in eighth place ended the last giant slalom of the World Cup Olympic season. In the classification of this competition, the Polish Alpine was placed in the top ten for the first time. She scored 219 points in total, which gave her the 9th position – the highest in her career.
The caterpillar-Daniel has gone down in history. The first Pole in the top ten of the giant
The season for the Polish woman did not start well. During the opening competition in Soelden, she did not complete her first run. However, the Rettenbach glacier was not lucky for her before, so no one drew far-reaching conclusions. Several days later she showed that she was well prepared for winter. She took 11th place in the parallel competition in Lech.
The turn of the year by the 28-year-old was brilliant. Three times in a row, she was in the sixth place in the giant, setting her life record. This started in Courchevel, where she held the lead day after day. At the beginning of January, she repeated it in Kranjska Gora. Between these appearances, she had a break in competitions because of the coronavirus infection.
Until the end of the season, it was only one time outside the top ten. It was during the competition in Swiss Lenzerheide, where she was placed 16th. In addition, it was ranked tenth in the Italian Kronplatz and the Swedish Are. On top of all this, the eighth place in the giant during the Olympics in Beijing should be added. And this despite the back injury she had to deal with during the most important event of the season.
– I have a little bit of anger in me that this first run did not turn out as it should, but looking back … a few days I had a lot of back problems. I didn’t say it out loud, but yesterday I wasn’t sure if I would be on the grid today. Let us rejoice in what is. You have to look to the future. Four years will fly quickly –
Even the German champion Viktoria Rebensburg was impressed by us. – I trained with her a few times. I love her and her team and I am very happy with the great progress she has made. Already last season it was a huge step towards the top, and this winter Maryna is very consistent –
Skis worse than last year. That was missing from the podium?
Did the caterpillar-Daniel pass the dream season? Probably not. After all, she often said that she excelled for the podium. This has not been achieved, but there is certainly significant progress in her career. Regular positions in the lead meant that she was the first Pole in history to be in the TOP 10 general classification of the giant slalom. Looking at all the competitions, this is the first such result for Poland since 1986, when Ma³gorzata Tla³ka-Długosz was ranked seventh in the slalom.
– Maryna’s development, since her injury 3 years ago, has been going uphill all the time. Looking at its season in its entirety, she actually did not fall out of the top ten. She was always a bit short of higher places, but maintaining this form throughout the season is really something wonderful – says Wojciech Gajewski, ski coach and FIS technical delegate. – Today I saw her second run and I saw a few mistakes. However, if we are talking about her mistakes, and she is still in the lead, I have no doubt that she can afford something even greater.
The secretary general of the Polish Ski Association notes, in turn, that although Maryna did not stand on the podium this winter, she is close to it. – In fact, improving each element by half a percent will allow her to achieve a medal – believes Jan Winkiel. – She won’t say it out loud, but she felt a little better on last year’s skiing. Now the construction of the ski has changed a bit and it was doing it not quite well. It was equipment that worked well in great conditions, but in slightly worse conditions it had some problems. Now the ski service is definitely working to refine it for the next season – adds the activist.
A Polish woman is supposed to be better at super-giants. “We can sharpen the appetite”
What was worth emphasizing this season is even more Gąsienica-Daniel starts in the super-giant. In it, she did not always score points, but managed to obtain the best result in her career – 16th place. Gajewski also notices the Polish woman’s progress in this competition. Especially that the competition in it is extremely fierce. – Her competitions in a super giant only showed how well prepared she was for the winter. It was simply a great season – assessed the coach. – I think we can whet our appetites for the next season – added Wojciech Gajewski.
Now we hear that although the giant will still remain the crown competition of “UltraMaryna”, before the next season even more emphasis is to be placed on the supergiant. – We are probing the possibility of strengthening her team. All this, however, under the leadership of Marcin Or³owski. He’ll be head coach for as long as he wants to. He is a trainer from the world’s top. If he sees the need to hire someone additional to the staff, we will help as much as possible. We have several names that we are in contact with to give this band an additional impetus, Winkiel tells us.
In the general classification of the World Cup, Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel scored 266 points and took the 33rd place. It is also her best career result. Points for Poland were also scored by the 20th place at the P¦ in Courchevel and 112th position in the season.
Source: Sport
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