Paralympic Sports Discussion Thread

[heywoodu 15,145]

Second gold for Jeroen Kampschreur in the sitting category, apparently we have a 17-year old superstar one year before the Paralympics 

[heywoodu 15,145]

And that's three gold medals for 17-year old Kampschreur, wow!!

[hckošice 14,834]

Henrieta Farkašová is once again world champion in slalom, she finished this world championships with 4 golds and 1 silver. PyeongChang we are comming

[uk12points 434]

Updated the results portal with all the World Championships speed events (Downhill, Super-G and Super Combined) here

Apologies for the delay, the technical events results will be up later as well!

[uk12points 434]

Skiers Marcoux and Farkasova storm to quadrouple gold

Slalom races today closed the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in tarvisio, Italy.

 

Canada’s Mac Marcoux and Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova skied to victory in slalom on Tuesday (31 January), each claiming their fourth golds to close the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy.

 

Marcoux, guided by Jack Leitch, can now call himself champion in the men’s visually impaired after registering the two fastest runs. The 19-year-old has found the form of his career so far in Tarvisio, and continued his medal run despite the falling rain on the Di Prampero course. Spain’s Paralympic silver medallist Jon Santacana Maiztegui improved on his bronze medal from the last Worlds in 2015, taking second place with guide Miguel Galindo. Slovakia’s Vancouver 2010 Paralympic champion Jakub Krako and guide Branislav Brozman completed a podium triple from Tarvisio with bronze.

 

Now a 12-time world champion, Farkasova and guide Natalia Subrtova saw off a challenge from Great Britain’s Millie Knight with guide Brett Wild in the women’s visually impaired. The Slovakian posted the leading time in the morning, giving herself a good buffer heading into the second run. Knight fought back in the afternoon, showing her growing confidence in taking on the world’s biggest names, but her quick finish was not quite enough and she left with silver. Germany’s Noemi Eva Ristau kicked off a medal rush for Germany with bronze, her first at this level with guide Gerkau Lucien.

 

Ristau’s Paralympic champion teammate Andrea Rothfuss added gold to her country’s haul, once again overcoming France’s defending title holder Marie Bochet. Rothfuss was just 0.19 seconds behind the French 14-time world champion after the first run. But she came back fighting as she had done 24 hours before in the giant slalom, dipping over the line first by just 0.03 seconds. “I think slalom is the discipline I don’t like,” Rothfuss said. “I had to do a lot more training in slalom, because it’s the discipline I haven’t had a good performance in. I didn’t expect to reach the podium a second time and then in slalom. It’s incredible! On her road to the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, which has received a huge boost this week, Rothfuss continued: “I had some good results here, that keeps me smiling all the time. I look forward to it. In the summer we will train a lot and hard for it and we’ll see what happens in PyeongChang.” Bochet claimed silver, an impressive 16th consecutive World Championships podium finish for the multiple Paralympic champion. Anna-Maria Rieder, another German to secure her first Worlds medal at the age of 16, was third.

 

The men’s standing saw a sweep of the technical events for French teenager Arthur Bauchet. Continuing to make an impact on his rivals, the youngster looked delighted to add to his title from the giant slalom on Monday (30 January). Austria’s Thomas Grochar was second, leading New Zealand’s Adam Hall into bronze.

 

The men’s and women’s sitting events were highlighted by triple wins for Germany’s  Anna Schaffelhuber  and the Netherlands’ Jeroen Kampschreur. In the women’s, Paralympic champion Schaffelhuber had a tussle with her teammate Anna-Lena Forster. Schaffelhuber posted the fastest time in the morning, but 2015 bronze medallist Forster fired a warning shot in her second run closing the gap to just 0.49 seconds overall. “I really looked forward to the slalom. I knew this would be a hot race, because Anna-Lena has been very, very strong in the slalom this year. I knew in the second run I really had to go fast, so I’m really happy to have won the gold medal today.” The top two on the podium, added to Rothfuss’ gold and Rieder’s bronze, made a great day for Germany. “I heard on the start that we’d won three medals and I said ‘that’s pretty cool’,” Schaffelhuber said. “That was really a motivation for me at the start. Because they won it and I knew I can do it too and I wanted to go fast.” Austrian world champion Claudia Loesch completed the top three with bronze and medalling in all five events. Kampschreur was on top of the world for the third time this week in the men’s sitting. In a dramatic conclusion to the race, the 17-year-old grabbed gold from the hands of Poland’s Igor Sikorski who was in line to win his first world title. However Kampschreur could not have skied better, weaving his way down the course with technique comparable to his more experienced competitors. Sikorski finished 0.37 seconds behind, leading another Dutch skier, Niels de Langen, into third. 

 

 

 

Full Results Here

[uk12points 434]

United States and Netherlands top as Paralympic Games quotas are won in Canada

Snowboard Cross races in the 5 Paralympic classifications opened the 2017 World Para Snowboard Championships in Big White, Canada

 

 

Netherlands and the United States came out as the dominant forces in Para-Snowboard after the Snowboard Cross events, both nations won 2 gold medals (thus securing 2 Paralympic Games quotas each).

