Alpine Skiing 2016 - 2017 Discussion Thread

[hckošice 14,899]

Shiffrin wins career-first alpine combined, Stuhec takes title

 

In the last alpine combined and World Cup race in Europe for the ladies' tour, American Mikaela Shiffrin attacked from bib 31 to take her career-first victory in the discipline at Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Slovenian Ilka Stuhec, meanwhile, claimed the discipline crystal globe (to be award in Aspen at Finals) with a third-place finish on the day. Italian Federica Brignone surprised the crowd and herself when she nearly crashed in the super-G and then skied another impressive slalom run to take second place.

 

“I was really psyched with my super-G this morning. I took a really big step forward from yesterday, and I was happy with that. Of course, the slalom was great. I mean, I made a little mistake at the top, but I was attacking, so I don’t think it cost too much. I’m happy to go into the U.S. races with the overall lead," said Shiffrin.

 

The crystal globe in alpine combined is the first of Stuhec's career.

 

"I can’t believe it really because it’s something I’ve always dreamed of and now that it’s here it’s just, woah," Stuhec said.

 

Brignone won the first of two alpine combined races in Crans-Montana with a blistering slalom leg. She nearly repeated her performance on Sunday.

 

"That slalom gave me a really a good confidence, but I wanted to do it more and again today because it was not easy," Brignone said. "The slalom is really tough and yeah, I wanted to do it again. I’m really happy."

 

The ladies tour made a hasty departure from Crans-Montana as the group now heads to PyeongChang, South Korea, for the Olympic test event World Cup speed races.

 

 

Full Results Here

 

Womens Alpine Combined Final Ranking Here

 

Mikaela Shiffrin

1st and 2nd Run

[mihamiha 124]

ilka with first globe

 

we expect two more

[hckošice 14,899]

Sofia Goggia takes career first win at Jeongseon downhill

 

After securing nine World Cup podium results and a World Championships bronze medal this winter, Italian Sofia Goggia secured her career first victory at Jeongseon, South Korea, at the test event downhill for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.

 

The race began after a short delay due to the first forerunner crashing, but then action was underway as Lindsey Vonn pushed out of the gate with bib 1. The American had some early bobbles in the upper terrain, but she skied a fast enough run to hold the early lead. Only Goggia was able to best her by a narrow 0.07 seconds. Ilka Stuhec ultimately rounded out the podium in third, 0.23 seconds off the winning pace. 

 

“It was not [hard to win] because I just skied for myself today. I just tried to enjoy the slope, to push as hard as I could where I could, and to use a little bit more tactics when required because in the training runs, I missed a gate. So I really tried to focus on myself and this paid off," said Goggia. "It feels good, but I still have to realize it. I think that when I’m going on the podium, there at the prize giving ceremony, I’m going to realize it. But still not now.”

 

"I thought [my run] was good. Definitely made some mistakes. The top, just kind of got rocked by the bumps and then on the bottom, just got a little bit low in my line and lost some speed. The girls made up a couple tenths on me on the very bottom, so it’s nice to know that my skiing is getting better and I finally feel like I’m on an upward pace. It’s been a struggle this year. But before Whistler [Olympics], in the test events, I was second as well, so I think it’s a good position to be in and it’s a great track, so I’m excited," said Vonn. "Right away, even after the first inspection, I knew that it was going to be a good track for me, and I think there’s also something to be said for not winning the test events. Sometimes that can be quite a bit of extra pressure added on unnecessarily. I think I have enough of that, so I don’t really need any more. I know where I can make up the time, and I think it definitely bodes well for next year."

 

With Goggia's victory, Stuhec was blocked from claiming the downhill title prior to the final race of the season. She was three points shy of securing the small globe without carrying the fight on to Aspen.

 

"A few turns were not that clean, I guess, because I knew I had to keep the higher line than I had in trainings. So I guess I lost some speed there, which was I lost some time again. But it’s a lesson learned, and I’ll keep that in mind when we get back here," said Stuhec. "I’m still really happy for Sofia. She really has a great season as well, and she’s skiing really good. But we have one more race. A lot is still open, but it’s skiing.”

