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Anderson and Parrot claim season's first win in Copper Mtn big air Jamie Anderson (USA) and Max Parrot (CAN) have topped the big air field at today's Toyota U.S. Grand Prix which hosted this season's fourth big air World Cup stop. It was the first time in more than eight years that a big air World Cup took place on slope and not on a scaffolding jump. But with the riders in full kicker swing in this early season already, the Copper Mountain event became one to remember as riders were once again working hard to push the level of their sport. Especially in the women's competition which not only had a front double 10 by Klaudia Medlova (SVK) but also the other girls dedicated to progression – including Jamie Anderson although the 2014 Olympic slopestyle Gold medallist went 'old-school' in the women's finals which took place ahead of the men's event and saw only four of the best six girls competing after Katie Ormerod (GBR) and Kjersti Buaas (NOR) had pulled out of the event. Anderson landed a switch backside 540 and cab 720 to earn a 151.25 in the three-run, best two count format of the finals and walked away with her career's seventh World Cup win while still feeling a bit sad about losing the chance to really show what she can: “It was a fun day today. I really wanted to do a front 10 today but I wasn't really flowin' with frontside so I went for cab 720 and switch back 5. I'm happy, and I'm grateful. The girls were absolutely killing it. You can tell that everyone is charging.” Enni Rukajarvi (FIN, 147.00) and best qualifier Klaudia Medlova (SVK, 146.50) rounded out the podium as second and third, respectively, with Julia Marino (USA) having to settle for fourth (136.75). Parrot has it - again Over in the men's event, it were riders from Canada who lived up to the expectations being the favourites for the win with Max Parrot standing out of a high-level competition bringing home his career's fourth. The 22-year-old from Bromont, QC., impressed the judges with a high and well executed backside and frontside triple 1440 scoring a 188.75. Parrot therefore led a 1-2 punch for the Maple Leaves with Sebastien Toutant (176.00) taking second Reigning slopestyle world champion Ryan Stassel came in third with a 167.50 preventing a Canadian podium sweep with Max Eberhardt (CAN, 159.50) in fourth position. However, over the last couple of days, it didn't look like Parrot would have his two tricks in store which finally earned him the win. “I did the back triple 14 in my first run, a pretty easy trick for myself. But then I did the front triple 14, which is a trick which I had trouble with this week. But actually yesterday I stomped it a couple of times, but I was always putting my hand down. So I'm really happy to put it down in the second run, without a hand down and pretty big.” And given the fact that his teammate Seb Toots did stomp a cab 1620, a trick which Toutant proclaimed the “probably hardest trick today”, a slight hand drag could have cost Parrot his first rank prize money. As a result of this high-class battle, riders are already thinking of some new tricks while going into the festive season. While Ryan Stassel put the switch backside 1620 on his agenda as he “wasn't feeling it today with all the flat light” and Klaudia Medlova still needs “to work on the front double 10 and some other tricks as the level of the girl's riding is improving fast”, Max Parrot is thinking, too – but not talking about it: “There is always something in my mind but we still have to keep it under radar.” The snowboard freestyle World Cup tour will come back after the turn of the year with this season's fifth big air World Cup slated to take place in Moscow (RUS) on January 7, 2017. Full Results Women and Men Klaudia Medlová 3rd Place

