Obmann and Schoeffmann win team event as World Cup season wraps up in Berchtesgaden
Mar 19, 2023·Alpine Snowboard
Having never heard his national anthem on the World Cup podium before, Austria’s Fabian Obmann has now heard it four times in the space of 24 hours.
A storming final weekend of the FIS World Cup alpine snowboard tour, which took place in Berchtesgaden, Germany, saw the 26-year-old win the parallel slalom on Saturday (18 March), and due to other results going his way, also claim the discipline's crystal globe, plus the overall title.
On Sunday, in the last race of the season, the gobsmacked rider continued his rich vein of form, claiming the mixed team win for Austria 2 alongside Sabine Schoeffmann.
“I’m speechless,” Obmann told FIS post race. “A crazy weekend. Yesterday was unbelievable. I go home with two crystal globes and my first World Cup win, and today there’s another one with Sabine – it’s just a crazy weekend. And at the end of the season, it’s perfect, so now I can start in to the summer.”
“Also for me it was a great weekend,” said Schoeffmann, “and a great season with medals in every discipline and a medal at world champs and now finishing the season with Fabi in the first place is great.”
That last race featured its own drama within a drama as Obmann went head-to-head against the man he beat by a handful of points to claim the individual crystal globes yesterday, Maurizio Bormolini, with the pair crossing the line in the first leg of the big final in a dead heat. Schoeffmann, who finished Saturday’s race third on the podium, was able to continue that form into today and beat Elisa Caffont of Italy 2 by 0.14s to take the win.
Edwin Coratti and Lucia Dalmasso secured a second podium place for the nation who are set to host the next Olympic Winter Games, at Milano Cortina 2026, with third position. Their Italy 1 partnership beat a disappointed duo of Cody Winters and Iris Pflum in the small final, who were hoping to bag a first-ever mixed team podium for the United States. That quest will have to wait until next season.
Meanwhile, in a reversal of the drama seen on Saturday in the individual events, the overall mixed team title was decided in the first knockout round on Sunday after those battling for the big globe failed to progress.
Daniela Ulbing and Andreas Prommegger of Austria 2 were the triumphant pairing despite scratching Sunday’s race due to Ulbing’s wrist injury, which saw her unable to take part in the individual races on Saturday. Prommegger raced Dylan Udolf in the first leg, coming out ahead of the USA 2 rider by 0.73s, but Ulbing pulled out after just one turn on the second leg leaving Alexa Bullis to cross the line first to progress. The Americans lost out to Bormolini and Daffont in the next round, while Ulbing and Prommegger had to wait to see what happened next to see if they would claim the overall mixed team crown.
They didn’t have to wait long.
Ladina Jenny and Gian Casanova of Switzerland 2 would have to beat Coratti and Dalmasso of Italy 1 if they were to have any chance of making up the 44-point deficit on Ulbing and Prommegger. However, a slow start by Casanova left too much for Jenny to do, and Dalmasso crossed the line 1.32s ahead of the Swiss, to leave the duo – who had won the first mixed team event in Bad Gastein, Austria in January – second in the overall mixed team standings.
Bormolini and Caffont’s result in Berchtesgaden meant the pair finished the season in third place overall.
“Today was a special day for me.” said Ulbing. “I just could start and not really race and fight with Andi for the globe and so I’m happy and really relieved that it worked out because after the last month, especially before the world championship after I broke my hand and got a medal, it was a real rollercoaster, and hurting myself again… so yes I’m happy about it for Andi.”
“The whole season was fantastic for me,” said Prommegger. “I came home from the world champs as a world champion and vice world champion and that’s the most important thing in a season with a big event. At the end of the season it was tough. I had chances to win nearly all crystal globes and the last days were pretty tough for me from the mental side because I lost two globes that were really close, within a few hundredths of a second. And now the last day, winning the crystal globe again, with Dani Ulbing, it’s a perfect end to the season.”
And so a dramatic season of alpine snowboarding concludes with riders rounding out 2022/23 and no doubt looking forward to a rest… always with half an eye on next season, too no doubt.
Mixed team result – Berchtesgaden, Germany
1 Fabian Obmann and Sabine Schoeffmann – Austria 2
2 Maurizio Bormolini and Elisa Caffont – Italy 2
3 Edwin Coratti and Lucia Dalmasso – Italy 1
4 Cody Winters and Iris Pflum – USA 1
Mixed team season results
1 Andreas Prommegger and Daniela Ulbing – Austria 1
2 Gian Casanova and Ladina Jenny – Switzerland 2
3 Maurizio Bormolini and Elisa Caffont – Italy 2
