Alpine (and a bit of biathlon)

A few “catch-ups” first – more details on the FIS website. The Men’s night slalom at Schladming followed the saga of “Straddlegate” – the FIS watched all the video again from various slaloms and concluded that Hirscher hadn’t straddled in any of the races he won; everyone seemed to agree and things calmed down a bit. Hirscher and Kostelic shook hands (from the body language, possibly as genuine as a politicians apology??) and we actually got on with the skiing at last. In the end Marcel Hirscher won, having definitely not missed anything from Stefano Gross and Mario Matt. Ivica Kostelic was booed by some of the crowd, but let his skiing answer the critics by taking 4th place by only 0.01! One of the most exciting runs was by Japan’s Naoki Yuasa who ended up 5th – I understand this is the best result by a Japanese racer for 6 seasons – with Ted Ligety 6th. Good race and hopefully that is an end to that particular controversy. Should be on the BBC Ski Sunday programme (if the info is correct)

Over to St Moritz and the Women’s super combined (a replacement for the one cancelled at Val d’Isere), which I missed. After the downhill Lindsey Vonn was first but the chasing pack were closer than expected – Lizzy Görgl and Maria Höfl-Riesch were both inside a second and both might be considered stronger in the slalom? In the event Lizzy was a DNF in the slalom and while Maria did finish she made a significant error and ended up only 21st. With those two out, Vonn was unstoppable, taking the win from Tina Maze and Nicole Hosp. The overall competition looks far less close than last year’s!!

Women’s Downhill – St Moritz: A fast, undulating course starting at 2745 metres and ending just above 2000 metres – looked quite flat when Bruno Kernan did the TV run but the coverage of the racers gave a rather better impression – over 120 Km/h through the final gun. Good to see Laurenne Ross (USA) starting things off, the first of 59 or so starters (Rebensburg and Martina Schild are listed as DNS), respectable time too; her countrywoman Leanne Smith went faster lower to take over the lead by 0.74 after a great run on the DH section of the super combi yesterday too! Next leader was Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather - Die Überraschung der Saison, as ZDF put it; great pedigree and a very impressive run. Anja Pärson (Swe) had another disappointing day – seems to have lost her hunger this year; possibly understandable as she’s won pretty much everything in her time, but maybe she should have retired last year? Marie Marchand-Arvier (Fra) made a mistake near the top, but skied a good lower section to go into second; maybe the lower part of the course is where Tina can be overtaken?

Here come the favourites – Lizzy Görgl (Aut) started 0.7 down at the early split but despite closing the gap later could only manage 4th at that stage. Tina Maze (Slo) was also slower at the top (+0.9), but closed well in the middle and a brilliant lower section put her 2nd by 0.18! Now it’s Vonn time – in touch at the top and well in the green by Int 3; -1.36 at Int 4 and in due course the lead by almost 1.5 seconds – master class! Maria Höfl-Riesch (Ger) pushed her a little at the top but Vonn’s performance lower down was untouchable – into current 2nd. Julia Mancuso (USA) also started well, but lost time lower – good recovery though! Ilka Stuhec (Slo) had a good DH yesterday, and had a good top section today, but faded lower down – looking down the start list I’m not sure if anyone can bother Lindsey Vonn now.

They couldn’t! Final result, Lindsey Vonn well clear in first, then Maria Höfl-Riesch just ahead of Tina Weirather – great result for her. Tina Maze was 4th with Julia Mancuso joint 5th with Marie Marchand-Arvier.

Men’s Downhill – Garmisch-Partenkirchen: A lowered start, on this classic Kandahar course, the decision being made only about 30 minutes before the start – foggy high up and temperatures a bit awkward so the top is apparently softer; lower sections very icy and hard and the light is quite flat. It seems Bode Miller missed the bib draw by about 3 minutes, so he’s been punished with a late start number (46 vice 16; bit harsh?) – wouldn’t it be ironic if that helped him! On to the race, and one of the favourites is Eric Guay (who is Canadian, not French – ZDF please note); fastest in training. His compatriot, Jan Hudec, looked fast (but wild) on his race run today but made an error low down which stopped him beating Andrej Sporn’s time. Again, the lower section looks crucial today – both Puchner and Küng looked good but just slipped off the green light at the end – Sporn stays in the lead, although later on he has to share the fastest time with Christof Innerhofer! Eric Guay was hugely fast early on, made a massive error which cost him time, but then hung on to take the lead – great recovery from him, and his kit working well! I thought Hannes Reichelt would take it away from him, but he lost time lower down and went second by only 0.03! That final section cost a few more racers time, with green lights going red late on – Beat Feuz had a “Hudec moment” and dropped down the rankings, as did fellow Swiss racer Didier Defago – not riding the bumps so well, or are their skis not as well prepared as Guay’s? Apparently it's not the Swiss skis, as Didier Cuche is flying – into the lead; he seems to like these shorter courses, and this could put him into the DH overall lead, ahead of Feuz!! The Austrians haven’t yet won a downhill this season, which is causing some comment in their media – best at present is Reichelt in third. Meanwhile Stephan Keppler, in his home race, goes in too hot and crashes out – disappointing but he seems to be OK – course getting bumpier now, and visibility perhaps also a little trickier. Some consolation for the crowd was a solid performance from Andreas Sander (Ger) – into 20th, although Max Franz (Aut) pushed him down with another good run – great efforts by such late start numbers. Romar (Fin) was unlucky and lost a ski – very obviously unhappy (maybe a fine en route for whacking the netting with his pole) but again thankfully OK after the fall. Now – Miller time! Great effort but the bumps are soaking up his time – very exciting but 1.44 off the pace at the end; exciting to watch though! Great win by Didier Cuche (Swi) – still the oldest man to win a downhill and the bar is being raised every time he does it! Eric Guay (Can) 2nd from Hannes Reichelt (Aut), with Sporn (Slo)tied in 4th with Innerhofer (Ita) and Paris (Ita) in 6th.