Gold at last U20 Div. IIA: Lithuania defeats Japan, wins promotion The moment the tournament win was theirs: The Lithuanian players celebrate after beating Japan in the deciding game of the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group A. After three consecutive silver medals, Lithuania finally managed to claim gold at the IIHF Ice Hockey U20 World Championship Division II Group A. Four unanswered goals including an Emilijus Krakauskas hat trick were key in a 6-4 victory over Japan on the final day of the tournament. Both teams came into this game undefeated and had proven to be a class apart from the rest of the teams in the group out. In what was expected to be a close final game. Japan came out strong to stun the vocal Lithuanian crowd in the stands. Japan took a commanding 2-0 lead halfway the first period by goals from Atsuki Ikeda and Jin Sawade. Lithuania head coach Jim Setters was pleased to see that his team was able to shake off the nerves and didn’t collapse. His men responded strongly and found a way back into the game when a Kostas Gusevas shot from the blue line deflected off a Japanese player into the net to cut the deficit to one at 12:03. The goal sparked the Lithuanian team who were suddenly in full control, led by tournament top scorer Emilijus Krakauskas. The forward who plays for EHC Biel in the Swiss junior league continued to cause havoc in the opposition’s defensive zone and turned the game around with three unanswered goals. First his wraparound at 12:38 tied the game 2-2 and early in the second period he added another pair. Coming in from the left wing, Krakauskas slotted home in the top right corner with the first shot of the second period. Two minutes later he did the same but then from the opposite side. It was Krakauskas’ 11th goal of the tournament. The goal forced Japan coach Teruhiko Okita to execute a goalie change. Yuuki Mizuta was taken off and replace by Yujiro Isobe. The wake-up call worked as Japan stopped the Lithuanian dominance. Daichi Saito scored the 3-4 goal and later on Japan had an excellent chance to equalize but Koki Ishikura saw his penalty shot saved by Artur Pavliukov with four minutes left to play in the second period. Two more power-play goals including an empty netter in the final period sealed the deal for Lithuania. Daichi Igari’s tip-in goal with three seconds before the final buzzer did not change the smiles on the Lithuanian bench as they knew the gold was theirs. The 6-4 victory means Lithuania will return to the Division I Group B for the first time since 2010. Japan, who were relegated to Division II Group A last year after withdrawing from the tournament in France, will remain playing in the Division II for another year. In a game with the bronze medal at stake, three third-period goals ensured Romania won a roller coaster game against hosts Estonia, 6-5. Croatia was relegated to Division II Group B after squandering a 2-0 lead against the Netherlands. The Dutch were pointless before this game but leapfrogged Croatia in the standings after a 3-2 victory and with that, sent the Croats down. Emilijus Krakauskas finished the tournament as the tournament’s top scorer with 15 points from five games and was selected the Best Forward of the tournament by the directorate. His team mate Artur Pavliukov was voted Best Goaltender whereas Japan’s Yusuke Kon claimed the best tournament defenceman award. Results Thread

oh it´s definitely not easy at all it´s just Ester is a crazy sports talent, I´m pretty sure she would be great in any sport she would hvae chosen, she is a pure natural talent

Ledecka and Sobolev triumph in Cortina d'Ampezzo Ester Ledecka (CZE) and Andrey Sobolev (RUS) have claimed victory in the 2016-17 alpine snowboard World Cup tour's first parallel slalom which was staged in a single run format and under the lights in the famous ski resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA). The Czech and the Russian racer, both dedicated with 2015 world championships titles, stepped up their game after losing the World Cup openers big finals two days ago therefore taking over the lead in the alpine snowboard overall World Cup ranking. Ledecka, the only athlete to compete on both, the snowboard and alpine World Cup tour, held the upper hand in the women's final over Austrian racer Daniela Ulbing bringing home her career's seventh win. “It was a great race, I really liked the course and the setting. This evening was magic. I'm happy that I was here, and winning was a great bonus,” she said with a smile. Defeated Daniela Ulbing was also more than happy despite missing her first ever win due to a riding mistake. In the end, 18-year-old up-and-coming talent secured her career's best World Cup result with her first podium in her tenth appearance. “I'm very pleased with the race. Today, everything finally worked out - just like I wished. I'm super happy about my first podium. Maybe that's why I can't really say anything else,” the second-best qualifier stated. Local favourite Nadya Ochner (ITA) did once again well on the Tondi slope adding a third rank to her last year's second place finish. Sobolev with redemption Over in the men's event, Sobolev edged off Italy's national hero and last year's second placed rider Roland Fischnaller to the runner-up position with the tiny mere of 0.08 seconds therefor celebrating the best possible redemption for his last year's performance when he had missed finals clearly as 29th: “Today, I feel absolutely great. I really wanted to get redemption from last year. I did the best and won. I'm feeling great.” And also Fischnaller – although beaten super close – had all reasons to feel great in front of a stellar home crowd as it was the 36-year-old veteran's 30th career podium finish: “I'm very pleased with the result especially as it is my career's 30th. I did a small mistake in the transition to the flat, that's why I came in just a little bit too late to snatch the win. But that's OK, I'm pleased finishing on the podium.” Carezza winner Benjamin Karl (AUT) rounded out the podium as third. The alpine snowboard World Cup tour will now take a break over the festive season returning in Bad Gastein (AUT) on January 10 and 11, 2017, where the second parallel slalom and first parallel slalom team event are slated to take place. Full results Women and Men

