World's Best Alpine Skiers Meet in Spain

From 12 to 15 January, the first International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Alpine Skiing World Cup for this season is taking place in La Molina, Spain.

Over 100 athletes from 16 different countries are participating in two Giant Slalom and two Slalom events, competing in three different classes - visually impaired, sitting and standing. Good weather and excellent snow conditions made the first two days a good experience for all athletes.

The first Giant Slalom race was dominated by the Canadian women. Viviane Forest (CAN) won in the visually impaired category with a time of 2:35:75min, whereas Lauren Woolstencroft (CAN) finished first in the standing category with a time of 2:18:94min. The best sit ski competitor was US skier Laurie Stephens with a time of 2:35:00min.

The Men’s competition saw victories for Spain, Japan and Germany. Jon Santacana (ESP) won in the visually impaired category with a time of 2:17:31min. In the sit ski competition, the Japanese Taiki Morii won with a time of 2:16:49min, while in the standing category the German skier Gerd Schönfelder came in first with an amazing time of 2:18:40min.

The second day of races saw Sabine Gasteiger from Austria come back to claim the number one spot in the Giant Slalom, way ahead of the rest of the visually impaired competitors, finishing with a time of 2:27:75min. In the Sitting category, the winner was Stephani Victor (USA) with a time of 2:30:64min, while Lauren Woolstencroft (CAN) repeated her victory in the Giant Slalom Standing category with a time of 2:15:01min.

Spanish Jon Santacana won also the second Men’s Giant Slalom (Visually Impaired category) in a time of 2:12:2min. In the standing category, Vincent Gauthier-Manuel from France won in a time of 2:13:55min, while sit-skier Taiki Morii from Japan repeated his victory with a time of 2:13:81min.

The World Cup is organized by the Federacion Catalana de Deportes (FCEDF) and supported by the Molina station, the Ayuntamiento de Alp, the Federación Catalana d'Esports d'Hivern (FCEH), the Consell Català de l'Esport, Diputació de Girona, Consell Comarcal de la Cerdanya and the Comité Paralímpico Español, Real Federación Española Deportes de Invierno (RFEDI) and from the Catalunya Turisme.

The Director of the Station La Molina, declared that "these high level races for skiers with a disability will make the sports initiatives of the Centro de Deportes Adaptados of La Molina and la Fundación Cruyf known to all". The Molina ski station wants to continue organizing and promoting sporting competitions for persons with a disability.

Amongst the activities organized during this World Cup is a series of presentations in the Cerda de Puigcerda Museum. Topics discussed by various high-level presenters included "Adaptive Sports and Communication", "Normalization of Disabled Sports", "Centre of Adaptive Sports of La Molina", "Handicap, Leisure and Family Environment" as well as "Adaptive Sports at Schools".

On 14 and 15 January, the IPC World Cup will show its more dynamic aspect with the celebration of two slaloms on the Cerdanya-Catalunya slope.