Real Madrid’s youngsters of Castilla played a fiery match against C.F. Talavera on match day three of the Spanish Second Football Division B, Group 5C. The two teams ended up drawing 2-2, leaving both two crucial points on the table.
Pictures by Daphne Seberich for Ready Set Sport
Photo rights: Ready Set Sport
Real Madrid equalized against neighbors down south Getafe, dropping two precious points towards the title race against Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. They are still in contention, being only three points behind the latter.
By Daphne Seberich
Real Madrid are still unbeaten in the last 15 games. That’s how Zinedine Zidane and the Madridistas would sell it. Nevertheless, the Blancos drew at the Colosseum Alfonso Pérez in a very tight game against Getafe, where the countless absences on the pitch were hard-felt.
Zidane had to reshuffle for the ninth time in the last nine games his lineup. Injuries and suspensions stood in the way of picking the ideal 11 to maximize points against their neighbors down south. Real Madrid was without a defense. Casemiro and Toni Kroos were missed in the midfield. Not even the Merengues’ Pichichi Karim Benzema could overcome the difficulties of the match.
What sealed the Madridistas fate was a questionable offside decision after a brilliant goal scored by forward Mariano. In the early doors of the match, the Brazilian kicked the ball to the back of the net for Real Madrid’s advantage. Referee José Maria Sanchez Martinez’s decision after the VAR consultancy with José Luis Munuera Montero was detrimental to the match’s outcome for the Whites.
The image shown during the game to determine the offside was, although, proven to be controversial. The chosen frame that determined Mariano’s goal as invalid showed the ball already in motion. It had already left Éder Militão’s boot. Fran Martinez (@LaLigaenDirecto), who analyzes LaLiga’s VAR and referee decisions, claimed that the previous frame, with the ball still untouched by the Brazilian, would have depicted Mariano in a legal position.
The highly defending team Getafe played mostly in their half of the pitch. For them, drawing against Real Madrid was already an accomplishment. It’s been three years since the ‘Azulones’ have scored against the Whites. Both parties had numerous chances to score the advantage goal, but no one managed to finalize it.
Eres Unal of Getafe had a chance in the second half of the match but was neutralized by resilient Thibaut Courtois. He was then called into duty by a late attempt by Nemanja Maksimović that was cleared by the Belgian over the crossbar.
Real Madrid was clearly the strongest team in the last five minutes of the game and were hoping to come out on top to maximize points. The neighbors, although, held the Madridistas in check to earn a share of potential points.
Courtois voiced some of his thoughts after the match: “Now is not the time to moan about injuries – you have to show your face. We’re a bit disappointed by the draw, but it’s not easy with so many games. We were up against Getafe, which is a tough place to go, on a very dry pitch. It was difficult to move the ball about. With so many injuries, you can’t rotate as much and you’re a bit at your limit, but we don’t think much about it. We have to recover well, rest well… that’s the only way.”
Real Madrid will face Cádiz on Wednesday to attempt to match Atlético Madrid in the standings.
Real Madrid’s top shape period continues with a successful draw against Liverpool. The Blancos move on to the next stage of the 2020/2021 Champions League competition.
By Daphne Seberich
Real Madrid are back in the semi-finals. For the eighth time in the last ten years, the Blancos are on track to raise the trophy with the big ears for the 14th time in their history. A brilliant first leg allowed the Merengues to fly to England with a significant advantage over their British competitors. The draw at Anfield against Liverpool was enough for the Madridistas to make it through to the last four of the 2020/2021 Champions League competition.
Strikers Vinicius Jr. and Marco Asensio determined the fate of their team when it mattered the most, punishing Alisson with three goals during the first leg of the quarter-finals. The Madrid-based team is definitely on a high, coming from a 3-1 triumph at the Alfredo Di Stéfano against Liverpool and a 2-1 win against their rivals Barcelona at the almighty Clásico.