Euro Hockey Tour, Day 3 of the Channel One Cup in Moscow presented only one match. In the traditional eternal nordic derby Sweden defeated Finland 4-2. Sweden has 6pts but is already the winner of the tournament since no one of the Russia and Finland on 2nd and 3rd places with 3 points can overpass them, also Czech Republic still with 0 points will finish last 4th of the tournament. In Cumulative standing of the Euro Hockey Tour, Russia still leading with 12 points followed by Czech Republic, Finland and Sweden all with 6 points. Tomorrow the last day of the Channel One Cup. Czech Republic will face the tournament winner Sweden and for 2nd place Russia vs Finland. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Swiss 4 Nations Tournament, well, well a crazy tournament we had in Biel. The host country Switzerland won the tournament, today Switzerland won in final against Belarus easily 6-1. Slovakia finished 3rd winning the 3rd place match also easily against France 6-1. So after winning the Deutschland Cup in November now we got slapped in the face. Thanks god this break is over and we will try to forget as soon as possible yesterday flop, still can´t understand how we lost so largely to Belarus, they showed absolutely nothing today against SUI in the final. nothing... now we will wait for the February break for another tournaments presentation, we will send 2 teams, "A" team will compete in the traditional Slovakia Cup and once again we were invited by Austria to play the hockey challenger in Vienna, so we will send there our so-called "olympic hopes team" a team composed of under 23 category players. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Challengers, Today finished also the only 1 this weeks challenger in Gdansk, Poland Ukraine won against South Korea 3-2 after GWS and Kazakhstan defeated Poland 2-1. Kazakhstan won the tournament with 9 points, Poland finished second with 5 points, Ukraine 3rd and South Korea winner of last breaks tournament in Hungary now finished last 4th. both teams ended the tournament with 2 points. During the February break we will have 4 challengers tournaments, in South Korea, again one in Poland, in Austria and one in the Netherlands. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friendly Matches: Men´s France U16 - Latvia U16 0-6 Austria U16 - Slovenia U16 3-4 after GWS France U18 - Norway U18 1-4 Finland U16 - Sweden U16 3-4 after OT Russia U17 - USA U17 1-4 Slovakia U17 - Switzerland U17 2-1 after OT Women´s Russia - Germany 7-0 Czech Republic - Switzerland 4-2 Sweden - Finland 0-4 Japan - Austria 2-0 USA - Canada 3-5

Men's Under 20 Div. I A in Bremerhaven (GER) Last Round (GMT +1) 13:00 Kazakhstan - Norway 3-2 16:30 Belarus - Austria 4-0 20:00 Germany - France 6-4 Final Standing: 1. Belarus 13pts, 2. Germany 11pts, 3. France 6pts, 4. Kazakhstan 6pts, 5. Austria 6pts, 6. Norway 3pts. Belarus qualified for the Men´s Under 20 World Championships 2018. Norway has been relegated to men´s Under 20 Division I Group B World Championships 2018. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Men's Under 20 Div I B in Budapest (HUN) Last Round (GMT +1) 13:00 Italy - Poland 5-4 16:30 Slovenia - Hungary 3-4 20:00 Great Britain - Ukraine 1-3 Final Standing: 1. Hungary 12pts, 2. Poland 11pts, 3. Slovenia 8pts, 4. Italy 7pts, 5. Ukraine 5pts, 6. Great Britain 2pts. Hungary Qualified for the Men´s Under 20 Division I Group A World Championships 2018 Great Britain has been relegated to Men´s Under 20 Division II Group A World Championships 2018. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Men's Under 20 Div II A in Tallinn (EST) Last Round (GMT +2) 13:00 Japan - Lithuania 4-6 16:30 Croatia - Netherlands 2-3 20:00 Estonia - Romania 5-6 Final Standing: 1. Lithuania 15pts, 2. Japan 12pts, 3. Romania 7pts, 4. Estonia 6pts, 5. Netherlands 3pts, 6. Croatia 2pts. Lithuania Qualified for the Men´s Under 20 Division I Group B World Championships 2018. Croatia has been relegated to Men´s Under 20 Division II Group B World Championships 2018.

