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Liensberger broke the Austrian Slalom taboo

Katharina Liensberger brought Austria’s gold medal drought in a Women’s Slalom event to an end after ten years. She broke the “Wunderteam’s” taboo since 2011.

By Daphne Seberich

Katharina Liensberger was the revelation of the Cortina D’Ampezzo 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. The Austrian managed to score three medals throughout the two weeks of competition, two gold and one bronze. She beat favorites like Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova. And by a lot.

The 23-year old Austrian dominated the race, serving over one second of advantage to second-placed Vlhova and two seconds to the favorite to take the title Shiffrin. An impressive accomplishment, considering that the Italian slope was very tricky to interpret and difficult from a technical standpoint.

Photo credits: Leonhard Föger for Reuters

Liensberger’s gold medal brought one of the most impressive medal streaks in World Championship history to an end. Mikaela Shiffrin was looking for a five-peat after winning the last four World Championship Slalom titles but had to be happy with bronze.

Nevertheless, Shiffrin was still the most successful woman at Cortina, winning four medals (one gold, one silver and two bronze). The American managed to be on the podium at every competition she competed in.

To kick it off, the Cortina Parallel gold medalist Katharina Liensberger set the fastest time of 48.48. With 30 hundredths of a second delay, Petra Vlhova secured second place, even after Canadian Laurence Saint-Germain crossed the finish line.

The favorite to win the race, Mikaela Shiffrin, had a troublesome first run, finishing 1.3 seconds behind Liensberger. The American superstar won every World Championships Slalom title since 2013, four titles in a row.

Second-ranked in the Overall standings of the FIS World Cup Michelle Gisin ended her run prematurely by straddling one of the gates. Swiss teammate Wendy Holdener dethroned Shiffrin from third-place by being 1.24 seconds off the fastest time.

Photo credits: Nevasport.com, Getty Images, The Guardian, World 24 News & Tio.ch

German Lena Dürr with bib number 10 managed to squeeze between Shiffrin in fourth and Mair in sixth to secure fifth place 1.96 seconds behind the provisional leader. Irene Curtoni, Elena Curtoni’s sister, struggled the whole way down the slope and crossed the finish line in 9th. After 15 racers, the tenth-placed athlete had over 2.48 seconds of delay. The impossible task for the second run was catching-up Wendy Holdener in third place to have a chance at a medal. Vlhova and Liensberger were just on another planet, having over 96 and 1.24 hundredths of advantage over the Swiss.

Italian Federica Brignone, unfortunately, didn’t perform well on home soil. She straddled a gate and ended her dream of winning in Cortina prematurely.

The surprises of the first run were Ana Bucik, placing fifth with bib number 20, and Asa Ando from Japan in eighth place, 1.97 seconds away from the fastest time. Camille Rast, who had her best career result in Flachau finishing in sixth place, impressed as well with bib 25. The Swiss youngster managed to squeeze between Buick and Dürr in sixth, 1.67 seconds behind Liensberger.

Photo credits: NewsBeezer, Kyodo News & World 24 News

The second run saw World Championships rookies Dzenifera Germane and Ali Nullmeyer ex aequo in first position until Parallel Team bronze medalist Andrea Falser beat the two by 1.29 seconds. Martina Peterlini from Italy then surpassed the provisional leader by seven hundredths.

The class 98’ athlete Elsa Fermbäck blew it out of the park with his run, taking over the leadership of the race. The best Italian athlete after the first run, Irene Curtoni, only managed to dethrone her teammate Peterlini from second place.

Slovenian Andreja Slokar, who qualified for the second run in 17th position, crossed the finish line with a 1.25-second advantage, taking over the lead of the race. Her impressive performance aided her to recover over twelve positions, beating athletes like Chiara Mair, Lena Dürr and Kristin Lysdahl. Even the surprise of the first run, Ana Bucik, was beaten by her teammate.

We expected Mikaela Shiffrin to go all-in, but she progressively lost her advantage over Slokar. She still managed to become the provisional leader with 69 hundredths of a second advantage over the Slovenian rookie. The American’s performance was enough to secure her a medal. Wendy Holdener, who placed third in the first run, lost all of her advantage, crossing the finish line in second place.

Slovakian superstar Petra Vlhova had a solid run, taking over the leadership with 98 hundredths of a second advantage over Shiffrin.

Katharina Liensberger proved that her performance in her first attempt wasn’t a fluke. Throughout her run, she continued to increase her lead over Vlhova. Crossing the line with a second of advantage, Liensberger earned Austria the first gold medal in the Women’s Slalom discipline since Marlies Schild (now Raich) in 2011. After over ten years of drought for the “Wunderteam”, Liensberger deservingly broke the taboo.

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As the World Championships came to an end for the women, all eyes turn back to hunt for the World Cup overall title, which will resume a speed weekend in Val di Fassa.

Several questions surround the last part of the season. Can Lara Gut-Behrami maintain her momentum and go for the overall title? Will Vlhova find her second wind? How will Liensberger react to her new-found success? And what tricks does Shiffrin still have up her sleeve? These and many more questions will be answered in the last month of the season. Hold on for a wild ride.

Kriechmayr is now part of the élite speed double trio

With his win, Kriechmayr became the third man, after Hermann Maier in 1999 and Bode Miller in 2005 to do the speed double in the same year at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

Photo credits: Paudal, Olympic Channel , Alchetron & Corriere Della Sera

By Daphne Seberich

Vincent Kriechmayr was unbeatable on the brand-new Vertigine race piste in Cortina d’Ampezzo winning downhill gold at the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, completing the speed double.

Having won the Super G event, the Austrian came into the race full of confidence. He picked bib number one, becoming the first man to race a downhill on the Vertigine in competition, and dominated in clear conditions with hard, grippy snow.