Thibaut Courtois was a crucial asset for the Merengues. The Belgian proved to be in superb shape, impeding Liverpool to score an advantage. A particular moment in the match between the two giants of football was an incredible save by the Blancos’ goalkeeper. Courtois neutralized a dangerous attempt by Salah when he stroked the ball away from his goal with his left foot with incredible class and elegance.
Soon after, the Belgian goalkeeper had to perform another big save against James Milner. It was clear that the Reds would not leave the Champions League without giving a proper fight to the Blancos, especially at Anfield. The Madridistas’ efforts, although, were superior and allowed them to remain untouched for the first half of the match.
Benzema came close to putting the definitive nail in Liverpool’s coffin. A brilliant solo effort from the Real Madrid striker, who already scored a “work of art” goal at the Clásico the weekend before, almost put the Blancos ahead. The on-target shot was, although, not finalized, as the ball hit the post of Alisson’s goal.
The strong performance of midfielder Kroos, Casemiro and evergreen Modrić allowed Real Madrid to get back on track in the second half. Even though their opponents were constantly pressing them in their half of the pitch, the trio assured their teammates by displaying resilience.
The Merengues almost put the game to bed with an attempt by Vinicius Jr., served by tenacious Fede Valverde, to pierce Alisson’s net. The Brazilian goalkeeper read the situation right away and came off his line to cleared the ball.
The Spaniard came to this crucial match just barely having recovered from an ankle injury. His attendance came off as a surprise as Zidane’s starting eleven was announced to the public. Furthermore, Valverde was set to play for the first time as a right-back in the typical 4-3-3 Real Madrid lineup.
Real Madrid will now face Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea in the semi-final of the Champions League. The Blues’ coach has well-renowned experience with the final stages of the competition, having reached last year’s final with PSG. The Blancos have acquired an enormous amount of experience, having lifted three trophies with the big ears for three years in a row. Zidane’s accomplishments speak for themselves. Can he succeed in becoming the most successful Real Madrid coach in the team’s history?
F1 Extra Session is your favorite Formula One podcast. Daphne Seberich, Sebastian Becerra, and Zoé Guimard bring you post-race analysis and discuss other major stories surrounding the sport. We are Formula One fans just like you. As F1 journalists we also provide a unique perspective to what’s happening in the world of F1.
This week’s episode is a full-depth analysis about what went down during the exciting wet race at Imola. Verstappen, Hamilton, and Norris all had good days on the podium. There was drama with the crash between Russell and Bottas. We’ll cover some on the grid mishaps, some chaos in the cockpit and we’ll finish it off with some off-track chit-chat about what the drivers post on social media during their off-weeks.
Don’t miss F1 Extra Session every Monday after the race!
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Welcome to Fresh Air, the show that takes you from the snowy peaks of the Alps to the sunny shores of Bondi beach.
From the first A,B,C of how to ski to the X, Y, Z to the climbing on the edge. Our podcast is all about introducing you to outdoor sports.
In our tenth episode, yes it’s already been ten episodes, we will discover everything about a super outdoorsy but difficult sport, trail running. First, we’ll take it to the streets, learning about what people know about the sport, uncover everything about this amazing sport and its different disciplines and explain all the needed gear for you to go trail running. As an athlete highlight we have a very special trail runner we would like to introduce you to and lastly, we finally have our beloved Travel Tips section back! We’ll introduce you to the best trails in Spain if you ever wanted to try the sport out that you don’t want to miss.
It’s gonna be a high altitude, high octane and a hell of a ride. You can’t be stopped.
Join us, and come and get a breath of Fresh Air.
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The two-times Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne brought the first win of the season home at a highly-contended Rome E-Prix.
By Daphne Seberich
JEV is back! The two-times French Formula E champion with DS-Techeetah was back on the podium after two sub-par races held in Diryah in February.
The third round of the 2021 ABB FIA Formula E championship, held in Rome, Italy, was the first race after a six-week break from the sport. A new layout of the EUR-Circuit was the scenery of the European event.
