Gold for Alexander Schmid & Maria Therese Tviberg in the Parallel

The HEAD Worldcup Rebels remain on a run of success at the World Championships in Courchevel/Meribel. In the Parallel event on Wednesday, both Alexander Schmid and Maria Therese Tviberg won the Gold medal. Wendy Holdener's Silver made it a HEAD double victory in the women's event. Ragnhild Mowinckel bagged Bronze in the Giant Slalom.

"The Parallel events are as important to us as any other discipline. The two slopes were the same and provided competition at a high level. Making mistakes was not an option. It was an awesome event. To get into the final you needed to put in a brilliant performance," emphasises HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "Alexander Schmid has already proven his ability in the Parallel Slalom in recent years. He has gotten better from one run to the next. We were very pleased that he won the first Gold medal for the German men's team since 1989. And that we are now a part of it with HEAD - that's going down in history! The Gold for Maria Therese Tviberg was also special. Following the Team event, we were not sure if everything was working okay. Then she skied super consistently and fast in every run. We could then relax during the final with Wendy Holdener. We knew that both the medals would stay in the HEAD family. Anything could have happened in the women's Giant Slalom. Ragnhild Mowinckel really earned the medal. Lara Gut-Behrami just missed the podium, but that's okay seeing as she already has a World Championship medal. In the men's race, one and a half runs by Alexis Pinturault were sensational. Unfortunately, it was all over following one mistake. It was still a good day for us because we saw that things are going in the right direction in terms of tuning the equipment."

"A dream come true"

Maria Therese Tviberg was delighted about her first solo medal at a major event. A medal that shone in the most desirable colour. The day before, the Norwegian athlete won Silver in the Team event. "A dream came true for me today. I am so proud and happy about my performance. Following my fall yesterday, it was a great achievement. Compared to the Team event, there was also less pressure because I was only racing for myself today," said the new World Champion. Wendy Holdener's second place secured her second medal at this World Championship following the Silver in the Combined event. Three more HEAD athletes qualified for the quarter finals with Lena Dürr from Germany in sixth place, Franziska Gritsch from Austria seventh and Sara Hector from Sweden eighth. The round of 16 included Coralie Frasse Sombet from France and Estelle Alphand from Sweden.

First Gold for Germany in a World Championship in 34 years

Alexander Schmid also won his first medal at a major event. It was the first World Championship Gold medal for the German men's team in 34 years. "I am very proud and am lost for words at the moment. I was very focused on every run and learned from yesterday's mistakes. I really enjoyed the final because I knew I was going to win a medal for sure. I am so happy that I was able to win a Gold medal for Germany today," said Alexander Schmid. Joan Verdu from Andorra, Alexis Pinturault from France and Mattias Rönngren from Sweden qualified for the round of 16.

Gold for Tommy Ford from the USA

In the Team Parallel event on Tuesday, HEAD athlete Tommy Ford won the Gold medal for the USA. The American team beat Norway 3-2 in the final. In the Norwegian team Maria Therese Tviberg and Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen were happy to win the Silver medal.

Second World Championship medal for Ragnhild Mowinckel

Ragnhild Mowinckel rejoiced over her second World Championship medal following Bronze in the Combined event in Aare in 2019. The Norwegian athlete again took Bronze in the Giant Slalom on Thursday. After the first run the 30-year-old was in fifth place. "It's unbelievable. I tried everything today, thinking that it's all or nothing. And now I am so proud. On the second run I felt the pressure, but I stayed focused and I am really very satisfied with the result," is how Ragnhild Mowinckel analysed her race. She missed the Gold medal by just 22 hundredths of a second. Lara Gut-Behrami from Switzerland finished fourth, another nine hundredths of a second behind her. Coralie Frasse-Sombet was ninth, Franziska Gritsch twelfth, and Sara Hector 13th.