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Billy Linus Strasser of Team Germany reacts at the finish during run 2 in the Men's Slalom in alpine skiing at the Stelvio Ski Center during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Michael Kappeler/dpa
German skier Linus Strasser has hit out at the way the Milan/Cortina Games are being run, saying they leave no room for emotion and a true Olympic feeling.
"It's rubbish. Let's tell it like it is," Strasser said after placing ninth in the slalom on Monday.
Strasser said the races in Bormio were far too regulated and did not allow for the same emotions as the classic World Cup in places like Kitzbühel or Adelboden.
"That's what you want to experience, not something so sterile," he said.
Other German skiers have also stated a lack of atmosphere at the men's races in Bormio which ended on Monday. There was no proper athletes village in town and teams resided in hotels like at the World Cup.
Strasser said that there was even more of an Olympic flair 2022 in Beijing where the Games took place under coronavirus regulations and with hardly any spectators.
"Bormio actually shows me that Beijing wasn't so bad after all," he said.
"Sure, with Covid it was all a bit stressful, but we were in an Olympic village, there were ice events athletes there, it was a huge dining hall, it was a real community spirit."
Strasser was upset in the first run that he wasn't able to salute close friend AJ Ginnis in the finish area after the Greek skier had a ceremonial run in his final career race.
"That's typical Olympics, isn't it? Let's just leave something... but okay, it's all for the show, the sterile one," he said, naming the Ginnis incident "not worthy" regarding the athletes.
Strasser also said that his wife, their two children and other family members had come to Bormio but could only be far away from the piste. Strasser said he then had to agree a meeting point with them by phone because he couldn't see them.
The spread out Games also denied Strasser a visit to the women's races which were held a five-hour drive away in Cortina d'Ampezzo and where he would have liked to have saluted twice silver medallist team-mate Emma Aicher.
"I would have loved to celebrate the medal with Emma. It would have been cool to raise a glass with her," Strasser said.
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Linus Strasser of Team Germany competes during run 1 in the Men's Slalom in alpine skiing at the Stelvio Ski Center during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games. Michael Kappeler/dpa
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