Jaguar drivers Sam Bird and Mitch Evans drove brilliantly in the second half of the race, finishing off the podium positions of the first Rome E-Prix of the weekend.
Photo credits: Motor.es Motorsport.com & Diariomotor
After the qualifying session, Stoffel Vandoorne secured the Superpole position and the three extra points awarded towards the drivers’ championship standings.
Due to the less-than-ideal weather conditions, the race direction decided to kick off the race behind the safety car. As soon as the green flag was waved, which signaled the beginning of the competition, the battle for the leadership of the race began in a fiery way.
André Lotterer followed the superpolesitter Vandoorne closely. As soon as he saw an opportunity against the Silver Arrows driver, he dived into the apex, pushing the Belgian off-track. That caused a detrimental turn of events for the two top drivers, causing a collision and following an investigation of the race direction. German driver Lotterer was awarded a five-second penalty and a two-point deduction from his super license after the deliberation of the FIA.
Another driver who had to face the decisions of the FIA was Oliver Rowland. He was investigated for using more than the allowed 200kwh of power during the first minutes of the race. The FIA awarded a drive-through penalty to the British Nissan driver. Audi-Schäffler driver Lucas Di Grassi was served on a silver plate the lead of the race.
Jean-Eric Vergne, who was debuting the new DS-Techeetah powertrain, seemed to have incredible pace behind the Brazilian leader of the race. The battle to the top got fiery at every turn and straight between the two.
After his collision with Lotterer, Vandoorne had to completely start his race from zero. Although he lost many positions, the Belgian kept his head down and raced to the max. He managed to recover to the ninth position at the half-race mark. He was also awarded the Fanboost, which he then could deploy in strategic moments of the race.
The leader of the driver’s standing Nyck De Vries had the potential to make it to the podium position yet again, following the three top drivers closely from behind in fourth.
The real elephant in the room, although, was the obligation of use of the Attack Mode. The drivers can deploy this mode only by driving on a dedicated part of the track, which is not on the ideal racing line. Leader Di Grassi followed the smart strategy of keeping all the pack closely together so that his competitors following behind would lose as many positions as possible when deciding to use the Attack Mode.
Jean-Eric Vergne was the one who has suffered the most from this strategy, losing out on multiple positions from his original second. He then managed to recover all the way to the top, but Di Grassi and his brilliant strategy allowed him to dictate the course of the race.
The battle to the top was all between the DS-Techeetah driver Vergne and Audi-Schäffler racer Di Grassi. Back-to-back attack modes were deployed to combat fiercely with Nick De Vries in the mix. Meanwhile, Silver Arrow challenger Stoffel Vandoorne made it all the way to fifth place to reiterate a brilliant comeback performance from the disastrous way his race started.
With eight minutes left on the clock and one extra lap remaining, Jaguar racer Bird managed to overtake and dethrone the championship standings leader De Vries. Both drivers of the British team seemed to be driving at a different pace from the race leaders. Evans doubled down on the Dutchman bringing him all the way back down to fifth.
The battle between Di Grassi and Vergne was still highly the center point of the race. The Brazilian managed to recover the lead of the race after his second Attack Mode, but suddenly his challenger incurred a loss of power. Stoffel Vandoorne tried to avoid the slowing-down car but carambulared on the barriers, ending his winning chances and race prematurely.
Other Mercedes driver De Vries was involved in the incredibly dangerous crash as well and was forced to retire his car. Under Toto Wolff’s eyes, who came to watch the race as team owner, the Silver Arrows collected zero points towards the championships.
The thrilling race until that point had to, unfortunately, end under a regime of safety car, pronouncing Jean-Eric Vergne the winner of the first Rome E-Prix ahead of the two Jaguar drivers Sam Bird and Mitch Evans in second and third place.
One more race will take place in the Italian capital on Sunday. Who will come out on top?
Manuel Feller ended the 2020/2021 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup on a high note, conquering the Lenzerheide slope in a thrilling battle for the win.
