Ski Cross World Cup: Maier races to his next victory in San Candido

The next gala in the comeback season: Daniela Maier also wins the second ski cross race in San Candido – and takes the yellow jersey of the World Cup leaders. For the men, colleague Florian Wilmsmann is responsible for this.

A German double success in the Ski Cross World Cup, i.e. a victory for men and women, had never happened until Friday (December 20th, 2024). Then Daniela Maier and Florian Wilmsmann won the World Cup in San Candido.

The two wanted to continue this on the second day of the race in Italy on Saturday – and they succeeded, at least in part: both were the only German starters to reach the semi-finals again. However, there they parted ways. While Maier made it to the women’s final and won, Wilmsmann was eliminated from the men’s race after a fall. At this point, Wilmsmann was leading the race, and the Swede David Mobärg then ran into the ends of his skis.

Maier takes his next win in his comeback season – and the yellow jersey

Maier is adding the next furious chapter to her strong comeback season. In January she tore her syndesmotic ligament and had to have surgery. But from run to run she is becoming more confident this winter and, after her third World Cup victory, she is now a clear candidate for World Cup gold in March in St. Moritz.

This means that Daniela Maier also takes over the yellow jersey of the overall leader in the Ski Cross World Cup. After her success, she drove to her supervisors at the finish and hugged everyone. She is there five times this season “This is so crazy”said Maier at the finish. “I felt good today, the qualification was already great.” Now let’s celebrate.

Wilmsmann comes fifth – and defends his overall lead

In a sense, she now experienced a start-to-finish victory. Maier, the 2022 Olympic bronze winner, was already the fastest in the qualification in the morning – and she also gave her competitors little chance in the runs in the afternoon.

In the men’s race, Canadian Reece Howden won ahead of Swiss Alex Fiva. The previous day’s winner Wilmsmann showed in the small final what he is capable of despite a previous fall. He dominated from the start and then crossed the finish line first, which meant fifth place in the final tally. Wilmsmann also defended his lead in the overall World Cup. So they both celebrate Christmas under the Christmas tree in a yellow jersey.