Skiing and Biathlon 2017/18

Well, almost time for the "winter" ski season to start, with biathlon a little later - looking forward to seeing who is still in the various teams!

Meanwhile - what might be the first injury of the season! From the FIS site - During slalom training in Pitztal, Austria, on 22 October, Slovenian World Cup star Ilka Stuhec suffered a severe knee injury following a fall. The 2016/17 World Cup title winner in downhill and alpine combined and runner-up in the overall and super-G standings sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee during a crash while training on the glacier.  Stuhec will undergo surgery on Wednesday, 25 October, and more information about her condition and rehabilitation will be available after that time.

Sölden – Women’s GS (Saturday 28 Oct):
Run 1: Well. The FIS season is away – joined run 1 a little late; seems this is a testing start to the season – windy and conditions are getting more unfriendly as time goes on!  They have lowered the start gate because of the weather, but the event is on. Sadly Ilka Stuhec’s recent injury seems to have been worse than originally thought and she will be out for the whole season.  With 20 or so away, Manuela Mölgg leads by 0.12 from Mikaela Shiffrin with Viki Rebensburg in third; 4 DNFs, including Lara Gut, back from injury. Later starters not having the best of conditions but good to see Norwegian rising star Kristin Lysdahl get into 8th position. Now, Alex Tilley is going number 30 – wind still increasing and she joins the DNFs after missing a gate. Another TV break, and now it’s Lindsey Vonn (apparently only confirmed 48 hours ago!?) – slight surprise to see her here, but she did win this event in 2011; commentators very excited but Vonn is into 26th – might not get a second run? As Eurosport coverage ends it’s Mölgg leading from Shiffrin and Rebensburg with Sara Hector in 4th, ahead of Tina Weirather and Tessa Worley. Watching the FIS feed I can see Lindsey Vonn slipping down the list of finishers – no second run today for her. Good effort by Estelle Alphand (SWE) who started number 53 and got into 21st!
Run 2: Well, Shiffrin reckons conditions aren’t too bad, and the commentators have reported that things are actually looking better! Some good camera work as we wait for the run to  start; that’s quite a steep looking course! Right, Elena Curtoni is away, and run 2 has started – course set by a Swiss coach; tight and turny! Good run from Asa Ando (JPN) to take the lead – she’ll get her first World Cup points today! That really was good from Laura Pirovano (ITA) – nearly a second faster than Ando. The early starters are making the most of the new course – Bernadette Schild takes over the lead. Now, Estelle Alphand (daughter of Luc) – from the commentary it seems she went through the French ski training system but was apparently badly treated so, with Dad’s approval, she now skis for Sweden – the country of her mother; and she’s into second place too! First ten down – Schild leads from Alphand and Taina Barioz; Irene Curtoni goes into joint 2nd, tied with Alphand.  Nice run from Petra Vlhova, but she lost a bit of time lower down – into 4th. Ricarda Haaser (AUT) lost a lot of her 0.64 (?) advantage early on, but built slightly on the lower section to take the lead by just 0.08. Elisabeth Kappaurer into third, so Austria have the podium to themselves at present! Not for long, however – Wendy Holdener stays green all the way, increasing her advantage from inter 1 to take the lead; Tina Robnik (SLO) into 2nd. That’s 20 down – Holdener leads from Robnik and Haaser – fastest 10 from run 1 to come. Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) into 2nd; Stephanie Brunner is flying on the upper section, increasing her advantage – lost a little later but she takes the lead – Austria back in the lead. Kristin Lysdahl has made a slight error but she’s into 4th even so, which should be a PB finish for her, no matter what happens next! Melanie Meillard has fallen, but she is up again and seems OK. Tessa Worley is gaining time at the intermediate points, and she takes over the lead. Tina Weirather next, but she’s losing time and now she’s missed a gate – DNF. Sara Hector into the red by inter 1, and she isn’t going to be on the podium today. Vikki Rebensburg has lost a bit of her advantage by inter 1, but from then on she’s got the green light all the way – into the lead by 0.14. Now, here comes Mikaela Shiffrin – an error before inter 1 has lost her time – good recovery but the damage has been done; into 4th. Just Manuela Mölgg who, in her final season, has yet to win a World Cup race – she’s lost time at inter 1 and she’s into the red at inter 2 – alas, it’s third! So, Vikki Rebensburg (GER) wins the first race of the new season, ahead of Tessa Worley (FRA) with Manuela Mölgg (ITA) in third. Stephanie Brunner in 4th, ahead of Shiffrin and Holdener; nice to see Kristin Lysdahl in 8th today.