With last year’s World Cup Finals (which should have served as a test event for the piste) canceled, the field only had two training runs earlier this week to get used to the 2610m-long course, with its average slope of 31 percent.

Kriechmayr, who won downhill bronze at the last World Championships in Åre, skied a clean line and was only nearly caught out by a tricky control gate on the Canalone traverse section of the course.

The 29-year-old crossed the line in one minute, 37.79 seconds – just one-hundredth of a second, or an advantage of just 27 cm, ahead of silver medalist Andreas Sander of Germany, who wore bib number two.

Switzerland’s Beat Feuz, winner of the double downhills in Kitzbühel last month, was third, 0.18 seconds behind Kriechmayr.

Photo credits: NewsBeezer & Corriere del Ticino

The Cortina Super G gold medal winner Vincent Kriechmayr started the competition, setting the bar for the other competitors with a time of 1:37.79. It was a tough battle between the provisional leader and Andreas Sander’s time. With bib number two, the German crossed the finish line only one-hundredth of a second behind Kriechmayr.

Fan-favorite and Garmisch-Partenkirchen Downhill winner Dominik Paris, who topped the second training session on Saturday, seemed to have what it takes to beat Vincent Kriechmayr’s time. Unfortunately, a mistake in the crucial part of the slope determined Paris’s fate. He recovered a 1.24-second delay from the middle part of the piste to cross the finish line 65 hundredths behind the provisional leader.

Kitzbühel podium holder Matthias Mayer was one of the favorites to take the win. His physical shape, as seen on the Streif, is remarkable. He came to Cortina prepared in the best way possible. At the Canalone traverse, Mayer missed a gate, finishing prematurely his run.

Beat Feuz, who came to Cortina with two wins in Kitzbühel and a second place at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, was set to earn a medal in the discipline. He also was crowned Downhill World Champion at Sankt Moritz 2017. Feuz managed to dethrone Paris from third place, falling behind Austrian Kriechmayr only 18 hundredths of a second.

Bib number 8 holder Maxence Muzaton had a scary encounter with the slope. It seemed like he was doing freestyle skiing with downhill skis. Luckily, he didn’t suffer from any injury.

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As the racers descended the slope, it was getting clear that beating Kriechmayr’s time was gonna be a tough challenge. With bib number 13, Romed Baumann was a real challenger for a podium position. The intermediates in the first half of the slope talked clear: he was close to Kriechmayr. Where Paris had his mistake, Baumann failed as well, crossing the finish line in ninth place. A finish-line scare involved him as well, crashing into the air fence in the end area. Fortunately, he left the track with only minor cuts on his face.

The Vertigine slope has not aided Christof Innerhofer to win on home soil. The 2011 Downhill World Championship bronze medalist missed out on a top-three finish, placing just behind his teammate Dominik Paris in fifth place.

Reigning Downhill World Champion Kjetil Jansrud misinterpreted the slope, but still had his season’s best result, placing seventh. He couldn’t defend his title. Marco Odermatt set a surprisingly good time, equaling Dominik Paris in fourth place. The technical slalom discipline specialist blew it out of the park by interpreting the slope in the best way possible. His bib number, which was 18, didn’t seem to penalize him.

Photo credits: Dagsavisen & La Vanguardia

Vincent Kriechmayr wins back-to-back gold medals in Cortina, equaling a record that only legends of the sport managed to do. Andreas Sander barely missed out on the top spot of the podium, but can still consider himself happy with silver. He scores a third medal for Germany, the second one in the Downhill discipline after Kira Weidle’s podium on Saturday. Feuz in third was no surprise. The Swiss scored his third World Championship medal, his second bronze.

With his win, Kriechmayr became the first Austrian Men’s Downhill World Champion in 18 years since Michael Walchhofer accomplished it in 2003. He also became just the third man, after Hermann Maier in 1999 and Bode Miller in 2005 to do the speed double in the same year.

“Hermann Maier is an Austrian legend and Bode Miller is a legend too, of course,” Kriechmayr told FIS after his run. “It was a really special race today, with bib number one it wasn’t so easy and it looks like it was good enough for the victory today. An amazing race.”

Speaking to Eurosport, he added: “It’s pretty amazing, it was a difficult race. It was not perfect, I lost a lot of time on the last part of the race but I was pretty fast on the middle part. It was good enough, and that’s it. Yes, of course I had my medal, I already had a medal and I wanted to show my best today. I always was a fan of these two guys but to be on the same step as them is amazing,” he said of comparisons to Maier and Miller.

Silver medallist Sander, who continued Germany’s run of silver medals at the Championships, told Eurosport: “Just one-hundredth, I saw it and I was like ‘uh-oh, that could be… hopefully it’s not for a medal. I saw the time, it was really fast, 1:37, and then I thought maybe it was a good one. I was feeling good, I was really in shape and felt good. I felt like maybe I could do it and cause a surprise. I felt it at the start. In the end, super happy.”

The competitions will continue at the Italian venue until the 21st of February where the athletes will do everything they can to score a medal. Can someone equal Kriechmayr’s achievement by winning the technical discipline’s double gold medal?

Walliser’s 32-year-record was finally crushed by Suter!

Switzerland’s Corinne Suter brings back the Downhill World Championships gold medal to the Swiss Ski team 32 years after their last successful racer, Maria Walliser.

By Daphne Seberich

After tough weather days at the start of the Championships week, Cortina dished up a dream day for the women’s downhillers. Cloudless blue skies and crisp temperatures greeted the field as one of the most scenic downhill courses in the world, had a chance to truly shine for the Women’s Downhill FIS Alpine World Ski Championship race.

