HEAD Olympic Rebels

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The 2014 Winter Olympic Games – HEAD Dominate the Alpine Medals The anticipation started off even before the first race: When Bode Miller and Matthias Mayer won all three of the training runs between them, there was a feel that the transfer of the precious cargo by road instead of flying the skis in, had all been worth it. By the time the last race was decided, eleven medals had been won on HEAD skis; five Gold medals – more than any other brand of skis at the Games and also had a clean sweep in the Super G. The Men’s Downhill is the rain every brand wants to win. This is the main race of the Olympic Games. Miller won two training runs, Mayer won the other but most importantly it was Gold in the race itself for Mayer. Kjetil Jansrud added more gloss to the success in taking the bronze as well. And so started a series of winning the Gold and bronze in the speed races as the girls followed suit with Hoefl-Riesch and Mancuso medalling. Maybe the Super Combined was a slight upset, as things did not quite go to plan especially after having led after the speed section in the men through Jansrud. It was back to form in the Super G’s as Anna Fenninger and Kjetil Jansrud made sure that HEAD skis are recognised as the fastest speed skis around. The silver medals also belonged to HEAD racers and the only ‘blemish’ in the men’s race was Jan Hudec tying for third with Bode Miller. As fever started to grip the Olympic Village, Anna Fenninger won another medal in the Giant Slalom, silver this time, and the Ted Ligety took the medal all the world wanted him to win: The Men’s Giant Slalom. This was medal 11 for HEAD at the Games; this was the fifth Gold Medal. At the end of the Games it is the racers that will take the plaudits but they are just part of the success: The ski technicians, the test team, the other racers as well as the Management of the Race Team lead by Rainer Salzgeber. The success of the HEAD race team is a complete team effort.

HEAD athletes rewarded with hard work in medals at Sochi Recognising the racers that could win the big races is one of the hardest jobs for Rainer Salzgeber in the pursuit of Olympic Success. Following the closing of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, the athletes using HEAD skis have demonstrated what a tightknit team they are. They are not all from one country but they all have one common desire: To win. Matthias Mayer won the Blue Ribbon event: The Men’s Downhill. Mayer has not won a World Cup race but showed that on the day he can be up there with the likes of Bode Miller and Aksel Lund Svindal; the two hot favourites for the speed events. Svindal had to be content with fourth yet Mayer took the Gold and Kjetil Jansrud the bronze. For Jansrud this was a sweet reply to having ended the previous season almost a year to the day earlier with an ACL injury – his Olympics would get better when he won the Super G Gold. If Mayer was a surprise in winning the Downhill, Jansrud showed he was in form as he won the downhill section of the Super Combined before settling for fourth after the Slalom leg. What better way to pick yourself up than by winning the next race, the Super G? The Super G was a HEAD dominated race: Jansrud won from Andrew Weibrecht and Bode Miller shared third place. For Weibrecht this was justification for his determination to come back from injury. Four years ago in Vancouver he won bronze and then was injured. Switching to HEAD, Weibrecht justified the faith shown in him. Miller, one to never doubt the ability of Weibrecht, in taking the bronze became the most decorated American Olympian with his bronze. Maria Hoefl-Riesch took the Gold in the Super Combined to defend her 2010 Title yet was hit by a flu virus that robbed her of her strength to defend her Slalom Title as well as she came in fourth. Julia Mancuso has had a miserable season on the World Cup but Julia is a racer that focuses on the big races and her bronze in the Super Combined after having won the downhill section of the race was justification for the hard work put in by the technicians in getting her equipment right through the World Cup season. Anna Fenninger came in to the Olympics as one of the most watched racers from the World Cup. Downhill, Super G, Super Combined and Giant Slalom were all her events and to have taken a Gold in Super G and a silver in the Super Combined. This was more than she believed she could do she explained after her Games were done. The World Cup continues now and with HEAD racers fighting on all fronts, success keeps rolling. Six out of the ten races saw HEAD racers climb onto the podium! HEAD Freestyle Rebel Maddie Bowman claims first ever Gold Medal in ladies’ ski halfpipe The HEAD World Cup Rebels have been the most successful team at the 2014 Olympic Winter Sochi, winning 11 Medals in total. But with young American Maddie Bowman, HEAD also won Gold in Freestyle Skiing. The 20-year-old Maddie Bowman was the first ever Olympic champion in ladies‘ ski halfpipe. At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games Sochi the young American upset all veterans and captured the gold medal for HEAD. At the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park she was posting the two best scores of the competition for her two runs. With 89 of a maximum of 100 points, she was unbeatable on that day. She brought out the big guns in her final run, spinning right and left side 900s. Her corked left side 900 was one of the most impressive tricks of all competitors and she was able to land it perfectly in both runs. Bowman entered the final just on third position but showed best performance at the right time. “I don’t think it’s possible to put this in words. I am so happy”, she said in an interview and continued: “I was a little jittery before my first run. It’s a big stage, but I felt the same way at X Games so I knew that I could probably handle it. After getting that first run down it takes a lot of pressure off and then you can really just go for it.” Bowman now has Olympic gold to add to her X Games collection, which includes two gold, one silver and one bronze as well as a 2013 AFP World Tour halfpipe title.