The Men's GS should have been on 29 October, but the weather intervened! This is the statement from the FIS website: "It’s almost becoming a pattern in Sölden. In the past few years, the opening ladies giant slalom on Saturday could be held under sunny skies, while the men’s Tour had to face challenging conditions on Sunday. And 2017 is no different. Except that this time, the wind storm was extremely powerful, with wind gusts up to 120 km/h have been measured at the Pitztaler weather station, close to the Rettenbach Glacier. This makes it impossible to hold a safe World Cup event. Therefore, the jury decided to cancel the race.

“The local authority, the organising committee and the race jury came together at 05h30 this morning to evaluate the situation on the glacier. At first, we decided to stand by and delay the final decision to 6h45. However, the situation didn’t improve and according to the updated forecast the wind gusts will get even stronger and the safety can no longer be guaranteed. Safety comes first, we had no other choice than to cancel,” said FIS Chief Race Director Markus Waldner.

As per World Cup rule 18.1, the World Cup Opening races which have to be cancelled during the Opening are not rescheduled, so there will be one less giant slalom on the men’s calendar 2017/18. The World Cup Tour will go on in November, with a ladies’ and a men’s slalom on 11th and 12th in Levi."

Levi – Women’s slalom: Out today so I missed the live coverage and had to watch the highlights! After the rather technical run 1, set by an Austrian coach (not that it helped some of them), Mikaela Shiffrin was in the lead, with Petra Vlhova second (+0.21), and Frida Hansdotter third (+0.73); Alex Tilley didn’t complete run 1. Quite a lot of coverage of run 1 in the highlights, which surely could have been condensed a bit? Course seemed to hold up well though; nice to see Stephanie Brunner (AUT) get a second run having started number 53 and getting 13th in run 1! For the second run, the mist at the top of the course was a bit worse and it was windier too – luckily not like Sölden though! Good run from Mina Fuerst Holtmann (NOR), who started number 51; she’s put in a good run this time as well. Great run from Melanie Meillard (SUI) to take the lead from Steph Brunner with 10 racers left. Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE) into 2nd; I think we missed a few, then Wendy Holdener (SUI) took the lead by over a second! Frida Hansdotter (SWE) couldn’t match Wendy – into 2nd with 2 to go. Now Petra Vlhova (SVK), who beat Shiffrin in the final slalom race of last season – right on the limit and she’s increasing her advantage – she takes the lead; just Mikaela to go. Shiffrin is away – lost a bit from inter 1 to inter 2 and the light is red by inter 3. Petra Vlhova wins the first slalom of this new season, ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin and Wendy Holdener.  Hansdotter in 4th ahead of Meillard and Lena Dürr (GER); Brunner ended up 8th and Holtmann 13th. Men tomorrow, if the weather behaves – rumour has it that Hirscher is back from injury?

