Athletes Race Through 1st 2 Days in Sestriere

22 Jan 2009 By IPC

Despite weather conditions causing a delay in the events in Sestriere, Italy, athletes made up for it in performance at the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup.

A total of 72 athletes from 15 different countries were on site yesterday to ignite the competitions in Italy. The first day was filled with the first Downhill race event, with a trio of countries taking the majority of the top three positions.

Canada, Austria and USA each had three athletes finish with winning results on Wednesday, demonstrating to the spectators their determination in qualifying for Vancouver.

In the Sitting Men's category, Tyler Walker (USA) took first place, followed by Yohann Taberlet (FRA) and Christopher Devlin-Young (USA). In the Standing Men's catgory, Gerd Schoenfelder (GER) finished first, followed by Michael Bruegger (SUI) and Cameron Rahls-Rahbula (AUS). The third and final male category was the visually impaired skiers, with Gerd Gradwohl (GER) in first, followed by Jon Santacana (SPA) and Nicola Berejny (FRA).

For the Women’s events, a few familiar names filled the top positions. Lauren Woolstencroft from Canada took her fourth win of the season in Sestriere in the Standing Women's category. Woolstencroft finished with a strong 1:19.34, followed by Melania Corradini (ITA) and Danja Haslacher (AUT). In the Sitting Women's category, another Canadian, Kimberly Joines took the first position, followed by Stephani Victor (USA) and Claudia Loesch (AUT). Czech athlete Anna Kuliskova took the first place in the Visually Impaired category, followed by Sabine Gasteiger (AUT) and Viviane Forest (CAN).

Because the first day of races was cancelled, yesterday held both the training runs and the official Downhill race. The 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Sestriere has its final day on 24 January.