First of all: thank you so much for keeping your fingers crossed so tightly – it paid off. Of course you go to a World Championships knowing you could come home with a medal, but I was surprised that it worked out in both of my events.

We managed to solve the equipment problems at short notice, and that was probably decisive. As a racer you depend enormously on what you’ve got on your feet – your skis and boots. So we said: “Back to basics,” and chose the equipment that had worked well last year.

On 9 February I travelled to Åre. A World Championships isn’t much different from the World Cup, except that the whole team is together. So while some are celebrating, others have to focus on their events. We slalom racers had the last event of the championships, so I had to stay focused right to the end. But first there was the team event. Our team works well together. Thanks to the city events you know which of the women and men are fastest; who races against whom, on the other hand, is pure tactics. Every single one of us has to deliver their best to succeed. In the end, after perfect knockout rounds, it wasn’t quite enough for gold in the final, but we were very happy. There was no big party, of course – you have two or three beers, but then that’s it, because a racer’s big goal is an individual medal.

And I got to hang one around my neck on Sunday. I had a really good feeling in the first run, but I lost time with two silly mistakes, and at times I was too direct, so I ended up with a fairly big gap. In the second run it was all about calculated risk. It was brutally hard to ski because visibility was poor – you couldn’t see the ruts – and the slope was badly worn. In the finish my first thought was that the run hadn’t been particularly good. I just thought: if I miss out narrowly again, I’ll kick myself… But then everyone after me lost a lot of time too. When Marco Schwarz finished behind me, it was clear a medal was guaranteed, and I was completely relaxed again. Marco in particular is usually really fast at the finish. But slalom is unpredictable. Marcel Hirscher’s father put it perfectly: “Nothing can be taken for granted until the very last gate.”

Now we three brothers are not only the only family to have won medals at the Olympic Games, but also the only three brothers who have all won medals at a World Championships. That makes us proud, of course. A success like this has many fathers, so it’s time to say thank you: thanks to all the fans who always believe in me, thanks to all the coaches who supported and support me in summer and winter, thanks to the service crew who always give 100% – above all my service man Michi Wildauer – thanks to the whole ÖSV team and to Team “Michi Matt”. Only teamwork like this made the success in Åre possible.

After the city event in Stockholm I’ll go home, and then I have a good 14 days to prepare for the next races and aim for the next season highlight: a World Cup win.

So once again, thank you all

Yours,
Michi Matt