FIS report is HERE

Levi – Men’s slalom: Well, looking at the start list, Marcel Hirscher is listed at start number 2 – I wonder how fit and in practice he is after that broken ankle? Henrik Kristoffersen goes number 6 and Dave Ryding at 9. Weather looks a bit grim – quite foggy at the top and it’s snowing; Michael Matt (AUT) is first away, and the men’s season has begun! Hirscher is away and going for it – green all the way; he lost a little on the lower section but he leads at present. Course set by an Italian coach, but it didn’t suit Stefano Gross, who goes into 3rd. Felix Neureuther (GER) is much more in touch and he leads by 0.32; good run! Manfred Mölgg (ITA) was fine to inter 2, but then lost time – into 4th, and now it’s Kristoffersen – he is also good to inter 2, quite red by inter 3 but a good lower section gets him into 2nd, 0.04 behind Felix. Massive error from Alex Khoroshilov (RUS) – will he even get a second run? A good recovery from an early error gets Daniel Yule (SUI) into 5th; now it’s Dave Ryding (GBR) – green at inter 2, red at 3 but green at the finish – he leads by 0.14! Fritz Dopfer also back from injury – he’s 8th at present; with 10 down it’s Ryding leading from Neureuther and Kristoffersen, then Hirscher, Matt and Yule. No change to the top 6 at present – best of the next group so far was Hargin (SWE) into 7th – that’s even better, Andre Myhrer (SWE) into 5th. TV break, and then Marco Schwarz (SUI) – he goes 6th, just 0.62 behind – all quite close. Now into the 20s; Leif Kristian Haugen (NOR) has managed 8th; Thaler (ITA) is the first DNF and it’s time for another TV break. Sebastian Foss-Solevaag (NOR) next to go and it’s good – into 7th, but then very little to worry the top 6 until Dave Chodounsky (USA), who was well in touch until inter 3, then lost a bit and went 15th – even so just +0.84 so run 2 looks as though it will be exciting! Hang on – David Ketterer (GER, number 31) is only +0.05 at inter 2 – sadly he’s skied out, but that looked interesting. Even better – Reto Schmidiger (SUI, number 37) has just skied into 6th, +0.61 – sadly I only had the ticker running so no video! Quite a few of the later start numbers are going well until inter 2 but the next section is really sorting them out! Run 1 over – Ryding leads from Neureuther, Henrik K, Hirscher, Myhrer and Schmidiger.
Run 2: Apparently it’s getting warmer, so today the snow might not hold up for the later starters? Still a bit foggy with light snow; course set by an Austrian coach – not as fast but maybe more technical than run 1? That’s the first 5 of the top 30 down – Jean-Baptiste Grange (FRA) has the early lead. Another Frenchman, Victor Muffat-Jeandet, into 2nd, by just 0.01, and then Fritz Dopfer into 3rd. Marc Digruber’s coach set this course, but it seems to be a bit too technical and Marc has straddled! Ah, Loic Meillard (SUI) has taken the lead, but Manuel Feller (AUT) is building on his initial advantage, - 0.61 at inter 3 but he’s missed a gate almost at the finish! His coach is not going to be happy! Floodlights on; Manny Mölgg (ITA) green all the way to inter 3, but drops to 2nd on the final stretch. Half way through and it’s Meillard from Mölgg and Grange. Alexis Pinturault (FRA) started well, but lost a little lower down – into 2nd, +0.17. Luca Aerni (SUI) is gaining time nicely to inter 3; bit slower to the finish but it’s enough to take over the lead; Switzerland 1 and 2. Next is Mattias Hargin SWE) – gaining to inter 2, but just red at 3 – he’s gained time on the flat though and he leads with 11 to go. Daniel Yule (SUI) was red all the way but only just and he moves into 2nd; good final section. Just 8 to go; Hargin, Aerni and Yule on the provisional podium. No changes yet, but Andre Myhrer is green all the way through inter 3 – he’s done a Feller though; DNF with just 4 gates to go. Marcel Hirscher started well, but he’s drifting into the red as he loses strength – 15th at present. Henrik Kristoffersen is green all the way, and he takes the lead by 0.08; Felix Neureuther has just 0.04 in hand as he starts his run – he’s building on that and has 0.43 by inter 3 – lovely run and he leads by 0.37. So, pressure on Dave Ryding, who has 0.14 advantage as he starts his second run – he too is gaining time; 0.51 advantage by inter 2 but he’s out – so close too. Felix Neureuther wins from Kristoffersen and Hargin; Luca Aerni in 4th ahead of Yule and Meillard. Exciting stuff.