Taipei women earn promotion Tournament hosts win narrowly over Belgium The Chinese Taipei women’s national team sings their anthem after winning the tournament on home ice. The 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship Division II Group B Qualification went down to the very last game in Taipei City, with Belgium and host Chinese Taipei entering the game with perfect records. On the strength of two power-play goals by defender Liu Chih Lin late in the second period, Chinese Taipei won 2-1 to finish first in the five-team event and earn the promotion in its first ever participation in the Women’s World Championship program. After a scoreless first period, in which Chinese Taipei dominated with a 17-9 shot advantage, the Belgians struck first just 23 seconds into the second when Sonja Frere swept in a rebound. Four minutes later the Belgians thought they'd added another goal from a scramble around the net, but the whistle had blown prior to the puck crossing the goal line. In the game, the tournament's two most dominant players went head to head – Chinese Taipei sniper Yeh Hui Chen, who scored 11 goals in the first three games, and Belgian goaltender Nina van Orshaegen, who had 59 of 60 shots saved in the tournament through the end of the first period of this game. In the dying seconds of a power play midway through the second period, Yeh picked up the puck and her own blue line, skated through three Belgian penalty-killers and skated right in on van Orshaegen, who denied her with a pad save. However, the Belgian penalties kept coming and the Chinese Taipei power play struck twice in the last six minutes of the middle frame. First Liu managed to sweep in a loose puck on a scramble, and later blasted one in from the point after an attacking-zone faceoff. That was all the offence Chinese Taipei needed, as the Belgians just weren't able to get things going in the third. They did get three power plays, but two of them were cancelled within 20 seconds by penalties of their own. In the end, Chinese Taipei was 2-for-8 on the power play and Belgium was 0-for-4. What Belgian shots did get through were handled by Hsu Tzu-Ting, making her second start of the tournament as Chinese Taipei alternated goalies. Ting stopped all nine shots she faced in the third period and 33 of 34 in the game, while at the other end van Orshaegen stopped 36 of 38. With one assist in the last game, Yeh finished with 15 points, giving her a decisive win atop the tournament scoring, beating her nearest challenger – linemate Hsu Ting-Lu – by five points. Earlier on the tournament's last day, Bulgaria and Hong Kong met, still looking for their first points of the tournament, and it was Bulgaria prevailing 6-2 to claim fourth place. As it is a qualification tournament, no team is relegated. Finishing in third place was South Africa, who were idle on the final day. The South Africans were right in the middle with two wins and two losses – losing to both Belgium and Chinese Taipei and beating Bulgaria and Hong Kong. They were led offensively by Chloe Schuurman, whose nine points ranked third in the tournament. By finishing first, Chinese Taipei advances to the Women's World Championship Division II Group B in 2018. Results Thread Here

Women's Division II B Qualification in Taipei City (TPE) Last Round (GMT +8) 15:30 Bulgaria - Hong Kong 6-2 19:00 Belgium - Chinese Taipei 1-2 day off - South Africa Final Standing: 1. Chinese Taipei 12pts, 2. Belgium 9pts, 3. South Africa 6pts, 4. Bulgaria 3pts, 5. Hong Kong 0pts. Chinese Taipei qualified for the women´s Division II Group B world Championships 2018.

This !

Podiuuum after 3 slalom podiums of Petra Vlhová and Veronika Velez-Zuzulová SVK got 4th this season winter sports podium. Klaudia Medlová 3rd in snowboarding Big Air in Copper Mountains Congrats Klaudia

yep..as expected, Hungary is in division I A, we are in division I B..so the result is logical. another failure..very sad how our womens hockey dropped, each year it´s worse and worse... well, only chance for our girls to keep the olympic dream alive is now to beat Norway tomorrow in regular time, it doesn´t look very likely, and even if, we stll will need a help from Kazakhstan to stole some point(s) to Hungary what looks even more unlikely..

3rd PRELIMINARY QUALIFICATION ROUND Tournament 2 Stavanger (NOR) - 16.12.2016 - 18.12.2016 Round-Robin 4 Nations, Round-Robin Tournament, 1st Nation will Qualify to the Final Olympic Quailfication Round Day 2 Results Slovakia 0 - 2 Hungary (Score by Period: 0-0, 0-0, 0-2) 17th December 2016, h. 15:00 (GMT +1), DNB Arena, Stavanger Norway 5 - 0 Kazakhstan (Score by Period: 1-0, 1-0, 3-0) 17th December 2016, h. 18:30 (GMT +1), DNB Arena, Stavanger Round-Robin Provisional Standing After Day 2 RANK NATION GAME WINS W(OT) L(OT) LOSE SCORE POINTS 1 Norway 2 2 0 0 0 9:0 6 2 Hungary 2 1 0 0 1 2:4 3 3 Slovakia 2 1 0 0 1 3:2 3 4 Kazakhstan 2 0 0 0 2 0:8 0

