Skiers Weather the Storm

“The races are going to be interesting as the World Cup winners are still not defined. There are going to be tight races.”

After Tuesday’s (13 March) races were postponed due to bad weather, skiers at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals are gearing up for two Super-G races on Wednesday.

More than 80 athletes from 16 nations have travelled to the Panorama Resort in Canada, where they will also compete in Super Combined, Giant Slalom and Slalom until the World Cup winner is declared on Friday.

With five races remaining and only a few points separating some of the leaders, the results still hang in the balance.

“Here in Panorama, we have a great slope and organizers with high standards,” said Sylvana Mestre, Chairperson of the Alpine Skiing Sport Technical Committee. “The races are going to be interesting as the World Cup winners are still not defined. There are going to be tight races.”

Perhaps one of the most closely fought trophies will be in the men’s sitting event, where just 13 points separate Switzerland’s Christoph Kunz (592 points) and Japan’s Taiki Morri (605). On the European leg of the World Cup, Morii developed a strong lead, blowing all competition out of the water. But since the series moved to North America, Kunz has had the edge.

The men’s standing event will also be a very close affair, with just 42 points separating Russia’s Alexandr Alyabyev (707) and France’s Vincent Gauthier-Manuel (665). The Frenchman has the best chance of narrowing the gap in Wednesday’s Super-G, having won gold and silver in the event so far.

The trophy for the best male skier will be fought for by two visually impaired athletes: Russia’s Valery Redkozubov (935) and Spain’s Yon Santacana Maiztegui (830). The latter will need five solid wins to have a chance of knocking Redkozubov off the top spot for both the visually impaired and overall men’s trophies. His main opportunity to narrow the gap will be in the speed events, where Redkozubov has not been as strong this season.

The women’s trophy is between France’s standing skier Marie Bochet (990) and Russia’s visually impaired Alexandra Frantseva (920). Both athletes lead their respective events.

Bochet has a strong lead in the women’s standing, as she is more than 200 points ahead of Germany’s Andrea Rothfuss. Only in the Giant Slalom does Rothfuss stand a chance of catching up.

Franstseva, however, does not have such an easy ride. She will have to fight to keep Slovakia’s Henrieta Farkasova at bay. Farkasova has 880 points, just 40 behind the Russian. The Slovakian has been stronger in the Slalom even so far, with Frantseva faster in the Super-G and Giant Slalom.

Germany’s Anna Schaffelhuber leads the women’s sitting rankings on (740), with USA’s Laurie Stephens second (605). Stephens will likely narrow the gap on the Giant Slalom and Super-G, where she has been stronger this season.

USA is leading the team trophy rankings with 3,359 points, but Russia is close behind with 3,238 points. France is in third place with 3,193 points.