The Swiss women continued their march through Cortina, earning another two speed medals thanks to, once again, the work of Corinne Suter and Lara Gut-Behrami. Today it was Suter’s turn to shine as she claimed her first career World Championship gold medal.

Corinne Suter became the first Swiss skier to win the Women’s Downhill FIS Alpine World Ski Championships title in 32 years (Maria Walliser was the last Swiss world champion in women’s downhill) with the victory at Cortina d’Ampezzo. The 2021 Super-G silver medalist dominated the Olympia delle Tofane piste, built for the 1956 Winter Olympics, to win her second medal of the 2021 Alpine World Ski Championships in cold and clear conditions.

That triumph made her only the second woman ever to win a medal in both downhill and Super-G at two separate World Championships, having also achieved the feat in 2019; American Lindsey Vonn (2007, 2009) is the only other skier to have done so.

Germany’s Kira Weidle took silver, while Suter’s teammate and pre-race favorite Lara Gut-Behrami, the Super-G event winner, won bronze. Two-time defending champion Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia could only finish 14th.

Photo credits: DE 24 News, Olympic Channel & Pentaphoto

To kick it off, Francesca Marsaglia was the first to challenge the Olympia delle Tofane slope. With a time of 1:35.81, she set the bar for the other competitors. Swiss racer Jasmina Suter and Italian teammate Laura Pirovano attempted to dethrone Marsaglia from provisional first place. Only Pirovano managed to beat her teammate’s time, serving her a 37 hundredths of a second advantage at the finish line. Nadia Delago with bib number 4 squeezed in-between Pirovano and Marsaglia to secure an all-Italian podium on home soil.

Although her run was characterized by many mistakes, Breezy Johnson ended the Italian dominance by beating the leader’s time by 27 hundredths of a second.

Åre 2019 Downhill and Cortina 2021 Super G silver medal winner Corinne Suter set green intermediates throughout her run, ending it 9 tenths ahead of Johnson. Swiss teammate Michelle Gisin earned the provisional runner-up podium spot, 5 tenths behind Suter but was shortly after beaten by Czech Ledecká by 6 hundredths of a second.

German skier Kira Weidle came the closest to dethroning Suter but didn’t quite manage to get the top spot, crossing the finish line 2 tenths behind the Swiss athlete.

After winning her maiden gold medal on Thursday in the Super G event, Lara Gut-Behrami had a really strong performance, setting green intermediates throughout her run. Unfortunately, she didn’t quite manage to dethrone her teammate but still earned a spot on the podium with a 37 hundredths of a second delay.

Ilka Stuhec, who won the Downhill gold medal in the World Championships in 2017 and 2019, could not do anything against Corinne Suter’s superiority, having to hand over her the World Championship title.

The last Italian to compete on the Olympia delle Tofane slope was Elena Curtoni. It was a very close fight for a podium position, but the way she skied the last section of the slope was not good enough for a podium position. She ended up crossing the finish line 83 hundredths behind Suter.

“My run was really good, I did what I wanted to ski, what I needed to give me the space and take the speed with me,” Suter told FIS. She added that her Super-G silver medal gave her confidence: “More than I first thought, I always knew in downhill I had more chances and then I started with a silver medal in Super-G. “Today was a new day, I felt really good in the morning, and I knew I did everything I could.”

Weidle was 0.2 seconds behind in second, having looked like potentially threatening Suter for gold. “It’s still kind of unbelievable, I’m just happy,” Weidle told Eurosport after the race. “I was hoping for a medal, it was my biggest goal today. While I was racing I really felt good, no big mistakes. I knew I could be fast, Corinne was just faster.”

Thanks to the exploits of Gut-Behrami and Suter, Switzerland holds a strong lead in the overall medal count with four in total. While the Swiss men were shut out of the medals in the Super-G event, they have several favorites for the Downhill event that can help to build on the lead.

Unstoppable Marco Schwarz

Marco Schwarz can’t hold back. His physical and mental shape make him unstoppable. The Austrian wins on home soil at the Planai night race under the lights and arrives at the Cortina 2021 World Championships with an impressive podium streak.

By Daphne Seberich

It was a different feel in Schladming, which usually welcomes more than 40.0000 fans, but the racers nevertheless put on a show for the TV audience in snowy skies.

Under the lights in Schladming, Marco Schwarz continued his strong season, winning on home soil in Schladming for his second victory of 2021. It was the sixth podium for Schwarz this season. He’s heading into the FIS World Ski Championships in Cortina with massive positive momentum.

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“It’s pretty amazing to win in Schladming. It’s the classic to win. It was tough to come back from sixth place in the first run, but to win feels pretty amazing,” said Schwarz after the win.

Schwarz finished ahead of Frenchmen as Clément Noël finished in second place 0.68 seconds behind with Alexis Pinturault settling for third place.

The final top three were nowhere near the podium position heading into the second run, with all well out of range of the top three. But heavy snowfall made the conditions unpredictable for the entire field.

The technical disciplines specialized men now have one task: give their best shot at the Cortina D’Ampezzo FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2021. Schwarz, Feller and Noël are the favorites to take the Slalom win on February 21st.

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The icy slope topped by fresh powder snow complicated everyone’s plans for a smooth run.

Manuel Feller was undoubtedly the one to beat after the first run. With 39 hundredths of a second advantage over second-placed Foss-Solevaag, he had the best odds to take the win at the Schladminger Planai.

Zagreb-winner Linus Straßer had to recover from 26th place after the first run. His hopes were crushed as he straddled one of the gates after the first intermediate.

An angry and disappointed Henrik Kristoffersen had the same task as Straßer: Recover the most time as possible against the Top-10 after the first run. A 1.04-second advantage against provisional leader Read was enough to recover some ground.

