Germany Tops Nation Rankings at IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup

Germany’s Alpine Skiers defeated their lead in the Nation Rankings of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Alpine Skiing Europa Cup on the last day of competition of the Europa Cup finals in Aron, France.

Anna Schaffelhuber and Anna-Lena Forster placed first and second respectively in the women’s Slalom Sitting race, while Andrea Rothfuss finished second in the women’s Slalom Standing category behind overall World Cup winner Marie Bochet. Compatriot Franz Hanfstingl won the men’s Slalom Sitting to round up the successful German day.

Schaffelhuber and Forster also topped the podium in the overall women’s Sitting Europa Cup rankings. Laurie Stephens (USA) finished third in this category.

Italy’s Melania Corradini won the women’s Standing Europa Cup rankings, even though she only finished fifth in the Slalom. Corradini was followed by Danja Haslacher (AUT) and Andrea Rothfuss.

Russia’s Alexandra Frantseva continued her winning streak of the previous days, taking the gold medal in the women’s Slalom Visually Impaired together with her guide Pavel Zabotin and finishing on top of the overall Europa Cup rankings.

Frantseva’s compatriot, Alexey Bugaev, won the men’s Slalom Standing race, ahead of France’s Cedric Amafroi-Broisat and Poland’s Andrzej Szczesny. This victory helped Bugaev jump from sixth to second place in the overall Europa Cup rankings, where Markus Salcher (AUT) took home the trophy. Slovakia’s Martin France (SVK) placed third.

In the men’s Visually Impaired category, Slovakian favourite Jakub Krako won the Slalom, followed by Mciej Krezel (POL) and Ivan Frantsev (RUS) in second and third place respectively, and also finished on top of the Europa Cup Rankings. Russia’s Valery Redkozubov finished second and Michal Beladic third.

Even though Hanfstingl finished first in the men’s Slalom Sitting, he did not manage to overtake his compatriot Thomas Nolte in the overall Europa Cup rankings, who took home the trophy. Hanfstingl finished third in the end, just 16 points behind Austria’s Dietmar Dorn.

For full results of the Europa Cup races, visit www.ipc-alpineskiing.org.