Slovakian success at alpine World Cup giant slalom

Henrietta Farkasova and Jakub Krako claim first places on the podium at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup. 30 Jan 2014

A picture of a woman skiing on the slopes

Henrieta Farkasova

ⒸMarcus Hartmann

By IPC

For Farkasova (2:02.58), who was guided by Natalia Subrtova, victory was particularly impressive as it came in her first World Cup race of the season following an injury sustained at last year’s World Championships.

Slovakia’s visually impaired skiers excelled on the third day of competition at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Tignes, France on Thursday (30 January) with Jakub Krako and Henrietta Farkasova both sealing victories in giant slalom events.

For Farkasova (2:02.58), who was guided by Natalia Subrtova, victory was particularly impressive as it came in her first World Cup race of the season following an injury sustained at last year’s World Championships, an event she won downhill and slalom world titles at. The Slovakian pair finished ahead of Great Britain’s in-form Kelly Gallagher and guide Charlotte Evans (2:03.06), who recorded their first World Cup giant slalom victory earlier this month.

In the men’s race, Krako and guide Martin Motyka (1:51.14) showed a glimpse of the form that won them the 2010 Paralympic title with victory over Russia’s Ivan Frantsev and his guide German Agranovskii (1:59.12). Italy’s Alessandro Daldoss and guide Luca Negrini (1:59.28), winners of two downhill events this week, came third.

In the women’s standing, France’s Marie Bochet (1:58.38) bounced back in emphatic style after a rare defeat to German Andrea Rothfuss (2:04.39) in Wednesday’s downhill. The multiple world champion was easily fastest in both runs to finish well ahead of Rothfuss in second. Anna Jochemsen (2:04.83) of the Netherlands completed the podium.

"Today was special, with conditions a little difficult with the visibility but the snow was good. Thanks to the work of the volunteers, we were still able to have a good race", Bochet said of the conditions.

Germany’s Anna Schaffelhuber (2:00.29) collected her third win in as many days in the women’s sitting, whilst Great Britain’s Anna Turney (2:12.86) and Germany’s Anna-Lena Forster (2:13.18) will be delighted with their highest World Cup podium finishes of the season in second and third.

Following Schaffelhuber’s lead is Markus Salcher (1:50.33) in the men’s standing who looks unstoppable on his road to Sochi after bagging a hat-trick of wins in Tignes. The Austrian currently sits second in the World Cup rankings but was fastest in both his runs to finish ahead of Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl (1:54.59) and Russian Alexey Bugaev (1:55.17).

"It was a little difficult for me today, there were a lot of bumps, but I'm happy with myself, it's fantastic!" said Salcher.

Wednesday’s downhill winner Christoph Kunz (1:53.39) of Switzerland improved his chances of topping the giant slalom World Cup rankings at the end of the season by beating current world number one Tyler Walker (1:55.09) of the USA into second. The gap between the two is now just 14 points. Austria’s Roman Rabl (1:57.22) was third.

Races continue in Tignes on Friday (30 January) with the super-combined, before skiers head to St. Moritz, Switzerland, from 3-6 February for the next World Cup.

The IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals will be held in Tarvisio, Italy, from 24-27 February and will be the last opportunity for skiers to compete ahead of Sochi 2014 where alpine skiing competitions begin on 8 March.

Current World cup rankings can be found at IPC Alpine Skiing's rankings and results page.

Daily highlights videos from Tignes can be found at ParalympicSport.TV and pictures are available at the IPC's Flickr account or search #Tignes.