Alpine Skiing 2016 - 2017 Discussion Thread

[dareza 911]

Dr Hirscher

[hckošice 14,899]

Ilka Stuhec slays Cortina d'Ampezzo super-G

 

In the final super-G prior to the 2017 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships set for St. Moritz, Ilka Stuhec secured the first victory of her career in the discipline under blue skies at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. A straighter than usual course set benefited her as well as Italian Sofia Goggia, who finished second, and Anna Veith, who surprised herself on her comeback journey to score her first podium finish since the 2015 World Cup Finals giant slalom.

 

Stuhec selected bib 1 despite having the choice of three numbers in the draw the previous evening and had to watch every challenger come down and threaten her victory.  

 

"I feel great," said Stuhec. "It was a great course and felt really, really good to ski so I'm definitely happy with the outcome. It was definitely stressful to stand here and watch everyone coming down, but it's part of the game. At the end, we need to ski fast and show our best no matter what course is set."

 

Goggia, meanwhile, was able to hit the reset button on her super-G season after two previous disappointing performances, bit her run was not without a mishap where she nearly lost her line on the lower half of the track.

 

"It was not that easy coming from two DNFs in the last two super-Gs, and I was happy when I crossed the finish line and saw I made another podium. It was really OK, even though my skiing performance was not pushing at 100 percent, but I think I skied from 75 to 80 percent of what I can do."

 

The surprise story of the day, of course, was Veith's third-place finish. Although she has posted fast splits in previous races, she has struggled to make it to the finish line. 

 

"It's pretty emotional. When I came to the finish, I didn't expect that because I was seven-tenths behind and I didn't feel that it was that good of a run because it was very fast. I was fighting for a good position, and it wasn't so easy. Now, I'm pretty happy that all the work has paid off now and I'm on the right way. It's been pretty hard because I know that everybody knows how my skiing was before my injury and I'm not at that point now because my body isn't like how it was before. It was tough the last weeks because it was always fighting against myself. And today, I just wanted to ski fast and nothing more and I'm pretty happy that it paid off," said Veith. 

 

Lara Gut was sitting on a perfect season in super-G but failed to finish after hooking her arm on a gate and spinning off course. She had over a half-second lead on Stuhec's time when she skied out. Although she was a little banged up after contacting the panel, she later reported that she sustained no significant injuries and will rest up and prepare for World Championships instead of racing the city event in Stockholm on Tuesday. 

 

Mikaela Shiffrin returned to the speed circuit and posted a head-turning fourth-place finish after matching Stuhec's split at the third interval. After skiing through the finish area with a smile on her face, she loudly proclaimed, "I can ski speed!" The result helped Shiffrin maintain an 80-point lead over Gut in the overall standings. 

 

The ladies' tour next meets up with the men in Stockholm, Sweden, for a city event parallel slalom on Tuesday evening. 

 

 

Full Results Here

 

Ilka Stuhec

 

[hckošice 14,899]

Hirscher winning his 20th GS ahead of Olsson and Luitz

 

Lately, the Giant Slalom is marked by a duel between Alexis Pinturault and Marcel Hirscher, the two racers sharing 13 wins in the last 16 races in that discipline. Today’s race on the Kandahar in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was a little different, with Marcel Hirscher claiming the win and continuing the streak, but surrounded by two surprise guests Matts Olsson and Stefan Luitz.

Alexis Pinturault had a solid first run, but couldn’t make the decisive difference yet, with only a small +0.09 margin over main contender Marcel Hirscher. In the second run he struggled and fell back in fourth position.

The win went to Austira’s Marcel Hirscher, who earned his 20th Giant Slalom win on the Kandahar today. With his 20th victory in slalom claimed last week in Kitzbuehel, Hirscher became the second man to reach 20 World Cup wins in two different disciplines, feat achieved only by Ingemar Stenmark so far. Hirscher also made a big step forward in the Overall standings, where he is in the lead with 1260 points, followed by Kristoffersen with 828 points.

Surprising third after the first run, Sweden’s Matts Olsson confirmed his excellent shape in the second run and finished in second place. Coming back from an ACL injury contracted last season, Olsson is signing another strong result, after a 6th place in Adelboden. The Swede’s best result so far was 4th place in the Giant Slalom in St-Moritz 2014, so he will definitively be one to watch in the upcoming World Championships.

Local Stefan Luitz delighted the crowd with his 4th career podium. Despite good and constant results last year and this season, the German didn’t manage to create the exploit and climb on the podium again since his third place in Are 2014. But something triggered in front of his home crowd and after a great performance in the first run (5th, +0.96 behind), Luitz managed to hold on to a podium placement and ranked third.

With only two Giant Slaloms to go (in Kranjska Gora and at the Finals in Aspen), the fight for the discipline globe promises to be exciting, as Marcel Hirscher is leading with a 97 points margin over Alexis Pinturault, who is eager to claim his first Giant Slalom globe.

One last World Cup race is scheduled before the World Championships in St.Moritz: the City Event in Stockholm. The 16 ladies and the 16 men who qualified for the event will meet on Hammarbybacken on Tuesday evening from 17.00 CET on.

 

 

Full Results Here

Marcel Hirscher 2nd Run

 

[hckošice 14,899]

Entries for the Stockholm City Event on Tuesday

 

[hckošice 14,899]

[dareza 911]

I just love this race

[hckošice 14,899]

Slovak derby in quarterfinals stupid format

[dcro 10,210]

Lol, Hirscher defeated by Kilde.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if FIS eliminates these events, seeing how bad Hirscher is.

[hckošice 14,899]

6 minutes ago, dcro said:

Lol, Hirscher defeated by Kilde.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if FIS eliminates these events, seeing how bad Hirscher is.

 

any better of Kristoffersen if you ask me

[hckošice 14,899]

poor Petra, very stupid format .

 

Congrats Veronika