Today (25 Nov) expecting the Women's GS from Killington, and the Men's Downhill from Lake Louise.

Killington – Women’s GS: Run 1 – Apparently no commentary for this first run; doesn’t seem to be much snow around in the general area, although there is enough on the piste – bad news though is the wind, which seems rather strong in certain places on the course – otherwise it looks a nice day. Anyway – the forerunners are on the course; Eva-Maria Brem will be first racer away – she’s safely down! Looked OK (rats; my network has dropped out, and video isn’t coming back!) but Tessa Worley was over a second faster and Vikki Rebensburg has gone faster still. Video back – Rebensburg leads from Worley and Sofia Goggia has just gone into third; she’s been displaced by Federica Brignone – no team orders in Alpine Skiing! Next up is Mikaela Shiffrin – lot more crowd noise and she’s into 2nd, +0.26.  Bassino a bit off the pace but Steph Brunner (AUT) is into 3rd.  Next is Lara Gut, but she’s losing time – a rather disappointing 8th place, +1.70 – not what was expected? First 10 all down safely – Vikki leads from Shiffrin and Brunner; then Worley, Brignone and Bassino. No changes until Manuela Mölgg; green at inter 1 and into 3rd.  Tina Weirather can only manage 15th – bit unlucky with the wind? – and Wendy Holdener is also off the pace.  Sara Hector was more in touch but she’s slipped over within sight of the finish – first DNF of the day. I think it might be getting windier? Adeline Baud Mugnier is a DNF but up and seems OK; Haaser out early – she is OK but the gate isn’t – it does look windy there. That’s 30 down, one way or another, but no change to the top 6 since Mölgg. Well, there’s good news – Alex Tilley into 9th place, from start number 32; think that’s her best place so far! No more late news – run 1 over.
Run 2: Set by  an Italian coach? Nice to have commentary now; Megan Mcjames (USA) getting the run started – safely down. Meta Hrovat (SLO) red at inter 1 and 2, very green at 3, but only 0.01 faster at the finish! Adriana Jelinkova (born in the Czech Republic, but races for the Netherlands) takes the lead, then Mina Fuerst Holtmann (NOR) takes over – lead changing a lot! Sad to see Tina Weirather so far down the list (25th in run 1), she’s into 2nd at present, but Taina Barioz is tied with her. Next leader is Elisabeth Kappaurer (AUT) – nice run, then Bernadette Schild (AUT) nicks it by just 0.01! Nice finish by Melanie Meillard (SUI) to lead by 0.30; Holdener can’t match that and goes 5th, the course is cutting up a bit. Frida Hansdotter (SWE) takes over the lead, Vlhova into 3rd. Good run from Ana Drev (SLO) to get into 2nd, and now it’s Alex Tilley – oh dear, nothing obvious but only 13th, disappointing for her after such a promising first run. It’s raining a little now – Sofia Goggia has gone from -0.63 to +0.63 and lost a ski pole too; into 8th. Federica Brignone has over a second in hand – she takes the lead with about half of that advantage still remaining! Tessa Worley next – into 2nd; Steph Brunner is building on her advantage – bit slower on the final section but still good enough to take the lead, as the rain gets heavier. Manuela Mölgg has also gained time, and she now leads by 0.16 from Brunner and Brignone with just 2 to come; sadly for Mölgg the next skier is Mikaela Shiffrin – more noise from the crowd and a fantastic lower section gives her the lead by 0.82 – massive! Just Vikki Rebensburg to go – 0.26 in hand at the start; that was really impressive – Vikki wins by 0.67 despite an error between inter 1 and 2! So, Rebensburg wins, Shiffrin 2nd, Mölgg 3rd, then Brunner, Brignone and Worley. Alex ended up 21st; world cup points! Overall Mikaela Shiffrin still leads with 205 points to Vikki’s 200.