Michael Hayboeck takes first win this season Austria's Michael Hayboeck took his first win this season in the first of two World Cup competitions in Engelberg (SUI). Hayboeck, who was not in his best shape so far this winter, celebrated a convincing win with jumps of 138 m and 134 m (304.7 points), ahead of Slovenia's Domen Prevc (132 m and 137.5 m; 301.6 points) and Austria's Andreas Kofler (128 m and 139.5 m; 293.7 points). In the the first ever night event on the Titlis-hill in Engelberg, Hayboeck laid the foundation for his win with an outstanding jump in the round: "I was a bit nervous before the second round, I definitely didn't want to lose that lead. The Swiss soil is obviously good for me. Engelberg is a special place for me, I always love coming here. I always liked the old hill, and now I like the new one even better. When we came here I was hoping that the hill didn't change too much. Now I won and I know that the new hill suits me as well", said the happy winner. 17-year-old Domen Prevc extended his lead in the overall World Cup with his second place. "Today I'm especially happy with my second jump. It was one of my best jumps this season. I hope that I can show two good jumps in tomorrow's competition", Prevc summed up the competition. The youngest of the three Prevc brothers did great on the reconstructed Titlis-hill and is also among the top favorites for Sunday's competition. "I like Engelberg, it looks similar to home with so many mountains", Prevc expressed his appreciation for the host city. Austria's Andreas Kofler had a great comeback. Kofler, who already gained some attention with strong performances at the beginning of the winter, returned to the world's elite in Engelberg. "I'm extremely happy that I'm on the podium here. I really didn't expect that. I'm very grateful and enjoy the moment. In my second jump I was unbelievably high, so I knew that it would go far. But then I had some problems with the telemark. I will remember this second jump for a long time", Kofler said after he moved up from tenth to third in the final round. Norway's Daniel Andre Tande repeated his fourth place from last Sunday's event in Lillehammer. The 22-year-old will be fighting for the win on Sunday, his current shape is better than this fourth place shows. Markus Eisenbichler was once again the best of the German team. With his seventh place the 25-year-old confirmed his top position in the team of Werner Schuster at the moment. Richard Freitag was second after the first half of the competition, but could not defend this result in the final round. With a mediocre second jump, Freitag came in eighth overall. But still this result is a success for Freitag, who has not yet found the way back to his old strength this winter. Severin Freund in tenth and Andreas Wellinger in 15th completed the solid result of the German team, but, after today, no athlete of the German Ski Association is among the favorites on Sunday. It was a disappointing competition for the Polish team. A ninth place of Kamil Stoch and a 12th place of Maciej Kot are not enough for the two best Polish athletes. Peter Prevc down Slovenia's Peter Prevc had his second crash of the season today. He fell after the landing and didn't suffer any injuries, but he was deeply disappointed. "I was literally down, like I was right after my jump", said Peter Prevc. According to coach Jani Grilc a technical mistake at the landing was the reason for the fall. The second competition in Engelberg starts on Sunday at 2:00 pm CET. Full Results Here