 

In the Women's Lower Limb 1 (LL1) Brenna Huckaby from USA won gold in the big final, beating close rival cecile Hernandez-Cervellon of France. Meanwhile in the small final Nicole Roundy won an all North American battle to win the second medal for the USA, beating Canada's Michelle Salt. However, the field was relatively small compared to some competitions this year, with just 6 entries (1 of which did not start).

 

In the Women's Lower Limb 2 (LL2) the dominance of Bibian Mentel-Spee was on superb display, winning an all Dutch big final against compatriot Lisa Bunschoten. In fact the Netherlands almost completed a clean sweep, but they were denied by Joany Badenhorst of Australia.

 

In the Men's Upper Limb (UL) a new addition to the Paralympic program in 2018, USAs Michael Minor the in-form snowboarder of the 2016-17 season so far won gold, beating Maxime Montaggioni of France, and securing another Paralympic quota for the USA. In the small final Jacopo Luchini of Italy beat Britain's rising star James Barnes-Miller to bronze, ensurig the Italians, who used to dominate this event, were repsented on the medals podium.

 

In the Men's Lower Limb 1 (LL1) the male equivalent to Bibian Mentel-Spee, Chris Vos, won gold, against Reinhold Schett of Austria. The American's who were largely expected to challenge Vos had to settle for a small final race, where Mark Mann came out on top.

 

Finally, the only nation to break the Dutch-American domination was Finland in the Men's Lower Limb 2 (LL2) as Matti Suur-Hamari, beat Evan Strong of the USA to gold, with Michael Shea of USA picking up bronze. Gaining Finland a valuable Paralympic quota place.

 

Paralympic Games 2018 Quota:

Women's SBX LL1: United States

Women's SBX LL2: Netherlands

Men's SBX UL: United States

Men's SBX LL1: Netherlands

Men's SBX LL2: Finland

 

 

Full Results Here

Edited February 5, 2017 by uk12points

[uk12points 434]

Netherlands end top as Banked Slalom finals close the World Chapionships in Canada

Banked Slalom races in the 5 Paralympic classifications closed the 2017 World Para Snowboard Championships in Big White, Canada

 

 

France’s Maxime Montaggioni pulled the biggest upset, while the Netherlands added two more titles on Tuesday (7 February), the final day of competition at the 2017 World Para Snowboard Championships in Big White, Canada. Banked slalom races took place, with Montaggioni (1:10.65) knocking off the US favourite Mike Minor (1:10.94) with his third – and final – run for his first ever world title in the men’s SB-UL category. The 27-year-old screamed in celebration once he heard Minor’s time in the third run. “I saw that Minor was so fast, so in my second run I tried to do better. It did, but it was not enough. And the last run I said I have nothing to lose and to just go down as fast as I can,” said Montaggioni, who had lost to Minor in the snowboard-cross big final on Saturday (4 February). “In this moment, I’m just happy. I’m smiling a lot,” he said. “I just want to go with my team to celebrate this incredible feeling.”

Minor, last season’s banked slalom World Cup winner, had gone undefeated all season until Tuesday; he added the silver to the gold medal he won from Saturday’s snowboard-cross. Great Britain’s Ben Moore, silver medallist from 2015, completed the podium.

 

The men’s SB-LL2 also came down to the last run, with a matter of split-seconds separating the medallists. Finland’s Matti Suur-Hamari’s time of 1:07.82 sealed the deal and completed a golden World Championships. Great Britain’s Owen Pick (1:08.23) momentarily held the lead until Suur-Hamari bumped him to the silver medal. Japan’s Gurimu Narita (1:08.40) proved his wins from the NorAm and World Cups in January were no fluke. The former track-and-field athlete took home bronze to continue a remarkable season debut. “I was surprised that I came out with the gold medal because it was such a tight race,” Suur-Hamari said. “The guys were putting good times and the course was freaking long.”

 

The Dutch continued to flex their strengths, as Bibian Mentel-Spee and Chris Vos went two-for-two at Big White 2017. In second place after her first run, Mentel-Spee summoned speed in her next to retain her world title in the women’s SB-LL2. Her compatriot Lisa Bunschoten secured her second silver in Big White, and some redemption after missing the banked slalom podium from the 2015 World Championships in La Molina, Spain. Australia’s reigning silver medallist Joany Badenhorst completed the podium. “I’m so happy that it worked out,” Mentel-Spee said. “After my first run I got really really scared. Lisa was a half-second before me, and I was like ‘Wow I really need to step up my game’ because she was really fast. So I did in the second run, luckily I took some time off my first run; I was really stoked about that.”