Lake Louise – Men’s Downhill: Nice to see the French are racing, as a tribute to the late David Poisson. Due to bad weather the first 2 practice runs were cancelled so there has been just one chance to check out the hill. Bostjan Kline (SLO) gets the [slightly shortened] race started; local boy Manny Osborne-Paradis is just 0.27 faster.  Peter Fill (ITA) is very close to at least one gate but it’s a fantastic run and he leads by 1.28! Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is the first of the Norwegians – very good on the final sections and into 2nd after being quite red at inter 3. Next away is Kjetil Jansrud – green by inter 3, but it’s very close – into second, +0.11. Beat Feuz (SUI) is well in touch early on, and green from inter 4 onwards; he leads by 0.52. Ten down – Beat Feuz leads from Peter Fill and Kjetil Jansrud. Erik Guay is a DNS – not sure why. Here comes Aksel Lund Svindal – back after yet more injuries and still in pain; in touch to inter 3 and he goes into second, +0.32. Bad news for Svindal fans (like my wife); Matthias Mayer (AUT) has gone into second – the sun has come out, which has made the flat light a bit better too. Adrien Theaux was fastest in practice, and he’s in touch on the early sections – into 7th. So, 20 down and Feuz leads from Mayer and Svindal; then Fill, Jansrud and Kilde. Well, 30 down and no change to the top 6! That seems to be it – Eurosport have called it as all over! So Beat Feuz wins the first speed race of the year, ahead of Mayer and Svindal; Peter Fill 4th ahead of Jansrud and Kilde – good day for the Norwegians! Adrien Theaux the best of the French in 7th.  I see from a report (Sportschau.de) that Felix Neureuther has torn what my limited German suggests is his left ACL, and will probably be out for the rest of the season – I’ll update when I see a report in English.

Killington – Women’s Slalom: Run 1 – Doesn’t seem to be any video at all on Eurosport and the FIS feed is saying that the race is interrupted, presumably by a forerunner? Ah, video up – no commentary; weather looks rather dull and a bit misty – might be snowing a little too? Frida Hansdotter (SWE) first away today – looked OK and faster than Vlhova (SVK) has managed, despite making up a lot on the final section! Bernadette Schild (AUT) next , and although in the red at inter 1 and 2 she too is faster on the lower section and takes the lead. Mikaela Shiffrin goes 5 – green all the way and she leads by a massive 1.29! Crowd sound very happy! Wendy Holdener (SUI) is more in touch and goes second, 0.89 behind the American, but no one else is getting close at present. Briefly start numbers 9, 10, 11, and 12 occupied places 9, 10, 11 and 12 respectively, but number 13 has gone 9th and spoilt it! Melanie Meillard has straddled and lost a ski and is the first DNF today, but seems OK. That’s 15 down (ish) – Shiffrin leads from Holdener and Schild, with Hansdotter 4th ahead of Vlhova and Wikstrøm. Might be getting a bit windier, and the light doesn’t look brilliant. Thirty away and the top 6 aren’t being threatened at present; possibly conditions are getting worse? Not the most riveting of races, although Anna Swenn-Larsson (start 24) has managed to get into 8th – good effort, and so far the best of the later starters. Rats – Alex Tilley has joined the DNFs; we are in the 40s now and still no change to the top 6 – over to the biathlon in Östersund! No late surprises.
Run 2: And the commentary team confirm that Felix Neureuther is out for the rest of the season so, of course, no Winter Olympics either. Still windy with light snow; flat light too. Right – 5 down, the timing seems to be a bit dodgy at times, but Laurence St-Germain (CAN) leads, on a course set by her coach. Kirchgasser is a DNF after a straddle; Marina Wallner (GER) has taken the lead way from the Canadian! First 10 down – Wallner leads from St-Germain and Liensburger (AUT) and conditions are getting worse. Very close – Chiara Costazza (ITA) just nicks it by 3 hundredths! We now have 5 DNFs; good run from Katherina Gallhuber (AUT) who has converted a 0.06 advantage to a lead of 0.30. Mölgg is out and hopefully OK; next is Denise Feierabend (SUI) and she’s looking good – she takes the lead by 0.60; I think whatever happens that will be her best result? Here comes Anna Swenn-Larsson – into 2nd; Petra Vlhova has 0.83 in hand – lost a little by inter 3 but what a final section – she leads by 1.06! Frida Hansdotter well in touch until inter 3, big skid sideways and she’s third. A slightly similar story for Bernadette Schild – 0.16 in hand but ends up 2nd, just over a second adrift of Vlhova’s time – the wind is back! What on earth – Wendy Holdener has missed a gate but walks up to rejoin the race; ah, she’s called it a day and is a DNF. The focus is awful at times; not a good video link. So, just Mikaela Shiffrin to go – brilliant run which actually increased her advantage! Mikaela Shiffrin wins, Petra Vlhova 2nd and Bernadette Schild in 3rd. Well done to Denis Feierabend who took 4th – her best result in slalom, I understand!

