German slalom showdown highlights last World Cup in Kranjska Gora

The women’s slalom sitting world title might be an all-German affair following Anna-Lena Forster and Anna Schaffelhuber’s performances on Friday (20 January), the final day of the World Cup in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

It is Forster who can arrive to the 2017 World Alpine Skiing Championships – beginning on Sunday (22 January) – full with confidence after winning her event on Friday. The 21-year-old rebounded from a disappointing fifth-place finish in yesterday’s first slalom event. Forster took second in her first run on Friday but produced the fastest time in the next run to take the victory over Schaffelhuber, the Sochi 2014 Paralympic champion, 2015 slalom runner-up and overall World Cup leader in her category.

Schaffelhuber and Forster have gone back-and-forth all season in the slalom, with the latter showing potential to improve on the Worlds bronze she took in 2015.

Japan’s Momoka Muraoka was third.

The German women saw more success after Anna-Maria Rieder won the slalom standing, a refreshing triumph following two third-place finishes in Kranjska Gora. Canada’s Alana Ramsay was runner-up to maintain a 50-point lead in the overall World Cup rankings. Despite the fastest first run, Slovakia’s Petra Smarzova could not summon that speed in the next and finished third.

Guided by Fabrizio Casal, Italy’s Giacomo Bertagnolli won the men’s slalom visually impaired on Friday, just two days after he turned 18, to go perfect in Kranjska Gora. He trails Slovakia’s overall World Cup leader Miroslav Haraus, who took second on Friday with guide Maros Hudik. Austria’s Gernot Morgenfurt, guided by Christoph Peter Gmeiner, were third.

There is another teenager who can potentially surprise at Tarvisio 2017.

Dutch up-and-coming sit-skier Jeroen Kampschreur, 17, won both runs on Friday to go perfect in slalom races at this World Cup. The USA’s Tyler Walker was second, and Austria’s Roman Rabl fought back from eighth-place in his first go to finish in third.

The USA did take a victory on Friday, with James Stanton recording his first World Cup win of the season in the men’s standing. Austria’s Martin Wuerz followed up, and Finland’s Santeri Kiiveri was third.

The USA’s Staci Mannella and her guide Sadie de Baun won both their runs to lock in the women’s visually impaired victory. South Korea’s Jae Rim Yang was second with her guide Un So Ri Ko, and the USA’s Danelle Umstead with her husband Robert were third.

Complete results from the World Cup in Kranjska Gora are available at www.worldparaalpineskiing.org.

Next up is the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships which gets underway in Tarvisio, Italy, on Sunday (22 January). Live results and streaming will also be available at World Para Alpine Skiing’s website.