FIS News
Athlete of the Week: Tomaz Druml (AUT)
After the past weekend, it is safe to say that one athlete made his aspirations for the rest of the season crystal clear: Austria’s Tomaz Druml. With his double victory in the Contintental Cup Opener in Park City, the 26-year-old overall Continental Cup winner of last season focussed on one goal and one goal only: the World Cup.
With two good jumping performances, usually a weaker point for Druml, the Carinthian set himself up in good positions for the cross-country races which took place on a tubing hill (thanks to the hard work of Olympic Champion Billy Demong who unearthed the opportunity) because of the insufficient snow levels at the cross-country venue of Soldier Hollow. On this extremely tough course which only consisted of uphills, fast downhills and sharp turns, Druml excelled.
„This is a killer track. It’s crazy uphills and the downhills are even worse. It’s icy corners, so you have to stay fully focussed in every second, otherwise you don’t have a chance“, the winner explained afterwards. In both races, he managed to read the race and his competitors extremely well and stayed in control all the time.
With a strategic approach to start slowly, see how his body responds to the unusual altitude, catch up with the leaders and maintain a controlled gap of 15 seconds on runner-up Lukas Greiderer on Day 1 and catching up with the leaders without trying to break away but still controlling the speed all the way until the finish on Day 2, Druml hit bullseye. Level-headedly, calm and full of confidence as befitting a World class athlete, Druml unerringly jumped and skied his way to the very top.
„I have definitely proven myself here and also proved that I should continue in the World Cup now“ was Druml’s bottom-line after the Park City weekend. With his home World Cup at Ramsau am Dachstein coming up next, it would certainly be very peculiar if Druml did not show up on the start list. And then the time of truth will come to show what these great Continental Cup performances were worth compared to the top stars of the discipline.
With two good jumping performances, usually a weaker point for Druml, the Carinthian set himself up in good positions for the cross-country races which took place on a tubing hill (thanks to the hard work of Olympic Champion Billy Demong who unearthed the opportunity) because of the insufficient snow levels at the cross-country venue of Soldier Hollow. On this extremely tough course which only consisted of uphills, fast downhills and sharp turns, Druml excelled.
„This is a killer track. It’s crazy uphills and the downhills are even worse. It’s icy corners, so you have to stay fully focussed in every second, otherwise you don’t have a chance“, the winner explained afterwards. In both races, he managed to read the race and his competitors extremely well and stayed in control all the time.
With a strategic approach to start slowly, see how his body responds to the unusual altitude, catch up with the leaders and maintain a controlled gap of 15 seconds on runner-up Lukas Greiderer on Day 1 and catching up with the leaders without trying to break away but still controlling the speed all the way until the finish on Day 2, Druml hit bullseye. Level-headedly, calm and full of confidence as befitting a World class athlete, Druml unerringly jumped and skied his way to the very top.
„I have definitely proven myself here and also proved that I should continue in the World Cup now“ was Druml’s bottom-line after the Park City weekend. With his home World Cup at Ramsau am Dachstein coming up next, it would certainly be very peculiar if Druml did not show up on the start list. And then the time of truth will come to show what these great Continental Cup performances were worth compared to the top stars of the discipline.
Source: fis-ski.com