Thompson and Chapuis extend Cross Alps Tour leads with wins in Montafon The fourth phase of the 2016 Audi FIS Ski Cross Cross Alps Tour went down in thrilling fashion on Saturday in Montafon (AUT), with Cross Alps Tour leaders Marielle Thompson (CAN) and Jean Frederic Chapuis (FRA) claiming victories in the heated competition and extending their leads upon the ski cross World Cup field. Things started on a sour note in Montafon, with Friday’s top qualifier Chris Delbosco (CAN) getting tangled up with Brant Crossan (USA) coming out of the final banked corner of the course in the first heat of the day and crashing heavily. Though Delbosco would require emergency transfer off the course, early reports suggest his injuries are not severe. Once competition got back on track, the big, flowing Montafon course allowed the athletes of the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup to put on full display what makes the tour so compelling. With tight head-to-head racing, a multitude of passes, and several photo finishes, the action was packed from start to finish. Thompson found herself lined up alongside Marielle Berger Sabbatel (FRA), Heidi Zacher (GER), and Daniella Maier (GER) in the ladies’ big final, and all three of those ladies had impressed with some strong skiing on their way to the finale, with Maeir in particular putting on a one-woman show on the day, executing an inside pass on Ophelie David (FRA) and Georgia Simmerling (CAN) in her semifinal heat that is an early candidate for pass of the year. Unfortunately, when she would attempt a similar move in the final she would lose control and spin out, sending Thompson, Berger Sabbatel, and Zacher away to sort the podium rankings out between the three of them. And, while both ladies would challenge Thompson’s lead, the rangy Canadian would be able to hold them off for her second win of the season and a repeat performance of her win in Montafon a season before. Men’s competition was fierce right from the first heat, with Brady Leman and Alex Fiva, ranked second and third overall so far this season, respectively, both eliminated in the eight finals, along with several other big names. In the end it would come down to Chapuis, his French teammate Jonas Devouassoux, Marc Bischofberger (SUI), and Kevin Drury (CAN). Drury, making the second big finals appearance of his young career, actually beat Chapuis in the semifinals, and looked like he might have the best chance of taking down the reigning Olympic champion and World Cup overall winner. However, after such a thrilling semifinal performance, Drury’s day would end in frustration after falling midway through the course while on the heels of Chapuis. Drury’s fall forced Devouassoux and Bischofberger to take evasive action, spreading the skiers out and giving Chapuis an easy win after what had been an exceptionally tough competition up until that point. Devouassoux would complete a three-podium day for the French team by taking second place, while Bischofberger, with his boisterous fan club in the stands at the finish, took third place and the second podium of his career. With just two events to go in the Cross Alps tour, Thompson and Chapuis have both built points leads that will be tough to chase down for their closest competitors, with Thompson’s 345 points a 110 point advantage over Anna Holmlund’s 235, and Chapuis’ 289 points putting him 97 clear of Brady Leman’s 192. Those final two competitions of the Tour will take place in Innichen/San Candido, Italy, the longest-running stop on the ski cross tour and one of the more interesting challenges on the World Cup. Competition in Innichen gets underway with qualifications on Tuesday, December 20th, followed by competitions on Wednesday and Thursday, with the startlist for the Tour finale on Thursday being decided by the Cross Alps tour rankings after Wednesday’s race. There, after 14 days of hard competition spread out along a 1000km trail across the Alps, the first ever Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup Cross Alps Tour champions will be crowned. Full Results Women and Men

Rydzek returns to his winning ways in Ramsau World Cup leader Johannes Rydzek has returned to the top of the podium in the Austrian venue of Ramsau am Dachstein. After an intense fight until the finish line, Rydzek proved to be the stronger man in a duel with teammate Fabian Rießle (+1.5). Eric Frenzel claimed the third position (+8.7) and Vinzenz Geiger made the German glory day complete with a fourth place. Frenzel ruled supreme in the ski jumping part of the event and had a fantastic, long jump of 100.5 metres. His 138.9 points gave him the pole position for the race, two seconds ahead of local hero Mario Seidl who showed 99.5 metres (138.4 p.). Johannes Rydzek contined to display his improved jumping skills with 97 metres and the intermediate third position which put him 10 seconds behind his teammate. In true Ramsau-style, the start list for the race did not show any bigger gaps. All 50 athletes started within two minutes and eight seconds, promising an intense and tactical race. Another German triple victory seemed a distinct possibility with Fabian Rießle jumping to rank seven with 96 metres. He had to make up 30 seconds on his teammate Eric Frenzel and had Japanese superstar Akito Watabe hot on his heels who had a time behind of 31 seconds. Espen Andersen and Magnus Krog were the best Norwegians on ranks five (+0:15) and twelve (0:40). The race was the expected close affair but in the end, a top group of seven athletes could tear a small gap between them and a large group of athletes finishing around one minute behind the leaders. This large group of athletes was skating in close proximity, even resulting in one mass traffic jam at the bottom of the large uphills. The top athletes at the head of the field were undisturbed by these kind of shuffles and for the first part, Eric Frenzel and Mario Seidl tried to stay ahead of their pursuers. But already on the second lap, the tempo proved to be to high for the young Austrian and also Eric Frenzel was eventually caught by his teammates Johannes Rydzek and Fabian Rießle. On the last lap, Frenzel even had to let go of these two and it was Rydzek and Rießle who decided the victory between themselves. Their young teammate Vinzenz Geiger skied an enormously strong race again and finished on a career-best fourth, resulting in the first German quadruple victory since 1987 (Lahti). The young generation of up and coming athletes claimed many of the top ten positions again with Norway’s Espen Andersen finishing fifth, David Pommer on rank seven and Mario Seidl on eight. Bernhard Gruber returned to the top results with rank nine and veteran Björn Kircheisen claimed another respectable tenth position. Full Results Here

okay, and now can please anyone explain me how is possible to play 2 absolutely opposites performances during 2 days yesterday like some tourists absolutely desinterested by the game losing in shamefule way to Belarus 1-7...to Belarus, oh god !!! and today those same guys playing 100% better and destroying France and closing the match already after 2 periodes. probably the coach stuff had yesterday a pretty interesting speach at the hotel

