Rothfuss, Farkasova, Rabl seal giant slalom World Cup globes

Rothfuss’ women’s standing title is her latest silverware from a sensational season.

Germany’s Andrea Rothfuss, Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova and Austria’s Roman Rabl secured crystal globes in giant slalom on Sunday (5 March), with their performances at the Para alpine skiing World Cup in Hakuba, Japan.

Rothfuss’ women’s standing title is her latest silverware from a sensational season.

The Paralympic silver medallist claimed the giant slalom world title in Tarvisio, Italy, and has also swept the podium in all her World Cup races.

The German topped the podium on Sunday ahead of Slovakia’s Petra Smarzova in second. The Netherlands’ Anna Jochemsen was third.

Rothfuss cemented her victory with one race to spare. The crystal globes will be awarded following the World Cup Finals and PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games Test Event which gets underway on 12 March.

In the men’s standing Australia’s Mitchell Gourley is riding high after winning his first world title in the super combined in January.

His win in Hakuba strengthens his lead at top of the rankings. But there will be a nail biting conclusion to the World Cup season in PyeongChang, with the top three skiers separated by just 68 points.

Austria’s Christoph Bernhard Schneider will be hopeful of breaking into that group following his second place finish behind Gourley. The USA’s Thomas Walsh, the current World Cup runner-up, added points to his campaign with third.

Rabl emerged the winner of the men’s giant slalom sitting World Cup, despite finishing second behind Dutch world champion Jeroen Kampschreur on Sunday.

In a close race, Kampschreur finished just 0.34 seconds ahead of Rabl. Switzerland’s Christoph Kunz rounded off the podium.

Germany’s Paralympic champion and World Championships silver medallist Anna Schaffelhuber collected her latest win with two leading runs in the women’s sitting.

Her teammate Anna-Lena Forster was second, bringing herself level on World Cup points with Austrian world title holder Claudia Loesch.

The pair are tied in second in the rankings, 40 points behind Schaffelhuber.

Japan’s Momoka Muraoka was third in the race.

In the women’s visually impaired, world and Paralympic champion Farkasova, guided by Natalia Subrtova, was the third skier to move out of reach at the top of the World Cup leaderboard.

The title crowns an impressive return for the Slovakian, having been sidelined for the last two seasons due to injury.

On the day Farkasova finished second behind Australia’s Melissa Perrine and guide Andrew Bor, the race winner.

South Korea’s Jae Rim Yang was third, guided by Un So Ri Ko.

There was further delight for Slovakia in the men’s visually impaired as Paralympic silver medallist Jakub Krako led two of his teammates onto the podium, guided by Branislav Brozman.

Krako edged Miroslav Haraus and guide Maros Hudik by just 0.18 after posting the fastest second run.

Marek Kubacka and guide Maria Zatovicova rounded off the top three.

Heading into the World Cup Finals Krako leads the standings with 410 points, followed by Kubacka with 370 and Haraus on 360.

Action will continue in Hakuba on Monday (6 March) with two super-G races. The second super-G, originally scheduled for Tuesday, has been moved forward.

Live results are available throughout at World Para Alpine Skiing’s website.