It is not a matter of course to have enough reserves for a long jubilation at the finish line in Bormio.
After the almost two-minute World Cup descent on the Stelvio slope, on which one challenge follows the next, the ski racers are at the end of their tether.
But with Dominik Schwaiger, looking at the display board triggered a surge of energy.
He jerked his fist up and screamed in delight when he discovered that he was fifth.
Only three tenths of a second too slow for the podium, on which Bormio long-term winner Dominik Paris was once again at the top. The South Tyrolean won ahead of the two Swiss Marco Odermatt and Niels Hintermann. Schwaiger was faster than the world champion, Vincent Kriechmayr, and also faster than Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Matthias Mayer, the winners of the first two World Cup downhill runs of the winter. “The skis went on, the weather was perfect, just great,” said the 30-year-old from Berchtesgaden.
Top results by German downhill skiers are no longer a surprise, but so far others have been responsible. Schwaiger was a bit in the shadow of the public perception, not only that of the still injured Thomas Dreßen, but also of Andreas Sander, Romed Baumann and Josef Ferstl. Finally, the young Simon Jocher pushed himself into the limelight. All four had qualified for the Winter Olympics before Christmas, Schwaiger with eleventh place in Beaver Creek was only half the norm.
Now he has secured the ticket with his best career result so far in the downhill - on the slope on which he had a serious fall in 2017 and has since struggled with lumbar problems.
The fact that only four athletes per nation are allowed to compete in each discipline in Beijing, but now five German downhill riders have made it to the norm, is an unusual luxury problem for the coaches.
Schwaiger has long been considered the athlete who often rounded off a good team result, but only occasionally stood out.
More often than with results, he succeeded with his driving style: Always on the limit, but also very error-prone.
“It is important to find the middle ground, that on the one hand I am fast, but on the other hand the technical skiing also fits,” he knows.
The former giant slalom specialist, who only switched to downhill skiing five years ago, had often forgotten that when he was rushing to speed.
Or not worked on it seriously enough.
In the past, he admits, he “lived like that”.
Only in the past few years has he “become much more focused” and has therefore also “taken a step forward”.
But that's not all.
At 30 he is finally mature enough not only to be among the best occasionally, but to establish himself there.
"I believe that even more is possible when I work so focused."