Hirscher's Greatness!!

Hirscher's Greatness!!

Postby jbotti » Thu Jan 30, 2020 3:31 pm

Most of us watching knew at the time just how great and amazing he was. But if there was any doubt just look at the men's technical races this year. In most races the separation between the leader after the first run and #30 is only around 1.5 seconds, almost always less than 2 seconds. When Hirscher was racing, it was often 3.5 seconds between him and the #10 finisher. These last 8-10 years there really have only been 1-2 guys outside of Marcel that had any shot of winning the race after the first run because it was so spread out. One would have thought that guys like Pinterault and Kristofferson (who when they skied their best could hang and occasionally beat Marcel) would have separated themselves from the pack this year. Instead they appear to be skiing down to the competition (I say this while respecting guys like Yule, Clement and Kranjec as they are all super racers). in today's men's tech, anyone in the top 20 after the flip who puts down a ballistic run has a realistic shot to podium as they are generally only a second back. I guess it makes for excitement and a wide open field, but I personally miss Marcel's dominance.

So in the same vein, in case anyone doubts the greatness of Shiffrin, look at how spread out the times are in Women's tech. In Levi Shiffrin won by 1.78 seconds and the #10 skier was 3.73 back. #28 was 5.91 back. This is the case pretty all the time in Slalom (and Vhlova beats her at times similar to Kristofferson and Pinterault beating Marcel from time to time) and sometimes in GS as well when she skis well (Lienz this year she won by 1.36 and # 10 was 2.97 back and #28 was 4.17 back).

Enjoy her for the next many years. Barring injury she will retire as the winningest ski racer ever. And when she skis her best, it's so fun to watch!
Balance: Essential in skiing and in life!
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Re: Hirscher's Greatness!!

Postby h.harb » Thu Feb 20, 2020 11:55 am

John, a great analysis and I agree completely. I would add, the women's field in slalom and GS is weak and the skiing is weak. Part of the reason Shiffin separates herself by so much. Much of the issue is boot set up.
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Re: Hirscher's Greatness!!

Postby jbotti » Tue Mar 03, 2020 10:59 am

Watched Pinturault's great weekend in Hinterstoder this past weekend (and Monday GS) where he regained the lead for the WC overall title. Pinturault did ski his best yesterday in the GS and we saw time spreads that were much bigger with #10 at 1.70 behind and number 29 at 4.16 behind. When Pinturault skis like this, you see greatness but it also accentuates the spread between him and Hirscher. Pinturault is skiing great 4-6X per season. Hirscher did it almost every weekend (in both slalom and GS!) for 8-9 years!

If we had to wait some 20 years between Stenmark's last win and Hisrchers first then it seems fair to say it will be another 20 years before we see anyone as dominant as either Stenmark Or Hirscher. That's not say that we won't see some great skiing and or great skiers, just no one as consistently dominant as these 2.
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Re: Hirscher's Greatness!!

Postby h.harb » Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:22 pm

I agree with John, it's like watching Marco Marquez on a Moto GP bike or Lweis Hamilton in an F1 car. No one can come close.
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