By Daphne Seberich
Manuel Feller closed the 2020-21 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season in top form by winning the last Slalom race of the season at the finals in Lenzerheide.
Feller, who was only in sixth place after the first run, had a nail-biting experience in the leader’s chair as the last five men descended the slope. In the end, he staved off two Frenchmen to hang on for the victory, topping Clément Noël by a slim 0.08 seconds and Overall World Cup winner Alexis Pinturault by 0.11 seconds in a very tight race.
The small slalom globe was already awarded heading into the final race as Feller’s teammate Marco Schwarz wrapped up the honors in Kranjska Gora. Schwarz had a successful season, conquering the Small Slalom Crystal Globe and finishing in third place in the Overall World Cup standings.
Wunderteam athlete Schwarz set the bar for the next competitors with a time of 00:52.79. The winner of the Kranjska Gora Slalom Clément Noël started on the back foot, setting red intermediates throughout his run. On the mellowest part of the slope, he managed to catch up some hundredths against the Wunderteam athlete, but it wasn’t enough to earn the leadership of the race.
Alta Badia Slalom winner Ramon Zenhäusern attempted to dethrone Marco Schwarz, but his delay at the finish line only secured him the lowest step of the podium. Sebastian Foss-Solevaag had a disastrous end to his season, making a major mistake on the steepest part of the slope and then straddling a gate.
Zagreb winner Linus Straßer, who was not in his prime performance, still managed to stay close to the top positions, placing in fourth. Henrik Kristoffersen’s performance was sub-par, securing the last place with 1.72 seconds of delay. Manuel Feller only managed to place in fifth.
Swiss youngster Loïc Meillard was racing to secure third place in the Overall standings against the provisional leader of the race, but his performance wasn’t enough to attack the Austrian’s position.
Photo credits: SciareMag, The Indian Paper, RSI, Rheinische Anzeigeblätter, La Razón & LeNouvelliste.ch
Cortina 2021 silver medalist Adrian Pertl had an impressive performance, dethroning Ramon Zenhäusern from the provisional podium position. Only one-hundredth of a second separated the two athletes.
Overall Crystal Globe winner Alexis Pinturault didn’t take too many risks during his attempt at the leadership of the race. 1.09 seconds of delay put him in eighth place.
Giant Slalom specialist Filip Zubcic, who I had the pleasure to interview in Alta Badia (click here for the video interview), just managed to cross the finish line in the Top-10.
Alex Vinatzer, the Val Gardena rising star, had a great start to his run but progressively lost out on a major result. 1 second of delay put him in front of Pinturault in eighth place. His teammate Manfred Mölgg was on a roll in the most technical part of the course. A too-pronounced lean made him crash and miss out on potential points.
Kicking off the second run, the legendary French skier Jean-Baptiste Grange said goodbye to racing with a farewell performance that moved everyone. The sport lost one of the biggest Slalom champions. In his 197 World Cup starts, Grange won one Slalom title and 9 World Cup wins. He also accomplished to earn 2 World Championships gold medals in Garmisch-Partenkirchen 2011 and Vail/Beaver Creek 2015.
Stefan Hadalin was the first one to actually compete. A time of 1:49.75 set the bar for the athletes still at the starting gate. With over 71 hundredths of advantage, Christian Hirschbühel dethroned the Slovenian provisional leader but the following competitor Luca Ärni was on fire and served the Wunderteam athlete over six-tenths of advantage.
Henrik Kristoffersen and Filip Zubic, who had a huge advantage against provisional leader Ärni, couldn’t do much to contrast his remarkable performance, finishing respectively fourth and fifth in the standings.
Frenchman Pinturault gave it all in his performance. In his attempt, he drastically increased his advantage over Ärni intermediate by intermediate, finishing his run being over a second faster than the provisional leader. Alex Vinatzer managed to be just two tenths behind Pinturault, which was good enough to beat Loïc Meilliard for second place by one-hundredth.
