USA’s Jallen takes slalom victory in La Molina

Wins for Russian, Japanese, German and Spanish skiers in slalom events with just 50 days to go until the 2015 Worlds. 09 Jan 2015
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American Stephanie Jallen won slalom at the first World Cup of 2014-15.

American Stephanie Jallen

ⒸOriol Molas
By IPC

The win comes with exactly 50 days to go until the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Panorama, Canada, from 28 February - 10 March.

American teenager Stephanie Jallen won the women’s slalom standing at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in La Molina, Spain, on Friday (9 January), beating France’s five-time world champion Marie Bochet and German Paralympic slalom champion Andrea Rothfuss.

Eighteen-year-old Jallen (1:31.93), who won bronze in super-combined and super-G at Sochi 2014 on her Paralympic debut, posted two perfect runs to beat Thursday’s (8 January) winner Bochet (1:36.27).

The win comes with exactly 50 days to go until the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Panorama, Canada, from 28 February - 10 March.

Russian Inga Medvedeva (1:37.72) finished third for a second day in a row.

The men’s equivalent event saw Russia’s Alexey Bugaev (1:22.73) collect his second win of the week, alongside compatriot Alexander Alyabyev (1:24.75) in second. New Zealand’s Adam Hall (1:25.38) completed the top three.

Japan’s world champion Takeshi Suzuki (1:27.79) clearly preferred Friday’s warmer temperatures, winning the men’s sitting just ahead of teammate Taiki Morii (1:28.09). Suzuki was the only man in the field to go sub 43 seconds, sealing the win despite a fourth-placed second run.

German Thomas Nolte (1:28.60) was third, adding to his win from Thursday.

Germany sealed their next success in the women’s sitting courtesy five-time Paralympic champion Anna Schaffelhuber (1:30.39). She was again ahead of Austria’s Claudia Loesch (1:31.45) following her victory on Thursday, and Schaffelhuber’s teammate Anna-Lena Forster (1:37.13).

Russian Paralympic champion Valerii Redkozubov (1:21.60) continued his near-perfect form from the early season, winning the men’s visually impaired with guide Evgeny Geroev.

Slovakian Miroslav Haraus (1:22.33), guided by Maros Hudik, finished second, but by finishing fastest in the final run showed that Redkozubov can be beaten.

The Canadian duo of Mac (1:22.41) and BJ Marcoux also displayed their form, leading after the first run and placing third in the second to complete the podium.

The women’s event was won by Spain’s Ana Maria Selvi Solsona (1:52.08) and guide Esther Noguera I Hidalgo.

Full results are available.

Races continue on Saturday (10 January) until 11 January, with slalom events. Weather conditions in La Molina have meant that the scheduled giant slalom events had to be cancelled.

Skiers are in La Molina as part of the preparations for Panorama 2015, which is set to see 130 of the world’s best athletes from 50 countries line-up for the biggest gathering of alpine skiers since Sochi 2014.