Press release -
Top four places in the Slalom, victory & third in the Giant Slalom
Sensational weekend for the HEAD Worldcup Rebels in Killington. On Sunday, HEAD celebrates a quadruple victory in the Slalom with Camille Rast, Wendy Holdener, Anna Swenn-Larsson and Lena Dürr. For the winner, Camille Rast, it is her first World Cup victory. On Saturday, Sara Hector wins her first victory of the season in the Giant Slalom. Third place goes to the unstoppable Camille Rast.
"This is a first for us, we've never won the first four places in the Slalom before. That is really sensational," is how HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber analysed the result. "The development work on the equipment continues to move forward. We now have a very consistent situation. Stefan Kappaurer, who coaches our women's team, is doing a great job. We used different setups on the slope. The complete system, from the skis to the bindings, worked perfectly in Killington. I was very pleased for Sara Hector in the Giant Slalom. She was unsure of her performance following a difficult week before Sölden. But in the last few days before Killington, she looked very confident during training. It was really pleasing that she could capitalise on that in the race. Camille Rast has regained confidence in her equipment following her return to HEAD. This was already clear last season. Now she's full of confidence and, as can be seen from the results, it carries on from there."
"Everyone did a great job"
In Slalom on Sunday, Camille Rast crowned a superb start to the season, having already finished fifth, third, and third, with her first World Cup victory. The Swiss athlete was in third place after the first run, and with the third-fastest time on the second run, she skied to the top of the podium. "That is unbelievable. I didn't expect that it would go so fast. "I'm very pleased," said the 25-year-old at the finish. "Everything I have done over the summer is coming out now. I've been riding the bike less, focussing more on fitness, and everything works. My family, our coaches, and the whole team did a great job. There are couple of things that I would still like to optimise, and am excited about the next competitions."
Wendy Holdener and Anna Swenn-Larsson share second place
Second place was shared by Wendy Holdener from Switzerland and Anna Swenn-Larsson from Sweden, both 57 hundredths of a second behind. Two years ago, they both stood on the podium together as winners in Killington. "I was a long way behind on the first run, which I was pretty annoyed about. I am very happy that I could turn that around. The aim was to always keep up front and keep my momentum going. That went well," said Wendy Holdener, who moved up from ninth to second place with the fastest time on the second run. Anna Swenn-Larsson was also delighted: "I wanted to reach the podium, and this second place is really great." The HEAD Worldcup Rebels' success was rounded off by Lena Dürr from Germany, who was in the lead after the first run, finishing in fourth place overall. Points were also picked up by Sara Hector from Sweden, who finished in twelfth place, Aline Höpli from Switzerland, who started with bib number 55 and bagged her first points in 15th place, Jessica Hilzinger from Germany in 23rd place and Cornelia Öhlund from Sweden in 24th place.
Sixth World Cup victory for Sara Hector
In Sölden, Sara Hector had to settle for 15th place in the Giant Slalom season opener. However, the 32-year-old returned to her old strengths in the second Giant Slalom of the season. Sara Hector celebrated her first win of the season on Saturday with the second-fastest time on the first run and the fastest time on the second run. For the Swedish athlete it was the sixth World Cup victory, her sixth in the Giant Slalom. Jasna in January 2024 was the previous event where she stood on top of the podium. "It's incredible, I can't believe things have fallen into place so quickly this season," said a jubilant Sara Hector. "Sölden did not go well, not in my head, and not even while skiing. But I had very good training sessions in Gurgl. The atmosphere in the team was also really positive. Things like that can help a lot and make working together fun. I enjoy that!"
First Giant Slalom podium for Camille Rast
Camille Rast was already on top form on Saturday. Finishing third, the Swiss athlete raced to the podium for the first time in this discipline. One week before that, the 25-year-old podiumed for the first time in the World Cup at the Slalom event in Gurgl. Previously, finishing seventh in the Giant Slalom in Lienz in 2021 was her best result to date. "I'm really pleased; the conditions this morning were not so easy because there was so much snow. They did a great job preparing the run. I took my chance, and it worked well," said Camille Rast. World Cup points also went to the two Swiss athletes Wendy Holdener and Lara Gut-Behrami in 12th and 13th place, Estelle Alphand from Sweden in 15th place with bib number 52, Emma Aicher from Germany in 19th place, and Ilaria Ghisalberti from Italy in 21st place.
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