Lake Louise – Men’s Super G: Weather looks a bit better here, but it’s warm so the snow is a bit mushy and soft. Nick F reckons it’s a bit windy, with flat light! Well, there’s a good start – Matthias Mayer is first away and he’s out – luckily no damage. Christof Innerhofer is second away, and sets the pace – tricky course though and he’s not error free. Oops – Dominik Paris is green all the way to inter 4, but then goes 2nd by 0.05 after a big mistake. This is not going to be easy here, today – tough race! Actually, looking at the video coverage down the valley, the weather isn’t that nice, after all! Ah, Hannes Reichelt (AUT) takes the lead – not bad for an old man (he’s 37, poor lad). Next away is Kjetil Jansrud – going well and in the green all the way – he leads (course set by a Norwegian coach)! Kilde into 3rd, and it’s a TV break – Jansrud leads from Reichelt and Kilde. Erik Guay is a DNS today as well – seems he has a trapped nerve in his back. No change to the potential podium at present; weather seems to be getting worse too; it’s snowing. Svindal is next and he’s not lucky with the conditions – into 4th. He’s taken out about 4 gates en-route, so there is a small delay while repairs are made. Josef Ferstl into 9th, but he’s also clobbered a couple gates – another pause. A good run from Max Franz (AUT) – high risk at times and not error free but he’s into 2nd place! Manny Osborne-Paradis gets my vote for escape/recovery of the day, strewth! Beat Feuz won’t be doing the double here – just 12th, at present. It’s now getting foggy too, and the snow is getting heavier – this might be over, I can’t see anyone catching Jansrud? Last of the top 30 is away; it’s still Jansrud from Franz, Reichelt, Kilde, Svindal and Innerhofer. The race went on for quite a while, with several interruptions to clear snow, repair gates etc but the top 6 remained the same throughout; the best of the later starters seems to have been Stian Saugestad (NOR, start number 43) who ended up 18th! There were 17 DNFs, including Britain’s Jack Gower.

