Austrian and French skiers each secured two slalom wins apiece on the first day of competition at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup Finals in Sella Nevea, Italy, on Monday (16 February).
The strongest field of the day was in the men's standing where Austrians took the top four spots and just 0.18 seconds separated the podium finishers.
Matthias Lanzinger (1:24.87) led the way, clinging on for victory by just 0.09 seconds despite having a half a second lead after his first run. Martin Wuerz (1:24.96) was second and Thomas Grochar (1:25.05) third.
Austria's second win came through Claudia Loesch who claimed her third Europa Cup slalom win of the season in the women's sitting.
For France, Frederic Francois (1:27.49) was fastest in his two runs to claim victory in the men's sitting. Austria's Roman Rabl (1:29.07) was second, whilst Francois' teammate Cyril More (1:32.37) was third.
France's Marie Bochet (1:29.52), who will be looking to defend five world titles at the World Championships in Canada later this month, eased to victory in the women's standing. Switzerland's Bigna Schmidt (1:48.05) was some way back in second, as was her teammate Elena Kratter (1:52.37) in third.
A superb second run was enough for Poland's Maciej Krezel and guide Anna Ogarzynska (1:34.81) to take their first Europa Cup win of the season in the men's visually impaired. Second was the Czech Republic's Patrik Hetmer guided by Miroslaw Macala (1:35.12) whilst third was Austria's Christian Hesch, guided by S Pajantschitsch (1:35.63).
The women's visually impaired was won by Belgium's Eleonor Sana, guided by Chloe Sana (1:55.38).
Competition in Sella Nevea will continue through to Wednesday (18 February). On Tuesday skiers will compete in giant slalom.
Full results from the first day of action can be found at: http://www.paralympic.org/alpine-skiing/calendar-and-results
The IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in Panorama, Canada, between 28 February and 10 March is expected to gather around 130 athletes from 30 countries in the biggest gathering of alpine skiers since the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games.
More information can be found at www.Panorama2015.com.
For further information, please contact Lucy Dominy, IPC Public Relations and Campaigns Manager on e-mail: lucy.dominy@paralympic.org or call +49-228-2097-159. Alternatively, please visit www.paralympic.org or www.ParalympicSport.TV.
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