Filip Zubcic was the closest to challenge Kristoffersen’s lead, but a fatal mistake in the last sector ended in him crossing the line with 9.7 seconds of disadvantage. British skier Dave Ryding and Tanguy Nef had no chance to beat the blistering time of the Norwegian. The arhythmic track set by Italian coach Julien Theolier gave a tough task to the athletes. Only Kristoffersen managed to interpret the slope the best.

Starting as 15th after the first run, Loïc Meillard ended Kristoffersen’s chances of winning. A stopwatch error didn’t declare him as the new provisional leader right away, but rewatching the footage, the Swiss was declared the new clear leader of the race.

Alexis Pinturault was literally on fire. With an impeccable performance, the Flachau podium winner served Meillard 85 seconds of advantage. This run challenged not only the Swiss but, more importantly, the provisional first-run leader Manuel Feller. The Overall title is in his hands.

Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange and South Tyrolean Manfred Mölgg, the veterans of the competition and legends of the discipline, were challenged by the tricky layout of the Planai. Both couldn’t reach the provisional podium positions.

Red bib wearer Marco Schwarz made a statement with his second run: He is here and here to stay. No one will take the red bib away from him. Although Pinturault set the best time of the season, the Austrian beat the Frenchman to the leader position by 0.82 seconds. Clement Noël replaced his teammate soon after for the runner-up spot.

Alta Badia Slalom winner Ramon Zenhäusern was not in his best shape. After his triumph on Italian soil, the Swiss never recovered and proved himself not to be worthy of a podium position. Quite a disappointing season so far for the Slalom giant.

3rd place after the first run, Mario Matt’s hopes ended with a heartbreaking DNF. Sebastian Foss-Solevaag didn’t replicate his Flachau result, ending his run in fourth.

Video rights: Sportschau & Infront Sports & Media AG

The moment of truth arrived. Feller challenged Schwarz for the win. Incredibly after the first gates, the Austrian straddled one of them and granted the Planai title to his teammate. Schwarz only missed out once on the podium out of seven races and set 110 points between himself and his teammate in the Slalom standings after the Schladming event.

The French Clement Noël and Alexis Pinturault completed the podium. After a third place in the second Flachau competition, the Overall standings leader is back on the lowest step of the podium, proving to be in the best shape of his life.

The Cortina World Championships will be a true test for all the athletes. Who will be crowned Slalom World Champion this time?

The Austrian’s Kitzbühel triumph

Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr triumphed on home soil, earning his first win of the season.

By Daphne Seberich

The tables have turned for Vincent Kriechmayr. Sunday’s bad luck, as a gate fell right on the binding of his skis as he was riding the snow downhill at 130 km/h, was soon forgotten. The Austrian raced to his first Super G FIS Alpine Ski World Cup win of the 2020/2021 season on Monday with a blistering run in Kitzbühel.

The Åre Ski World Championships Super G bronze medalist clocked a time of 1:12.58 on home snow, which was also enough to move him on top of the discipline’s standings after a second place in Bormio back in December.

“Today I had a really good race. I’m really proud of my skiing.” 29-year-old Kriechmayr told FIS. “Last year I missed the Crystal Globe by three points, now I just want to ski my way.”

Kriechmayr beat Swiss Marco Odermatt into second place on the Austrian slope. The 23-year-old Swiss skier, a relative newcomer to the speed discipline, finished 0.12 seconds behind the winner, earning his fourth podium of the season.

Another Austrian and double Olympic gold medalist Matthias Mayer, bagged his third podium of the Kitzbühel race weekend, completing the podium to go with second and third-place finishes in Friday and Sunday’s downhills. The Super G specialist equals legend Aksel Lund Svindal for podium finishes on the Hahnenkamm.

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The icy Kitzbühel Super G took place on the Streif-Alm. Every year the best skiers on earth compete to win the coveted chamois trophy, the symbol of Kitzbühel. The layout of this Super G was very direct and straight. Mistakes were not allowed.

The first athlete to start was Austrian Christian Walder. 1:13.28 was the time to beat. Christof Innerhofer attempted to challenge the benchmark. He had an impressive result at the Sunday Downhill race placing fourth. The South Tyrolean took many risks, which resulted in red intermediates. He fought and had his comeback to cross the finish line with 11 hundredths of a second ahead of the Austrian.

Marco Odermatt’s strong performance on Sunday gave him more confidence approaching the Streif-Alm. He did not disappoint and seemed to feel comfortable on the Austrian slope. Odermatt earned the provisional lead with 0.47 seconds of advantage towards Innerhofer.

Photo credits: laRegione & Le Matin

Sunday’s runner-up Johan Clarey fought for a back-to-back podium result, but a massive delay of 1.58 seconds from the lead placed him last. Bib number 5 athlete Vincent Kriechmayr, who was misfortunate in the second Hahnenkamm-race, blew everyone out of the water and served 12 hundredths to provisional leader Odermatt.

Kjetil Jansrud, the winner of the 2020 Kitzbühel Super G, has had a disappointing World Cup weekend. His run ended prematurely, having missed a gate. An 18th and 26th place at the Streif competitions and the latest DNF, made him lose out on crucial points for the standings.

Second and third-place Hahnenkamm-race winner Matthias Mayer set the bar high when it came to expectations. In 2017 he conquered the Streif-Alm, but this race was not on his usual level. Taking risks on the icy slope was necessary, but making mistakes was not accepted. He only managed to secure a spot on the lowest step of the podium after nine racers.

Loïc Meillard came racing at the Kitzbühel slope without any training and practice runs and it showed. His time was abysmally apart from the top. 1.41 seconds of delay placed him provisionally in sixth place.