 

Vos’ first-run time in the men’s SB-LL1 was untouched, as the 18-year-old can now call himself a four-time world champion. After missing the podium in Saturday’s snowboard-cross race, the USA’s Mike Schultz did not leave empty handed as he locked the silver medal. Austria’s Reinhold Schett held onto third place by .70 seconds, completing a successful Worlds debut that saw him take silver in snowboard-cross. “I came here to defend my gold medal, but I knew the guys were really charging,” Vos said. “The border-cross was really tight but the banked slalom is more my race, there is more carving. But yeah, it happened twice again, and I am really excited.”

 

After taking last season off due to pregnancy, the USA’s Brenna Huckaby was another snowboarder to go undefeated in Big White. The 21-year-old upgraded her silver from La Molina 2015, dethroning France’s reigning world champion Cecile Hernandez-Cervellon in the women’s SB-LL1. The race for bronze was tight, and the USA’s Amy Purdy was able to squeeze onto the podium with her second run. “I did not land a single training run [on Monday] so I came in with low expectations,” Huckaby said. “Coming from such a high from snowboard-cross into banked slalom, I just told myself place doesn’t matter. I got what I came here for and I just wanted to love snowboarding again and that is exactly what I did. So there was no pressure.”

 

France was the only nation to win a Paralympic quota, as the other event winners had previously won quotas in Snowboard-Cross. These 4 unused quota will be added to the Bipartite allocation, which is now 23 men and 13 women.

The next stage of qualification is the World Rankings after the 2016/17 Season, which will continue with World Cup events in La Molina (13-18 Feb) and PyeongChang (8-13 Mar), and the European Cup Final in Rogla (17-21 Mar). There will be 2 other WPSB events where athletes can gain points in United States (Copper Mountain) and Canada (Tremblant) in late March and early April.

 

Paralympic Games 2018 Quota:

Women's BSL LL1: Reallocated to Bipartite

Women's BSL LL2: Reallocated to Bipartite

Men's BSL UL: France

Men's BSL LL1: Reallocated to Bipartite

Men's BSL LL2: Reallocated to Bipartite

 

 

Full Results Here

Edited February 8, 2017 by uk12points

[uk12points 434]

Ukraine on top at Para Nordic Skiing World Championships

Middle distance Biathlon races in the 6 Paralympic classifications opened the 2017 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Finsterau, Germany

 

 

Ukraine were dominant on day 1 of the Biathlon competition at the Para Nordic Skiing World Championships. Ukraine won 9 of the available 18 medals on Day 1, including 3 gold medals in the Women's 10km Standing and Visually Impaired and Men's 12.5km Visually Impaired.

 

The host nation Germany were also strong on the first day, winning the first gold medal of the championships and topping that off with another silver and 2 bronze medals across the other events.

 

There were also gold medals for Belarus and Canada, with France, Japan and South Korea all picking up medals on Day 1.

 

Tomorrow the Cross-Country Skiing events begin with the sprint, where double the number of athletes will compete.

 

Full Results Here

[uk12points 434]

Ukraine dominate as 3 new nations win golds

 

Day 2 saw the start of the Cross-Country events at the 2017 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Finsterau, Germany with the sprint freestyle.

 

 

Ukraine were dominant yet again at the 2017 Para Nordic Skiing World Championships, winning 3 golds and 8 medals as well as 3 fourth places. In a shock upset Liudmyla Liashenko beat team mateOleksandra Kononova to the Women's Standing gold, ending Kononova's hope of repeating her dominance from Cable 2015, where she won every race she was enetered in.

 

Austria, Sweden and United States all won their first gold medals, this increased diversity of nations winning medals is largely down to Russia's continued ban from IPC competitions over systematic doping.

 

There were also medals for Germany, Poland, Belarus, France and Norway on Day 2.

 

There were also record number of competitors in a Para Cross Country Skiing World Championships with 102 athletes competing today, compared with 88 in 2015 and 100 in 2013. Considering the absence of Russia, who frequently send over 20 athletes these figures show the growth of the sport. One point to note was how many Chinese competitors took part, which can be visibly seen in the results portal, which was 25, an indication that the future Paralympic host nation is targeting Para Nordic Skiing as a main source of medals at the 2022 Winter Paralympics.

 

Full Results Here

[uk12points 434]

Relay day at the Para Nordic Skiing World Championships

 

Ukraine and France win gold in the two relay events, Mixed and Open.

 

 

The Mixed relay is formed by teams of 2 to 4 athletes from 1 country, the combined total ranking factor percentage of all the athletes must not exceed 330% (there are further deductions for female and sit ski athletes). In the race Ukraine asserted their dominance, winning gold ahead of Sweden and Belarus.

 

The Open Relay if formed by teams of 2 to 4 athletes from 1 country, the combined total ranking factor percentage of all the athletes must not exceed 370%. In the race France took gold, defending their title from 2015, with Norway and Canada winning silver and bronze. The lead changed multiple times during the race with France, Canada and Ukraine all coming into transitions with the lead at one point in the race.

 

Full Results Here