From Umhausen, AUT
(February 7, 2026) – Fabian Achenrainer came from behind to prevent an Italian gold medal sweep in Umhuasen, as he held off Daniel Gruber by just two hundredths for gold.
Gruber took the lead from Austria’s Leon Auer in the first heat by just .11, with Achenrainer .28 back in third.
The second heat saw Achenrainer take a big lead over Italy’s Alex Oberhofer. Auer was next and couldn’t answer the outstanding slide that Achenrainer put down. His second run was over a second slower than his teammate’s, but he did place himself in position for a medal.
Gruber pulled off the top with a sizeable lead, and held that lead early on in his second run. But Achenrainer’s second run was outstanding, and Gruber was unable to keep up. He crossed the finish line in second place, just two hundredths back for silver, with Achenrainer gold.
Where many sliders had trouble throughout the race weekend Achenrainer was nearly perfect, and he credited that to his victory.
“I managed to carry the speed perfectly out of the penultimate corner and hold the line through the final bend,” the winner told FIL media after the race. “That probably saved me the win.”
The win was the second of Achenrainer’s career.
Gruber took silver for the second time this season, and his fifth medal in five races.
For Auer, bronze was the first of his season.
Oberhofer slid up from sixth to fourth, with Paolo Auer fifth.
USA’s Thomas Matthews was 12th and New Zealand’s Louie Coburn 15th.
After five races in the 2025/2026 World Cup season, Gruber holds a 70 point lead over Achenrainer, with Troger third. Oberhofer and Hannes Unterholzner are fourth and fifth.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total |
| 1 | Fabian Achenrainer | AUT | 22 | 11.84 | 11.64 | 76.46 | 74.55 | 2:31.01 |
| 2 | Daniel Gruber | ITA | 24 | 11.85 | 11.74 | 76.18 | 74.85 | 2:31.03 |
| 3 | Leon Auer | AUT | 16 | 11.77 | 11.79 | 76.29 | 75.73 | 2:32.02 |
| 4 | Alex Oberhofer | ITA | 20 | 11.90 | 11.80 | 76.85 | 75.23 | 2:32.08 |
| 5 | Paolo Auer | AUT | 14 | 11.82 | 11.62 | 76.72 | 75.53 | 2:32.25 |
| 6 | Mathias Troger | ITA | 23 | 11.82 | 11.79 | 76.94 | 75.64 | 2:32.58 |
| 7 | Fabian Brunner | ITA | 17 | 12.05 | 11.87 | 76.93 | 75.78 | 2:32.71 |
| 8 | Vid Kralj | SLO | 15 | 11.96 | 11.84 | 77.02 | 75.97 | 2:32.99 |
| 9 | Ziga Kralj | SLO | 19 | 12.02 | 11.94 | 77.45 | 76.42 | 2:33.87 |
| 10 | Florian Freigassner | AUT | 6 | 11.98 | 11.83 | 76.79 | 77.70 | 2:34.49 |
| 11 | Gabriel Halcin | SVK | 7 | 12.00 | 11.97 | 78.16 | 76.90 | 2:35.06 |
| 12 | Thomas Matthews | USA | 12 | 12.21 | 12.04 | 78.22 | 77.38 | 2:35.60 |
| 13 | Samuel Halcin | SVK | 11 | 12.01 | 12.90 | 78.05 | 78.26 | 2:36.31 |
| 14 | Jerome Almer | SUI | 13 | 12.28 | 12.29 | 79.11 | 77.37 | 2:36.48 |
| 15 | Louie Coburn | NZL | 8 | 12.23 | 12.00 | 79.40 | 77.95 | 2:37.35 |
| 16 | Simon Dietz | GER | 9 | 12.13 | 11.91 | 79.83 | 77.78 | 2:37.61 |
| 17 | Mason Palecek | USA | 10 | 12.15 | 12.20 | 79.19 | 79.71 | 2:38.90 |
| 18 | Dominik Neupauer | SVK | 2 | 12.18 | 12.18 | 80.63 | 79.56 | 2:40.19 |
| 19 | Shohei Tanaka | SUI | 5 | 12.95 | 12.77 | 84.06 | 83.04 | 2:47.10 |
| 20 | Hannes Unterholzner | ITA | 21 | 11.85 | 77.11 | |||
| 21 | Matthias Lambacher | ITA | 4 | 12.00 | 77.30 | |||
| 22 | Sebastian Feldhammer | AUT | 18 | 12.03 | 77.35 | |||
| 23 | Simon Saurer | AUT | 1 | 12.26 | 77.87 |