five times in the last eight years.

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About the Author: Sean Higgins

A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.