Overall standings leader and technical disciplines specialist Alexis Pinturault had to cope with the same conditions as Meillard. He attempted to race at the Kitzbühel slope without any training and practice runs as well. For the Frenchman, competing in the Super G is necessary to earn points to secure his lead in the rankings. Pinturault just finished behind the Swiss in seventh position.

Austrian naturalized German skier Romed Baumann has had an incredible weekend on the Streif so far but made too many mistakes during the Monday Super G, only managing to squeeze between Meillard and Pinturault in seventh.

Dominik Paris, the reigning Super G World Champion and winner on the Streif-Alm in 2015 has not had the best start to his run. 84 hundredths of a second delay after the first intermediate ruined his chances of winning. What a disappointment for the South Tyrolean, who had his first seasonal podium on Friday in the first Downhill event.

The only remaining athlete who could have potentially challenged Vincent Kriechmayr for the lead was back-to-back Streif winner Beat Feuz. The Blitzkönig chose risky lines in the first part of the track. His delay subsequently increased intermediate by intermediate. A mistake in the final section of the slope ended in a zero-points result for Feuz.

French skier Nils Allegre was part of the most shocking crash of the day. With incredible speed coming into the first jump, Allegre lost control of his body at the landing, crashing into both protective barriers of the track. Fortunately, the airbag system the athletes have prevented the Frenchman to suffer from a serious injury.

Video credits: Eurosport & Infront Sports & Media AG

The surprises of the day were James Crawford and Stefan Babinsky. With bib number 28 and 32 they managed to place better than Super G specialists Walder and Sanders respectively in sixth and seventh place.

The results of the day give Alexis Pinturault a 200-points lead ahead of second-placed Marco Odermatt in the Overall standings. With now injured Aleksander Aamodt Kilde out of the picture, the battle to the top seems already to be a sealed deal. Can Odermatt bounce back and conquer the Big Crystal Globe?

Gut too good on home soil

Lara Gut-Behrami was just too good compared to the other competitors in the Crans Montana Super G event. She is now the second woman to win World Cup Super G races in three different Swiss venues (St.Moritz, Lenzerheide, Crans Montana).

Photo credits: Eurosport & FIS Alpine Instagram

By Daphne Seberich

Lara Gut-Behrami is back to her winning ways after an astonishing performance in Sunday’s Audi FIS World Cup race. The third Super G event of the 2020/2021 season took place in Switzerland on the Crans Montana slope.

There was no way the other athletes could compete with the Swiss’s speed and racing line. After all, Lara is one of the most successful female skier still active in the Super G discipline. This event secured a new record under her belt. Gut-Behrami is the second woman to win World Cup Super G races in three different Swiss venues (St.Moritz, Lenzerheide, Crans Montana).

For the Swiss speed specialist, it was a mixed bag weekend on home soil. She finished a disappointing 16th place in the first Downhill, only to have her comeback in Saturday’s second event to claim second place. Crans Montana is a venue that suits Gut-Behrami as Sunday’s race was her third victory and fourth podium in the last two seasons at the home nation’s resort.

Gut-Behrami raced a flawless line on the bottom half of the course to earn the victory by nearly one second. Austrian Tamara Tippler continued to impress, earning her second runner-up finish 0.96 seconds behind. Italian Federica Brignone rounded out the podium, raking in her second Super-G Top-three finish of the season.

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Bib number one racer and current Overall standings leader Petra Vlhova didn’t have the best start to her run. Shortly after the first intermediate, Vlhova missed a gate after a jump and got disqualified from the race.

Michelle Gisin, the second contender for the Big Crystal Globe, was the first athlete to set the benchmark with a time of 1:18.30. Austrian skier Stephanie Venier challenged the Swiss for the lead but lost control of her body after a jump, crashing into the barriers. Fortunately, no major physical injuries were reported from the Austrian ski team.

Gisin’s teammate Wendy Holdener, who placed 3rd in the Crans Montana Super G in 2018, missed a gate and ended her run prematurely.

Right from the get-go, Federica Brignone showed to have great speed and always sealed green intermediates during her run. A 1.65-second lead ahead of Gisin boosted her into provisional first place.

Crans Montana 2017 Super G winner Ilka Stuhec didn’t have what it takes to challenge the leader Federica Brignone but still managed to finish on the podium in third place with a 2.14-second delay.

The first challenger for first place was Swiss skier Corinne Suter. Even though he took many risks and set green intermediates throughout her run, she crossed the finish line with 50 hundredths of a second delay. The time still allowed her to secure the second spot on the podium.

Lara Gut-Behrami, Crans Montana 2020 Super G winner, who is suffering from a back injury, seemed to have an incredible physical shape. A 1.02-second advantage against Brignone granted her the lead of the competition. She was undoubtedly the favorite to win the race.

Third in the Overall standings, Marta Bassino challenged her teammate Brignone for a podium position but missed out on it only by 28 hundredths against Priska Nufer.

Teammate Francesca Marsaglia dethroned the Swiss and secured the third step of the podium. The Italian ski team is the strongest of all of this season, with three athletes placing in the Top-8.

Photo credits: La Stampa, Instagram & El Mundo Deportivo

Crans Montana Downhill back-to-back winner Sofia Goggia took many risks that seemed to pay off until the last jump did her dirty. Losing control over her body made Goggia miss the second-to-last gate of the slope. Her time would have secured her the second place position, but she was disqualified. Elena Curtoni’s fate aligned with Goggia’s, ending her run in the same way as her teammate: With a DNF.

The win also moved Gut-Behrami ahead of teammate Corinne Suter in the Super-G season standings, although there is still much racing left in the year.