Meanwhile, although the World Cup events are taking a break until Oslo next weekend, the European Biathlon championships are currently running in Slovakia (Osrblie – my spellchecker won’t like that!) – women’s 7.5 Km sprint today! Lots of new names but also some old World cup favourites. Early leader was Julianne Döll (Ger) but she had 2 misses and with some of the later starters going clear, her lead didn’t look too secure! Olena Pidhrushna (Ukr) duly took over with a massive lead of over a minute after shooting 10/10. Same shooting score for Hennecke (Ger), but she’s got 27 seconds to make up on the last lap; Novakowska (Pol) also looked very threatening but missed her final target – very fast though and she leaves the range after her penalty loop only 13 seconds back. Valj Semerenko (Ukr) also missed her last target, but despite one in the previous shoot too (?) she’s also fast and in touch. Hennecke lost more time on the final lap but went into current 5th; similar story for Novakowska who also loses time and goes 2nd – Pidhrushna’s last lap must have been a scorcher, although Valj Semerenko pretty much matched it to go 2nd in her turn – very impressive day for the Ukraine athletes! So Pidhrushna from Valj Semerenko with Novakowska third – more tomorrow and full results on the IBU website.

Women’s Super Combination (Super G & Slalom); St Moritz: The Super G first – lovely day but with some cloud drifting around the finish. The Italians were the best of the early starters, at one stage holding the top 3 places, with Joanna Schnarf leading the trio. That situation was being slowly eroded by French & Austrian skiers when Lindsey Vonn hit the hill – the usual impressive run, albeit with a couple wobbles lower down, but into the lead by 0.93. Anja Pärson (Swe) looked a lot more comfortable today and possibly set for second but lost time lower down and it slipped away. Anna Fenninger (Aut) dislodged Schnarf and then it was time for Maria Höfl-Riesch (Ger) – very competitive, especially on the upper sections, to end up second just 0.23 back from Vonn. Lizzy Görgl (Aut) had a couple “moments” but still managed to get into 4th behind Fenninger – and that is pretty much the way it stayed as my “dark horse” tips for a late upset (Stuhec, Smith & Weirather) all failed to live up to my hopes! Lena Dürr (Ger) however did manage to go joint 10th with Julia Mancuso – good effort from her in her first Super G (?) and her slalom is good, so who knows what run 2 will bring?

The slalom course is set by the Slovenian coach – possibly a slight advantage to Tina Maze (currently in 13th, 1.13 back)? The first three skiers to go on this second run are all strong in slalom, so we may see a good combined time early on. Best of those 3 was Nicole Hosp (Aut), especially on the lower section; 0.85 faster at this stage – this might last a while? Lotte Sejersted (Nor), 15th to start in the slalom, came close, dislodging Marie Gagnon (Can) from second. Tina Maze (whose boyfriend and coach is the course setter!) started with nearly a second advantage and skied cleanly but in the end could only manage second. Lena Dürr spoilt her chances with a major error on the middle section – great pity! Meanwhile we have 8 to go, and Hosp is still there; she skied the flatter lower section really well, yet several later starters are losing their advantage higher up as the course gets more worn; even Kathrin Zettel can’t match her fellow Austrian. Lizzy Görgl is still in the green about half way, but slows lower to go 2nd. Fenninger is slower, so Nicole Hosp is guaranteed a podium place – amazing day for her! Maria Höfl-Riesch is next, starting with 1.8 seconds advantage – she loses a little but still takes over the lead – nice to see her back on form. Lindsey Vonn has a very slim lead – at mid point way it’s down to half and then there’s a small error – she misses her 50th win by only 0.03 seconds; pity she missed her hat trick, but I’m very happy to see Maria get her first win of the season. Höfl-Riesch wins, from Lindsey Vonn and a delighted Nicole Hosp. Lizzy Görgl was 4th ahead of Tina Maze and Lotte Smiseth Sejersted. Exciting stuff.

Meanwhile the Men’s Super G from Garmisch (my old home hill, so I cancelled my “doing sport” plans to watch it) was again blighted by low cloud. The start was delayed 30 minutes, then an hour and finally 90 minutes before eventually being cancelled – not happy, but the racers are probably much more disappointed! Hope the women have better luck at Garmisch next weekend.