Greater than Olympic Gold
After ten unsuccessful attempts, Manuel Feller has finally achieved his long-awaited victory in his home race. WInning on the Ganslern slope means more to the Fieberbrunn native than Olympic gold.
After ten unsuccessful attempts, Manuel Feller has finally achieved his long-awaited victory in his home race. WInning on the Ganslern slope means more to the Fieberbrunn native than Olympic gold.
It was 29 December 2025 when Linus Strasser, Joshua Sturm, Sebastian Holzmann and Manuel Feller were training on the Ganslern slope. The mood was positive, but far from carefree or relaxed. All four were still well short of their best form at that point. While Linus Strasser was at least briefly in a chatty mood, Manuel Feller would have preferred not to answer any questions – hardly surprising, given that he was training and, on top of that, encountering personal difficulties.
Until then, the Fieberbrunn native had mixed feelings about the Ganslern slope. Since his first outing in 2013, fourth place was the best result he achieved. “It's one of the coolest races of the season and one that I work especially hard for, but performing here is always extremely difficult,” he said shortly before New Year’s. Less than four weeks later, the 33-year-old celebrated the most emotional success of his career at the same venue: He won the race closest to his home with a 35-hundredths-of-a-second lead over Loïc Meillard, who had been ahead at half-time. Linus Straßer finished in third place. In top-class sport, more than in any other part of life, triumph and heartbreak are never far apart.
A visceral roar of relief erupted from Manuel Feller as he hoisted his long-awaited golden `Gams´ trophy into the Kitzbühel sky. Today, things finally came full circle for him, because this victory means more to him than Olympic gold – which he also has the potential to win in February: “Competing here on the Ganslern slope is greater than the Olympics, because it’s the most challenging slope as far as I’m concerned. Not to mention this setting. So many people from my hometown come to support me here every year.”
For Feller, it was also a kind of reconciliation with the mountain. He struggled to put his performance into words: “I have dreamed of this so many times and I’ve had better starting positions before. Everything just worked out today – you couldn’t ask for anything better.“ A statement that resonates: Life doesn’t get any better when things go well.
Photo © K.S.C./Jürgen Klecha