Manuel Feller was on a rocket ship. 11-hundredths of advantage brought him to the top of the standings. Zenhäusern, who was chasing the fourth consecutive podium position, incredibly made a mistake and straddled a gate. Third, after the first run, Adrian Pertl crashed as well, missing out on a podium position. Clément Noël came the closest to beating Feller, with only eight-hundredths separating the two athletes.
With a 94 hundredths advantage, Schwarz had the task to beat his teammate Feller. A crucial mistake on the mellow part of the slope ended the Austrian champion’s winning chances, who completed his second run attempt in sixth place.
With all the globes decided heading into the final race of the season, the biggest storyline of the day was the duel between the Swiss and Austrian men for the Team Trophy, given to the men’s team with the most World Cup points throughout the entire season. It was a tight race, but in the end, Feller’s victory wasn’t enough to make up the difference as the Swiss earned the men’s trophy in addition to the women’s Team Trophy and Overall Team Trophy.
Also decided in the race was the Longines Rising Star trophy, which went to Alex Vinatzer thanks to his fourth-place finish.
This race concluded a highly contended 2020/2021 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup men’s season. What can we expect in the future from these brilliant athletes? Fans can’t wait to see them back on the slopes in the fall!
Welcome to Fresh Air, the show that takes you from the snowy peaks of the Alps to the sunny shores of Bondi beach.
From the first A,B,C of how to ski to the X, Y, Z to the climbing on the edge. Our podcast is all about introducing you to outdoor sports.
In our ninth episode, we will discover everything about a very fun but difficult sport, climbing. We’ll uncover everything about this amazing sport and its different disciplines and explain all the needed gear for you to go climbing. As athletes highlight we have four special climbers we would like to introduce you to, compare and analyze the difference of their disciplines. Lastly, we’ll take it to the streets, learning about people’s experiences with the sport that you don’t wanna miss.
It’s gonna be a high altitude, high octane and a hell of a ride. You can’t be stopped.
Join us, and come and get a breath of Fresh Air.
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Youngster Alice Robinson breaks a record that stood unbeaten since the ’80s: scoring her third career win before turning 20.
By Daphne Seberich
Alice Robinson triumphed at the Giant Slalom finals held in Lenzerheide. The Kiwi youngster, who already managed to impress everyone watching at home with her wins in Sölden and Kranjska Gora in 2020, breaks an unbeaten record since the ’80s. Who could say to have already three career World Cup wins at 19? Legends like Lindsey Vonn and Nicole Hosp came close to breaking this myth but couldn’t quite achieve to make it in the history books with this statistic under their belt.
The young Kiwi topped the Lenzerheide podium, with Mikaela Shiffrin and Meta Hrovat completing the top-three. An outstanding second run allowed the youngster to clinch the win of the race.
“I wasn’t happy at all with my first run,” said Robinson to FIS. “So I just thought I have to go full gas and give it all my energy in the second run since it was the last of the season I gave every bit of energy and power that I had.”
Robinson debuted in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup only two seasons ago, impressing from the get-go. On her debut at the Andorra finals in 2019, she scored her first podium, clinching second as the Junior World Champion invitee.
Federica Brignone kicked off the race with a time of 1:12.47 Although the Italian wasn’t satisfied with her performance, Lara Gut-Behrami didn’t even end her run. Some speculated that it was an act of protest for the canceled speed events in Lenzerheide that, if held, could have potentially changed the Overall Crystal Globe win in favor of the Swiss. This assumption has been denied by the Swiss ski federation. American Mikaela Shiffrin beat the Italian with a 1.39 advantage at the finish line.
The Overall Crystal Globe winner Petra Vlhova didn’t have her best performance and ended 1.83 seconds behind the lead. Swiss speedster and Saturday’s third-place winner Michelle Gisin was the athlete closest to Shiffrin’s mark with an 81 hundredths delay from the top.