 

Jasmine Flury and Tamara Tippler, starting bibs 21 and 22, experienced an extremely rare timing glitch that was resolved according to the international ski competition rules. Tippler finished fifth and Flury seventh. A long hold ensued while the problem was identified, and then the race was able to resume. 

 

The ladies race a super-G at Jeongseon on Sunday. 

 

 

Full Results Here

 

Sofia Goggia

 

[Gianlu33 4,606]

1st world cup win for Sofia Goggia and 10th podium this season!  

[Federer91 2,810]

Sofia  About damn time. 

[Gianlu33 4,606]

If Hirscher will finish almost in 30th positions, he will win officially his 6th World Cup

[hckošice 14,899]

Ridiculous

[Gianlu33 4,606]

And Hirscher won the World Cup

[hckošice 14,899]

but Hirscher

[hckošice 14,899]

Hirscher wins it all and writes history

 

The 56th edition of the Pokal Vitranc kicked off today with the traditional Audi FIS Ski World Cup Giant Slalom on the Podkoren 3. On this last regular race before the Finals in Aspen, Marcel Hirscher was unbeatable and took everything that was on the table for him: he secured both the Overall and the Giant Slalom globe and claimed the GS win.

 

Before heading to Kranjska Gora, only two athletes had a shot at the Giant Slalom globe: Marcel Hirscher was leading 96 points ahead of Alexis Pinturault. The Frenchman, who already had a bad serie at the World Championships, struggled to find the rhythm and skied out in the first run.

 

The path was cleared for Marcel Hirscher, but the Austrian didn’t gamble and earned a sizable margin of almost a second (+0.96) in the first run, over Henrik Kristoffersen (2^nd +0.96) and Justin Murisier (3^rd +1.10). But in the second run, the cards were redistributed and the behind Hirscher, two Scandinavians managed to land on the podium.

 

In third place, Matts Olsson scores his second career podium in giant slalom, only a few weeks after his second place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Since he came back from a severe knee injury last season, Olsson is fired up and keeps beat his own personal records, what allows him to claim the 8^th place of the current giant slalom standings. 

 

"The end result is great for me but it was a really tough race with the weather, with the snow, with everything pretty much but in the end it was great. It was raining quite a lot in the second run. With rain and poor visibility, the snow and the bumps, everything together gets real difficult. You know that the second run will not be a good feeling and you just have to fight."

 

Leif Kristian Haugen has been on the World Cup Tour for eight years already, but this season something triggered and he impressed with very strong performances in his favourite discipline, but also in slalom and in the parallel events, where he claimed two 4^th places, his best results before today. At the World Championship, the Norwegian was able to prove his great shape also in Giant Slalom, by claiming the bronze medal. So it was the logical continuation for him to earn his first World Cup podium with this second place in Kranjska Gora.

 

"I feel obviously great. It's a career-best result and it was a rough race; I didn't get the worst light, but I didn't get the best either. I knew I had to fight hard and just not really think too much about the conditions. I think right now I'm skiing really well and I know that when I push hard, I ski my best. We've had these conditions before in the summer in Norway on the glaciers where you can't see more than a couple of meters ahead of you and it's raining so I think it's bringing back some of the stuff I've done when I was little."

 

The two Scandinavians were honoured to share the podium with the athlete who just became the most successful skier of all time: Marcel Hirscher. The Austrian did not only manage to hold on to the lead in the second run to take his 44^th World Cup win, but he also secured the Giant Slalom globe (196 points ahead of next contender Alexis Pinturault with one race to go) and the Overall globe (504 poitns ahead of next contender Kjetil Jansrud with 5 races to go). It’s the first time in the history of alpine skiing, that an athletes claims the Overall six times in a row.

 

"If I'm telling the truth, maybe it is a little too much for me right now. It's very emotional and I'm trying right now to do a very professional job but I'm really, really thankful. I would like to just have three hours to myself after the ceremony to just think about what brought me to this point. It's just amazing to have six consecutive overall World Cup titles. It is a record where I have to say 'thank you' to many, many people, especially to my girlfriend, Laura, to my family, and the team around me. They were amazing."

 

Tomorrow, a slalom will be held in Kranjska Gora, with the first run starting at 09.30 CET and the second one at 12.30 CET.

 

 

 

Full Results Here

 

Marcel Hirscher

1st Run

2nd Run