Daniela Maier finishes fourth at the Olympic Winter Games, the jury awards the ski cross athlete bronze shortly afterwards – and the long wait begins. Several appeals are being heard, and the CAS Court of Justice has now made a final decision. There are two bronzes.
Ski crosser Daniela Maier is allowed to keep her bronze medal from the 2022 Winter Olympics after months of nail-biting. The International Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS announced the decision around ten months after the racing drama in the Chinese mountains. Accordingly, the Swiss Fanny Smith, with whom Maier had fought for third place, also received bronze.
“The athletes welcome the fact that the International Ski and Snowboard Federation FIS has taken the extraordinary situation into account and made a solution supported by the spirit of the sport possible,” said the German Ski Association. “And the FIS expresses its appreciation for the remarkable and determined efforts of the athletes to resolve the matter in a spirit of fair play.”
The Swiss Smith initially finished in third place in the ski cross final on February 17, one place ahead of Maier. At that time, however, the jury only confirmed gold and silver immediately. Smith was stripped of third place after a minute-long video study. In the opinion of the jury, the then 29-year-old had obstructed her German opponent on the home stretch by stepping to the left.
After an objection from the Swiss Ski Association, the Appeal Committee of the World Federation FIS decided to overturn the jury’s evaluation. Suddenly Smith cheered and the DSV filed an objection. Curious: On the FIS side, Maier was listed as fourth for months, on the Olympic side as third. “The FIS has adjusted the ranking and placed both athletes in third place. As a result, the International Olympic Committee has agreed to follow the corresponding FIS ranking in this case and to award the medals accordingly,” said the DSV.
Daniela Maier had already spoken out in favor of this solution in October. “The solution of awarding two medals would be in my favor, because we both deserved the medal,” said the 26-year-old from Furtwangen at the time.