The Giant Slalom Crystal Globe winner Marta Bassino was incredibly quick during her run. The Italian found the perfect race line and speed to finish only 10 hundredths behind the blistering time set by Shiffrin.
Saturday’s Slalom Crystal Globe winner Katharina Liensberger regained confidence in her Giant Slalom abilities, crossing the finish line 1.08 seconds behind the provisional leader of the race.
Kranjska Gora’s third-place winner Meta Hrovat was the surprise of the first run, as her intermediates were green throughout her attempt. At the finish line, a one-tenth of a second delay put her in ex aequo with Marta Bassino in second.
New Zealand’s youngster Alice Robinson, who came back to the podium in Jasna, had an outstanding performance, finishing in fourth.
After the inversion, the second run began with Ragnhild Mowinckel’s attempt at the leadership. With an overall time of 2.25.02 the Norwegian set the bar for the next competitors. Cortina Downhill World Champion Corinne Suter managed to increase her advantage over Mowinckel, crossing the finish line with a 77 hundredths advantage.
American Nina O’Brian blew it out of the water, incrementing her advantage over Suter intermediate by intermediate. Her overall performance allowed her to earn the provisional lead being over 99 hundredths ahead of the Swiss.
Elena Curtoni was hoping for a career-best result in Giant Slalom but the interpretation of the last part of the slope was not good enough to take over the leadership. 14-hundredths, although, allowed her although to stay close behind the American. Polish skier Maryna Gasienica-Daniel had an outstanding performance, serving almost a second of delay to O’Brian. Petra Vlhova barely missed out on the leadership by only two-hundredths of a second.
The biggest surprise was Tessa Worley, who despite making a major mistake in the middle part of the course still managed to recover over eight tenths, beating Gasienica-Daniel for the leadership of the race. Swede Sara Hector then took over the top spot of the competition, crossing the finish line with six-tenths of advantage.
Federica Brignone was hoping for a comeback to break a record for Italy: becoming the only Italian skier to win a race in Giant Slalom for six years in a row. 72-hundredths of advantage over Hector earned her the leadership, but she still had six competitors to beat.
Katharina Liensberger didn’t manage to dethrone Brignone but earned the second spot of the ranking. Two-hundredths of a second separated Michelle Gisin and the Italian superstar after her second run attempt.
Alice Robinson was a rocketship. She managed to let her ski run loose, maximizing speed and fluidity of movement. An astonishing advantage of 1.29 won her the top spot of the race. Red bib wearer Marta Bassino couldn’t beat the Kiwi skier, accumulating an excessive delay that allowed her to only place fifth.
Meta Hrovat couldn’t manage to beat Robinson as well. She still secured although the runner-up position with 48 hundredths of delay. American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin couldn’t score the top spot of the standings either but was still content with second place.
This race concluded a highly contended 2020/2021 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women’s season. What can we expect in the future from these brilliant athletes? Fans can’t wait to see them back on the slopes in the fall!
Katharina Liensberger takes the Slalom Crystal Globe home in a fiery battle against Shiffrin and Vlhova for the title. After nine years of title-drought for the Austrians, the 2021 discipline’s World Champion finally put a stop to the curse.
By Daphne Seberich
Katharina Liensberger is the 2021 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Slalom champion. The Austrian skier won for the first time in her career the coveted Slalom Crystal Globe in a fiery title race to two martians of the discipline: Shiffrin and Vlhova.
The Slalom championship was wide open coming into this race, with Katharina Liensberger and Mikaela Shiffrin following closely behind Petra Vlhova in the provisional lead.
Liensberger, although, had a brilliant end to her season. She won for the first time in her career at Cortina’s World Championship’s Slalom event. Soon after, the Austrian was unstoppable. A win in Åre followed swiftly in March before coming to the finals a weekend later in Lenzerheide. She proved to be a step ahead of her competitors yet again, crushing any chances at the title and at the win they might have had. Katharina Liensberger deservingly triumphed at the last race of the 2021 season.
