Christoph Kunz collects third Europa Cup gold

Swiss alpine skier wins giant slalom at Finals in Obersaxen 28 Mar 2018

Christoph Kunz now has three golds at the season-ending Europa Cup Finals

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By IPC

Christoph Kunz has continued his winning streaking at the World Para Alpine Skiing Europa Cup Finals, taking his third consecutive gold on home snow in Obersaxen.

The Swiss skier captured the men’s giant slalom sitting – the event he won Paralympic gold in at Sochi 2014 – on Wednesday (28 March), the third and penultimate day of competition. Kunz clocked the two fastest times in both runs to win by 2.45 seconds ahead of Austria’s Markus Gfatterhofer. Italy’s Rene de Silvestro rounded off the top three.

The men’s standing top spot continues to be swapped between two skiers, this time with Austrian Markus Salcher locking his second victory in the Europa Cup Finals.

The two-time PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallist recorded the fastest giant slalom time of the day (46.17). Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl – the skier who ended Salcher’s gold medal hopes in Tuesday’s super combined – finished second. Austrian Thomas Grochar was third.

In the women’s standing, Anna-Maria Rieder spoiled a third straight victory for Melania Corradini. The German navigated the giant slalom course 1.75 seconds quicker than her Italian counterpart. Swiss skier Bigna Schmidt medalled for the third time to complete the podium.

A similar spoiler was seen in the women’s sitting, where the Netherlands’ Barbara van Bergen bumped Germany’s Ruth Hagspiel to second-place. Liechtenstein’s Sarah Hundert was third.

Austrian Veronika Aigner and her guide Elisabeth Aigner defeated Dutch duo Maaike Bennink and guide Dennis van Klaveren in the women’s vision impaired.

France’s Thomas Civade, guided by Fabien Chambost, won the men’s equivalent. Great Britain’s Michael Kear with guide Louise Harrison; and Switzterland’s Thibault Trancart with guide Manoelle Pauli, went two-three, respectively.

The Europa Cup Finals, which also serve as the test event for the 2019 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships, will conclude on Thursday (29 March) with slalom events.

Complete and live results can be found on World Para Alpine Skiing's website.