Before the World Championships in Cortina kick-off at the start of February, the Women’s World Cup tour still has two stops. First up, a giant slalom at the Kronplatz, followed by a speed weekend in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Photo credits: Audi FIS Ski World Cup & Ticketmaster Blog

No one can Beat him!

Beat Feuz wins the second Downhill event on the Streif in Kitzbühel and earns the red bib for the next race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He’s the seventh skier to win the Hahnenkamm event twice in the same year. The last one was Luc Alphand 26 years ago.

Photo credits: Getty Images & Olympic Channel

By Daphne Seberich

It’s all or nothing for Beat Feuz. The Swiss Downhill specialist gets crowned for the second time in a row the Hahnenkamm race king. He now will wear the red bib during the last speed event before the Cortina D’Ampezzo World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Triumphing on the most dangerous and nerve-wracking race of the season once wasn’t enough for Feuz. He had to score record-breaking results. He’s the seventh skier to win the Hahnenkamm Downhill race twice in the same year. The last one was French ski legend Luc Alphand 26 years ago.

Johan Clarey and Matthias Mayer completed the podium of the second Kitzbühel speed event respectively 17 and 38 hundredths of a second behind leader Feuz.

The Hahnenkamm-race is the most dangerous and exhausting Downhill race of the whole FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Every year the best skiers on earth compete to win the coveted chamois trophy, the symbol of Kitzbühel. You need to have a strong gut to try to ski down the Austrian slope. The start of the race alone, the Mäusefalle, has an 85% steepness. Most competitors fly several meters in the air before reaching the end of that section. Athletes cross the finish line with an average speed of 145 km/h. Only the best can conquer and win Kitzbühel.

The weather conditions that caused the first Streif event to be broken-off and the second race to be postponed to Sunday were present at this competition as well. Visibility was worse than on Friday. The slope was icier too, but the money prize was more substantial. The winner of the Streif earned 90.000 Swiss Franks.

Bib-number-one-holder Maxence Muzaton set the bar for the next competitors to reach with a 1:57.23. Travis Ganong was the first to challenge the French. Intermediate by intermediate, the American increased his advantage to Muzaton and crossed the finish line 56 hundredths of a second ahead.

Romed Baumann, who had a season’s best result placing 8th on Friday, beat Ganong to the fastest time. The Austrian competing for Team Germany is a contender for a World Championship medal in Cortina.

Johan Clarey, who had a terrible crash during the first training session, seemed to have learned his lesson. His advantage to Baumann at the finish line were a whopping 80 hundredths of a second. An incredible run by Clarey, who turned out to be the oldest skier on a podium at 40 years of age.

Photo credits: Alpine Start Gate & SportNews.bz

Christof Innerhofer, the Italian Downhill skier, struggled in the first Hahnenkamm-race. This time, the South Tyrolean impressed with his aggressiveness on the skis and managed to squeeze in between Clarey and Baumann. Innerhofer is back and here to stay. He and Paris are the top contenders for Italy to score a medal in the World Championships on home soil.

Kjetil Jansrud, who only finished 18th on Friday, seemed not to be in his best shape, crossing the finish line with a 2.29-second delay and placing provisionally in sixth place. He then ended in 26th place in the final standings.

Right before Beat Feuz, the winner of the first Streif event, began his run, the weather conditions worsened. The race was momentarily interrupted. As the event resumed, the bib number 9 athlete started with a bang. Setting green intermediates right from the get-go was a good indicator for what was to come, but he then lost momentum in the middle part of the slope. After that, Feuz started his comeback to end the run with a 17 hundredths advantage ahead of Clarey.

Dominik Paris, the beloved South Tyrolean ski star, scored his first seasonal podium in the first Kitzbühel race. He was hungry for more and wanted a back-to-back Top-3 result. 1.18 seconds separated Paris and the provisional leader at the finish line, ranking in seventh place. It was still a good Downhill result for Dominik, who has a shot at winning in Kitzbühel at the Super G race on Monday.

Matthias Mayer, the runner-up of Friday’s Streif, gave Feuz a tough time with minimal margins of difference between the two. He ended scoring only third place.

The Austrian speed team seemed to be on fire, with Max Franz challenging his teammate Mayer for a podium position. Vincent Kriechmayr took a colossal risk, which unfortunately didn’t pay off. He was very unlucky. A gate loosened as he was riding the snow downhill at 130 km/h. It fell right on the binding of his skis. If it had gone underneath, he could’ve had the same end to his run as Ryan Cochran-Siegle. The American crashed on Friday into the barriers. After a physical assessment at the local hospital, the doctors discovered a mini-fracture in his cervical spine.

Video credits: ORF 1 & Infront Sports & Media AG

A surprisingly good performance was done by Marco Odermatt in Kitzbühel, who could not start his run on Friday due to the weather condition. The only remaining challenger for the Overall Crystal Globe was striving for a points finish and got something even better: a Top-10 result.

The speed athletes will prepare themselves for another daunting race on the Streif. Monday’s Super G will be a playing factor for the athletes’ convocation to the Cortina D’Ampezzo World Championships. Who will succeed?

A full-circle moment for Paris!

It feels like a full-circle moment for Dominik Paris, who returns on a Downhill race’s podium 366 days after the knee injury he suffered from in Kitzbühel. The South Tyrolean has a second chance for an even better result in the Sunday event on the Streif.

Photo credits: Eurosport & Sportnotizie24

By Daphne Seberich

Beat Feuz is the new Hahnenkamm-race winner of the 20/21 season. But he’s not who has impressed everyone the most during the race. Dominik Paris did.