Xu and Kushnir back in the game with big wins in season's first World Cup competition For the fourth straight season the aerials World Cup opener has taken place in China with Beida Lake resort serving as a stage for this weekend's action. In the individual competition it was Mengtao Xu (CHN) and Anton Kushinir (BLR) who finished the day on top of the podium and earned the first 100 points in the aerials World Cup ranking. Following the qualifications held under the blue sky, the last year's winner from Beijing Guangpu Qi and his Chinese teammate Fanyu Kong led the pack of top 12 ladies and top 12 men into two rounds of the finals. After missing almost entire last season, Mengtao Xu is back in the game as she stormed to victory today claiming her 17th career's top podium spot. Chinese skier showed extremely solid jumping throughout the day, stomping perfectly both of her final tricks - back Full Full and back Double Full Full. Earning the score of 94.47 Xu outscored second today Danielle Scott (AUS) by more than 7 points, as her skiing looked like a nice throwback to her excellent 2011/2012 World Cup season form. "I'm very happy to be competing again and taking the win in front of the home crowd here at Beida Lake. It feels great to get the yellow bib right from the start and I'm very excited for the World Cup season and the World Championships in Sierra Nevada" said Xu following the award ceremony. Representing Australia Daniele Scott took the second place on the day with a score of 87.06 for her back Double Full Full in the second round of the finals. "I'm very happy with this result. I did some very good jumping so beginning the season with the second place feels very satisfying" said Scott. Russia's National Champion from Chusovoy, Liubov Nikitina rounded up the ladies' podium with well executed back Full Full and the final score of 82.53 points. Third place at Beida Lake is also Nikitina's best career results since she first appeared on the World Cup tour in Beijing back in 2014. On the men's side the 2014 Olympic Champion Anton Kushinir made a strong statement in the last round of the finals, throwing down a perfect back Full Double Full Full for a score of 115.05 points. Returning from a long break from competitive skiing, following his gold medal performance in Sochi, Kushinir came back on top of the World Cup podium. With impeccable technique and solid landings Belorussian skier is looking strong heading into the 2016/2017 season and is certainly the one to look out for in the overall World Cup ranking. "It's been some time away from competitive skiing and I have to admit I've really missed the sport. It feels awesome to be back and to win the World Cup, especially here in China where you can always expect the highest level of competition" said Kushinir. Top qualifier and the winner of the last year's opener at the Bird's Nest Stadium Guangpu Qi finished the day one spot behind Kushinir, falling short to the Belorussian aerialist only by half of a point. Despite leading the way all day long throughout qualifications and the first round of the finals, Guangpu wasn't quite able to stomp the landing clean on his last back Double Full Full Full and had to settle for the second place. Nonetheless, the Chinese skier seemed to be fully satisfied with his performance and looked excited for Sunday's team event. Another Chinese athlete Hang Zhou took the men's third place with a score of 95.58 points for his back Full Double Full Full. The aerials World Cup continues with the team event taking place on Sunday. Ladies' qualifications start at 8:40 local time (1:40 CET) with men set to go at 10:55 local time (3:55 CET). The finals are again scheduled for 13:30 local time (6:30 CET). Full Results Women and Men

Fantastic Franz Finishes First It was a wild ride in today’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup men’s downhill as the Saslong course in Val Gardena/Groeden (ITA) provided plenty of drama in one of the most competitive races of this season. In the end, it was a fairy tale finish for Austrian Max Franz, who earned his first career World Cup victory, after coming down with bib #26 and barely edging Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal by 0.04 seconds. Third place went to American Steven Nyman, who trailed by 0.41 seconds. It was a day full of twists and turns as there were a number of racers that could have taken home bragging rights with less than a second separating the first 15 finishers. Svindal looked like he had the victory wrapped up with the most dangerous opponents down in the finish area when Franz laid down a blistering run. It was tight the entire way down as all waited on the edge of their seat to see if the Austrian would pull off the upset. But all of the top three were all smiles as Svindal found himself back on the podium in another strong comeback bid, while Nyman continued to show his strength on one of his best courses in Val Gardena. The entire men's tour now moves to Alta Badia, one valley away, for a giant slalom tomorrow and parallel giant slalom on Monday evening. Full Results Here Max Franz

