Bochet gets the better of Rothfuss as World Cup season gets underway

Marie Bochet defeated Andrea Rothfuss in one of the most anticipated head-to-heads as the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup season kicked off in Kuhtai, Austria, on 19 December, with the giant slalom races.

France’s four-time Sochi 2014 gold medallist Bochet clocked an overall time of 2:09.04 in the women’s standing to finish ahead of Germany’s Paralympic champion and 2017 slalom world champion Rothfuss by just 1.05.

Canada’s Alana Ramsay (2:11.74) completed the podium.

Neutral athlete and two-time Paralympic champion Aleksei Bugaev (1:55.71) won the men’s standing an impressive 5.77 ahead of USA’s Thomas Walsh, who ended second. Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl (2:02.59) collected bronze.

France’s three-time world champion Arthur Bauchet (2:03.87) ended in fifth place but will most surely improve going into the season.

Three-time world champion Anna Schaffelhuber (2:22.30) of Germany only collected bronze in the women’s sitting, behind arch-rival and Paralympic gold medallist Claudia Loesch (2:18.73) of Austria. Schaffelhuber’s compatriot Anna-Lena Forster (2:20.81) ended second.

Norway’s Jesper Pedersen was the surprising winner in the men’s sitting with an overall time of 2:01.50. USA’s Tyler Walker (2:04.48) and Canada’s Kurt Oatway (2:06.04) completed the top-three. Dutchman Jeroen Kampschreur could not finish the first run and his result was therefore invalid.

There were no major surprises in the visually impaired categories.

Four-time Tarvisio 2017 champion Henrieta Farkasova, guided by Natalia Subrtova, clocked an overall time of 2:06.82 to win the women’s race.

The Slovakian had no major issues in finishing first, followed by Great Britain’s Menna Fitzpatrick (2:16.73) and guide Jennifer Kehoe, and Germany’s Noemi Ewa Ristau (2:16.90), guided by Lucien Gerkau.

The men’s equivalent saw Canadian Paralympic champion Mac Marcoux (2:03.79), guided by Jack Leitch, coming in first.

Slovakia’s Miroslav Haraus (2:05.18) and guide Maros Hudik took silver, while neutral skier Valerii Redkozubov and guide Evgeny Geroev (2:06.67) sealed bronze.

Haraus’ compatriot and four-time Paralympic champion Jakub Krako, guided by Branislav Brozman, did not enjoy the expected start of the season as he finished in seventh place with an overall time of 2:10.36.

Competitions in Kuhtai will continue on Wednesday (20 December) with more giant slalom races across all categories.

Live stream and complete live results will be available for the first time on a dedicated World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup website.

Broadcasters and news agencies interested in the 2018 World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup footage and interviews can contact Alexis Vapaille.