“That I can say I was good enough to win the slalom globe, that is fantastic,” said an overjoyed Liensberger after the race to FIS. “I don’t think I can ask for anything more or that it can get any better.”
American Shiffrin managed to score second place ahead of Swiss Michelle Gisin in third, but both athletes had an abysmal delay towards the dominating leader of the race Liensberger. Over 1.24 and 1.95 seconds divided the duo from the top of the leaderboard.
To kick the finals off, Laurence St. Germain set the bar for the other competitors with a time of 55.07 after the first run. Kristin Lysdahl managed to dethrone the provisional leader by crossing the finish line with 50 hundredths of a second advantage.
The Åre and Cortina 2021 Slalom winner Katharina Liensberger blew it out of the park. Seven-tenths separated her from the other two competitors. Mikaela Shiffrin couldn’t do anything against the Austrian dynamite. Nine-tenths of delay placed her only in third after the first run.
Petra Vlhova’s run was disastrous. 1.84 seconds of delay placed her provisionally last. Lena Dürr and Ana Bucik managed to do worse than the Slovakian skier, scoring respectively the bottom two positions of the standings. The following athletes Chiara Mair, Paula Moltzan and Kristina Riis-Johannessen couldn’t beat Vlhova as well.
The 2021 Junior Slalom World Champion Sophie Mathieu had the chance to debut in the World Cup finals, placing last in the first run. She opened the second leg and finished her attempt with a time of 1:56.66. Katharina Gallhuber took over the leadership of the race with over 3.53 seconds of advantage. The Slovenian Andreja Slokar then beat the Austrian to the best time of the run. She managed to recover over eight positions and beat athletes like Lena Dürr, Chiara Mair and Federica Brignone.
Irene Curtoni descended a World Cup slope for the last time in her career, retiring from competitions in her farewell run in Lenzerheide. The 35-year old, who competed in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup for thirteen years, scored two remarkable podiums. In 2012 she earned her first career podium in Ofterschwang’s Giant Slalom, where she took third place. Another impressive result was the Parallel Slalom event held in Courchevel, doubling down on her runner-up trophies.
As she was about to end her farewell run, Curtoni straddled a gate right at the finish line and was disqualified from the race. The Italian, although, was content with her performance and, surrounded by her teammates and sister Elena, she said goodbye to professional skiing.
Thanks to only one-hundredth of a second of advantage, Paula Moltzan put an end to Slokar’s comeback. Hers although was cut short by the impressive run of Swede Sara Hector.
Petra Vlhova was racing for the Slalom and Overall Crystal Globe. Although she finished two-hundredths of a second behind the provisional leader, her result secured her the first World Cup title in Slovakia’s history. She managed to break a record for her country and herself.
The Swiss Michelle Gisin then beat Hector by over 1.16 seconds to end Vlhova’s possibilities at the Slalom Crystal Globe. Mikaela Shiffrin took the opportunity of scoring points against the Slovakian by earning the provisional lead of the race while still having a shot at the Slalom championship.
Katharina Liensberger was, although, on another planet. With an incredible advantage of 1.24 seconds against Shiffrin, the Austrian scored her third race win of the year and brought the Slalom Crystal Globe back to her home country after nine years. Austria also breaks the record for most female athletes winning the specialty cup with eight.
Vlhova clinching the Overall Crystal Globe put an end to every title contention, as the last championship discipline event of the season, Sunday’s Giant Slalom, was already in Marta Bassino’s hands.
“This season for me was really difficult. I did a lot of races and it was very long,” said Vlhova to FIS. “But now I can say ‘I did it’. Coming from Slovakia, I don’t have a big team. We’re not a big ski nation, so to bring the Globe home means a lot to me and my country. I think I need time to realize everything, but I look forward to bringing the Globe home and celebrating with my friends and family.”
Nevertheless, the last race of the season will bring a spectacular title race of the 2021 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup to an end. The final Giant Slalom will kick off a long break before coming back to racing in the fall.
Ready Set Sport 