Unstoppable Ilka Stuhec wins third downhill in a row A bumpy and wild ride for Slovenia's Ilka Stuhec proved fast enough for her third downhill victory in a row on Saturday in Val d'Isere, France. She bested Austrian Cornelia "Conny" Huetter, in second, and Italian Sofia Goggia, third, on her way to an undefeated season thus far in downhill. "Everyday, everyone is sliding through it. It’s been four [runs] today that we’ve skied the course, and it’s always getting a bit wilder, I guess. I just tried to ski it the way I imagined it. It didn’t work out that way, but apparently, fast enough," said Stuhec. "I don’t really know what’s going on actually. It just feels amazing even though I’m still not satisfied with the run because I made some mistakes again. But, apparently, it was still fast enough, so it makes me happy." As has become an annual tradition at the Val d'Isere downhill, Stuhec won a cow in the finish area. She named it Iša in memory of a dog she once had. Huetter was beyond pleased to be back on the podium after struggling with injury and trying to regain her form from a breakout 2015/16 season. “It’s amazing. The last weeks were not very good for me, and it’s hard to rehab again and find the speed from the last year. Today was not easy in my head. But at the end, it’s good," Huetter said. "It was not easy today because it was –from the feeling – a little bit faster. And for sure, it is dark. There is no sun. After two trainings and one combined yesterday, it’s getting bumpier and bumpier. Yeah, it was really tough and you had to stand forward on the ski and feel really self-confident.” Goggia, meanwhile, led a solid Italian team that swept positions third to sixth along with the Fanchini sisters (Nadia and Elena) and Johanna Schnarf. “In GS, we have a supremacy that is overwhelming. In downhill, we can really be a fast team. Not as [good as] giant slalom, but still a really strong one. Today, we confirmed this," said Goggia. “Ilka is a really nice person – a nice girl who suffered also a lot of injuries to the knees, so we start from the same ground because we know what suffering means with all the trouble ... and she really deserved this because if she worked as hard as I did, she really deserved this.” Following her career-first podium the previous day in alpine combined, Switzerland's Michelle Gisin rocketed from bib 51 into seventh place, stunning the crowd. The technical skier joked in the finish that maybe she should become a speed specialist after nearly matching her best finish in slalom, sixth place secured last week at Sestriere. The ladies contest one final race in Val d'Isere on Sunday, a super-G. Full Results Here Ilka Stuhec

Monaco with points. Well done Alex 22 nations already won points this season

Krogh times finish perfectly for La Clusaz win Finn Hagen Krogh chose the perfect time to make his move today to win in the final meters of the men's 15 km free technique mass in La Clusaz, France. Entering the final corner Krogh sat in second place just behind his teammate Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway but used his speed off the final corner to take the victory in a time of 34:09.3. Sundby crossed closely behind for second +0.3 back and Russia's Alexander Legkov was third +3.1. Like the ladies' competition it was a solid top 10 with 6 nations represented and 8 in the top 15. Competitions continue tomorrow in La Clusaz with the men's 4 x 7.5 km relay at 12:30, and the ladies' 4 x 5 km relay at 15:00. Full Results Here

Weng takes World Cup lead with La Clusaz win Norway's Heidi Weng made the move to win on the final climb of the ladies' 10 km free technique mass start in La Clusaz, France. That move gave her her third win of the season and the yellow World Cup leaders bib. It was a Norwegian sweep of the podium for the first time this season. Sweden's Stina Nilsson fought hard to break up the Norwegian trio but in the end has to settle for 4th. Marit Bjoergen returned to the World Cup after a weekend break with a second place finish +2.1 behind Weng. Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg took 3rd +2.9 back. Despite the Norwegian sweep of the podium it was another strong top 10 with 5 different nations represented, and 7 in the top 15. Full Results Here

nice, hope they enjoyed the trip and race in the Tatras

Bulgaria womens Ice hockey team won a match for the second time in history womens hockey National team could hear their anthem and what a beautiful moment singing their anthem it was wow what a celebrations of the players, the joy of the players was awesome, you can see it in the end of the video

I don´t know the real reasons, I just know that It was already declared before the seasons start, the same most likely will be for PyeongChang and Tyumen stages. Heard about many factors..from lack of funds in the seasons budget, or many athletes just decided to remove Oberhof from their individual program. anyway, we´ll see, Last week I heard that maybe Gereková will go to Oberhof, maybe someone more, but hardly we will have 3 athletes there. the same for mens.