Stepping on the podium in third place 366 days after the fatal moment for Dominik’s 19/20 season feels like a full-circle moment. At that point in time, Paris was leading the Overall, Downhill and Super G standings; his best season to date. The Streif, although, has no mercy for anyone. The South Tyrolean, who has won three times in Kitzbühel, returned at the Streif seemingly to have what it takes to challenge for a podium.

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A post shared by Dominik Paris (@dominikparis)

The Hahnenkamm race is the most dangerous and exhausting Downhill race of the whole FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Every year the best skiers on earth compete to win the coveted chamois trophy, the symbol of Kitzbühel. You need to have a strong gut to try to ski down the Austrian slope. The start of the race alone, the Mäusefalle, has an 85% steepness. Most competitors fly several meters in the air before reaching the end of that section. Athletes cross the finish line with an average speed of 145 km/h. Only the best can conquer and win Kitzbühel.

A big absentee is reigning Overall champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who got injured in a fall during the Super G training in Hinterreit, Austria. Kilde was taken to a hospital in Innsbruck where it was later confirmed that he tore the ACL of his right knee, bringing his season to an end.

“It is as I feared, but as I did not hope,” Kilde told Norwegian media immediately after the diagnosis. “I am in very good hands and have people with a lot of experience around me, so everything should go well. It’s especially annoying because I’m in the shape of my life, but I will come back strong.

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A post shared by Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (@akilde)

Kilde’s teammate Kjetil Jansrud, who started the race with bib number 1, set the benchmark for Romed Baumann with a time of 1:56.28. The Austrian, now racing for Team Germany, earned a one-second advantage over the Norwegian and beat his past teammate and favorite-to-take-the-win Vincent Kriechmayr as well. Kriechmayr set the fastest time in the second training session.

Beat Feuz blew everyone out of the water with the fastest time of 1:53.77. A blistering run by the Swiss 2018, 2019 and 2020 Downhill champion, who has never won on the Streif.

Andreas Sander’s 95 hundredths of a second delay squeezed him between Feuz and Baumann in second place after six athletes. Soon after, Matthias Mayer took over Sander’s place, closing the gap to the provisional leader to only 16 hundredths.

With bib number 9, Dominik Paris started very strong. He proved to not be afraid of the Streif. With only 56 hundredths of a second of delay against Feuz, the South Tyrolean star secured a spot on the lowest step of the podium. A remarkable finish for Paris. His season’s best result was a fourth-place at one of his favorite Downhill races, Bormio.

Christof Innerhofer is still suffering from the Covid-19 after-effects. His performance on the Streif was not at his usual level, being 3.04 seconds behind leader Feuz, placing provisionally in last place.

American Ryan Cochran-Siegle topped the first training session and showed great speed in the first half of the race. A little mistake turned out to be devastating for Cochran-Siegle. After the last small jump of the slope, the American crashed into the barriers, broke through them and ended outside of the track. The rescue helicopter immediately flew him to the nearest hospital for a physical assessment.

Urs Kryenbühl suffered from a horrific crash at 146 km/h on the last jump towards the finish line. While he was in the air, his weight transferred to the front of his skis, putting him out of balance. Falling face-first onto the snow, Kryenbühl hit the icy slope with his head and continued to roll towards the end zone with his broken skis flying everywhere. He too was immediately flown to the nearest hospital to assess his physical condition.

Video credits: ORF 1 & Infront Sports & Media AG

After the two delays, the weather started to turn for the worse with a southerly wind creating dangerous conditions and creating further setbacks. In the end, once the Top-30 racers were down the hill, everyone was breathing a sigh of relief as the Streif flexed its mighty muscles today.

Friday’s race was a replacement for the canceled Downhill, which should have taken place last weekend in Wengen. The athletes will get a second chance on Sunday to take on the Streif. On Monday, the speed disciplines weekend in Kitzbühel will end with a Super-G race.

Alexis Pinturault’s chances of winning a long-awaited first Overall title for a Frenchman since Luc Alphand in 1997 have increased significantly, thanks to the Norwegian’s abrupt end to his season. The 29-year-old is currently 218 points ahead of Kilde and 277 points ahead of Swiss Marco Odermatt.

Photo credits: Alexis Boichard for Agence Zoom

Will Paris blow everyone out of the water and win the second race of the Hahnenkamm?

Marta Bassino’s supremacy: the 2020/21 Giant Slalom domination

Marta Bassino’s dominance in the Giant Slalom discipline of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup continues by winning back-to-back races in Kranjska Gora. Besides being the undisputed leader of the standings and the red bib wearer, the Longines Rising Ski star also reached a new record by triumphing four out of five times in the technical specialty this season.

Photo credits: Eurosport & El Diario Vasco

By Daphne Seberich

Marta Bassino did it again. Winning the opening race in Sölden and subsequently the next three out of four events wasn’t enough: She was hungry for more. Kranjska Gora was her stage to shine, her back-to-back wins demonstrate the phenomenal physical shape she’s in.

The Italian upcoming ski star never held back when it came to racing in Giant Slalom. Her superiority and demolishing dominance in the discipline resembles the Marcel Hirscher decade in the Men’s World Cup. She’s been wearing the red bib since the season-opening race in Austria and has only missed out on points in Courchevel. The prospects are rosy for Marta Bassino. Raising the Crystal Globe for the first time in her career is not a far-fetched idea. Can the 24-year old from Borgo San Dalmazzo attempt dethroning the current Overall standings leader Petra Vlhova with her 623 points as well?

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Video rights: Eurosport & Infront Sports & Media AG

The Swiss Michelle Gisin and Slovenian Meta Hrovat completed the podium of the second Kranjska Gora Giant Slalom with respectively 66 and 73 hundredths of a second of delay behind Bassino.

