Katharina Truppe secured her first win in an FIS World Cup race on Sunday, putting in a storming second run to top the pile in Are. It has been a long time coming for the 29-year-old Austrian, who moved from sixth to first place in challenging conditions. Truppe has had a solid Slalom career – previous making it onto a podium four times, always in third place, and regularly making top tens. In Sweden, however, she showed a newfound confidence, perhaps inspired by a brilliant performance at the recent World Championships in Saalbach, where her Slalom run helped secure the bronze medal for Austria in the Team Combined. She was controlled but attacking on the second run of a lifetime, in worsening conditions that had favoured those earlier out of the gate.
Photo by: GEPA pictures
Liensberger, Lena Dürr and Shiffrin, who led after run one, could not match Katharina Truppe, as she waited in agony to see if her time would hold. It did. “I’m a little bit speechless because I was just so nervous at the start, but I was much more nervous when I was sitting in the red chair,” said Truppe. “It’s just wow. My first victory, it’s crazy, I have goosebumps on my body. It is unbelievable. I didn’t expect it this season because it is not easy for me to go on Slalom and find some lines and some spirit. But today was the day. My season was not so easy, I had really hard races, but I don’t want to give up, and now I am standing here.”, explained Truppe after the race.