The Swiss bounced into second place of the Overall standings, just 60 points off the top spot defended by Vlhova. The Czech barely missed out on the big Crystal Globe trophy last season against Italian Federica Brignone. This year’s task seems not to be any easier. With both Gisin and Bassino as competitors, the Slalom specialist and last year’s discipline’s winner has to deliver and maximize points to secure the highly contended top spot of the standings.

Meta Hrovat earned third place on home soil for the second season in a row. Last year’s race in Kranjska Gora was the Slovenian’s first career podium in a tie with Wendy Holdener. This year, she didn’t need to share the trophy with anyone, her blistering time of 2:18.79 spoke for itself. The 22-year-old seems to have found the special something the other athletes are missing to reach the podium at the Slovenian event.

Photo credits: AP News & Siol.net

Kranjska Gora was a big disappointment for Mikaela Shiffrin, who posted the fastest time in the first run but didn’t manage to capitalize on her advantage, only finishing in sixth place. The American superstar is still recovering from the tragic loss of her father, of which she suffered from almost a year ago. Only having won two times this season is unusual for Shiffrin. We hope to see her at the top again soon.

There are only three Giant Slalom races to go, the next one being held at the Kronplatz in South Tyrol on the 26th of January. Can Bassino win her third race in a row on home soil?

The weekend of firsts: Manuel Feller and Sebastian Foss-Solevaag’s dream races in Flachau

Manuel Feller on Saturday and Sebastian Foss-Solevaag on Sunday managed to fulfill their childhood dreams by winning their first FIS Alpine Ski World Cup races held in the unconventional town of Flachau.

Photo credits: Getty Images, Olympic Channel & FIS

By Daphne Seberich

A first for Flachau and a first for Feller and Foss-Solevaag: two different first-time race winners and the first Men’s races taken place in the Salzburg area. After the announcement of the cancelation of the Wengen competitions, FIS first decided to organize the postponed events on the Streif before settling for the slope that just had held the Women’s Slalom contest.

The last-minute Slalom events held in the Austrian town, a destination well known for its Women’s World Cup Slalom race, showcased the diversity and competitiveness of this year’s Crystal Globe contenders. Since the before-Hirscher-era, there hadn’t been such an undecided race to the title.

After Marco Schwarz’s win in Adelboden, Manuel Feller was deprived of the red bib after only one race, having straddled one of the gates in the first run. Only one point separated the two Austrians, the favorites to clinch the Slalom title.

He then bounced back in Flachau’s first race, earning the victory and regaining the scarlet bib he deserved. Clément Noël and Marco Schwarz completed the podium, respectively being 43 and 70 hundredths of a second behind the leader.

Feller ranked third after the first run, only being 0.25 seconds off the pace as, for the third time this season, Clément Noël was the top racer qualifying for the Top-30. Laying down the fastest time in the second run, Feller jumped into first place and held onto victory.

Today’s second-place finish was the first podium for the Frenchman this season. It was still a frustrating result, as he continued to deliver the best performance in the first run but loses out on a better ranking after his second run.

Adelboden-winner Marco Schwarz held onto the podium position, only missing out on a trophy at Madonna di Campiglio’s night race this season. It was the 12th career podium for the Austrian.

Feller was always close to the victory this season, earning two second-place finishes in Alta Badia and Zagreb. In total, it was the sixth career Slalom podium for the 28-year-old.

Photo credits: Eurosport & Mundo Deportivo

Sunday’s race was a good pick-me-up for the Norwegian ski team. Lucas Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath’s injuries handicapped the Scandinavians substantially for the Nations Cup race against Austria and Switzerland. Their star skier and last year’s Overall standings winner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde announced his retirement from this year’s title contention as well, suffering a knee injury during a training session for next week’s race in Kitzbühel.

It took 86 World Cup starts, but in the end, he finally got his maiden victory. Norwegian Sebastian Foss-Solevaag dominated the slope in Sunday’s Slalom in Flachau to claim his first career win.

Foss-Solevaag debuted in Levi’s 2012 World Cup event and had four podiums under his belt before his life-changing placement in Austria. The 29-year-old always fell short of victory, but the second Slalom race in Flachau was a clear statement, earning a crushing 0.76 triumph over Austrian Marco Schwarz. Sebastian Foss-Solevaag is finally a race winner.

Schwarz is on a roll of his own, having earned a podium in each of the last three races, including his recent second-place finish on home soil. He is now leading the Slalom standings by 65 points ahead of Feller.

Alexis Pinturault brought home his first top-three finish in a Slalom this season, being 0.95 off the winning pace.

Sebastian Foss-Solevaag skied nearly flawlessly in both runs, setting the fastest time at both attempts down the hill. After the first run, he sat at the top of the standings with Austrian trio Fabio Gstrein, Manuel Feller and Marco Schwarz right on his heels. Only Schwarz managed to capitalize on his strong first run position. Manuel Feller and Fabio Gstrein had no chance to make it into the top ten in the second run.

Photo credits: Tiroler Tageszeitung, Neveitalia & Rai Sport

Austria’s loss was Switzerland’s gain as Loïc Meillard and Luca Aerni respectively finished fourth and sixth. Although the season is only half over, the two countries find themselves already going head-to-head for the Nations Cup, with the Swiss currently holding a 604-point lead.

Leading a ranking is Alexis Pinturault, who, after his back-to-back Giant Slalom wins in Adelboden, clinched the top spot of the Overall standings, with a 218-point lead over injured Kilde. The odds for the big Crystal Globe victory are in his favor.

After an extremely busy two weeks, the Slalom racers can now catch their breath until their next event on January 26th in Schladming. Until then, the speed teams will steal the spotlight in Kitzbühel where the famous Streif races are held next weekend.