The IBU World Cup kicks off tomorrow in Östersund with the Single Mixed Relay and the Mixed Relay - no Laura Dahlmeier (cold) or Gabi Koukalová (calf injury, not yet healed after summer training) apparently but I understand that Martin Fourcade is well, which will be bad news for the other competitors, given his record here! The IBU Cup has already started with sprints on Thursday in a rather snowy Sjusjøen with another set of sprints today. The biathlon world reports on Thursdays races are HERE. In today's sprints some unknown called Tarjei Bø (0,1) won the men's 10 Km event from Fredrik Gjesbakk (0,1; NOR) and Eduard Latypov (0,0; RUS); Scott Dixon was 98th of 128 (1,3). The women's 7.5 Km event was won by Denise Herrmann (1,1; GER) from Katharina Innerhofer (0,0; AUT) and Thekla Brun-Lie (0,0; NOR)

Single Mixed Relay – Östersund: Weather looks quite good – this is the “two athletes, going twice each” format – the French pair are Martin Fourcade and Marie Dorin Habert (MDH)! Germany, Hinz and Lesser; the season has started! One lap for the women, then a prone shoot, another lap, standing shoot and first exchange – fairly moderate pace to start. Coming in for the first shoot – wind looks light; Lisa Theresa Hauser (AUT) first away, ahead of Vita Semerenko (UKR) and Rosanna Crawford (CAN), MDH has missed 1, Poland (Gwizdon) on the penalty loop and the Swiss (Cadurisch) are doing 2 loops. In for the first standing shoot – Vishnevskaya (KAZ) out first, ahead of Hauser, Crawford and Vanessa Hinz – straight into the first exchange, France in 9th, Norway (Fenne) in 11th. Men coming in for their prone – these are fast laps; Simon Eder (AUT) clear and away first ahead of Erik Lesser; then Gow (CAN), Braun (KAZ) and Bormolini (ITA) – Fourcade up to 7th. Standing shoot now – Eder very quick and accurate, Erik Lesser needing a couple spares, Bormolini up to 3rd, Martin F has used 2 spares! Exchange 2 and Austria lead from Germany, Italy and Canada; France are 8th, +34.1. Back to the women, and Crawford has fallen – seems OK but she’s lost time. Prone shoot – Hauser again fast (1 more spare), and out ahead of Runggaldier (ITA, +3.7)  and Persson (SWE, +5.8). Hinz has used 2 spares and she’s 6th, +18.9, just ahead of MDH who is making up ground. Final shoot for the women – Hauser uses no spares and leads out, Persson up to 2nd, ahead of Semerenko, Vishnevskaya, Runggaldier and Hinz (+26.4); poor Hilda Fenne is doing 3 penalty loops. Final exchange – Austria still lead, from Sweden (+5.7) and Ukraine (+9.7). Men now have 3 laps and 2 shoots to do – wind is up a little; Eder uses no spares and leads away from the prone, ahead of Braun (KAZ) and Samuelsson (SWE) – Lesser up to 4th, Fourcade has used 3 spares! Final shoot – Eder clear again, very impressive! He leads out, ahead of Braun (+27.8), and Lesser (+27.9). Bormolini up to 4th but Samuelsson has needed spares and has dropped to 6th; Fourcade has used 1 more spare and is cruising home in 7th.  Austria (0+2) take the win, Erik Lesser gets Germany (0+9) up to second with Kazakhstan (0+5) getting the final podium place after Italy and Ukraine have a fall on the final lap. France (0+10) nick 4th, again after that fall, ahead of Sweden (0+9) and Ukraine (0+10). Norway in 9th, despite 4 penalty loops (4+11).

Mixed Relay – Östersund: This is the two men, two women version! Early on the amazingly named Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (NOR) leads from Susan Dunklee (USA) and Valj Semerenko (UKR); coming in to S1 Dunklee leads from Vittozzi (ITA) and Öberg (SWE) - Öberg clear and leads out from Vittozzi, Poje (SLO), Semerenko and Podchufarova (RUS) – all clear! Dunklee and Franzi Preuß among those needing a spare; the Swiss, Romanians and Kazakhs are on the penalty loop. Only 8 seconds separate the top 11 at present; in for the first standing shoot – Vittozzi clear again and leading out ahead of Anais Chevalier (FRA), Poje and Preuß; Dunklee needing all 3 spares and now 11th. Mun (KOR) is doing 2 penalty loops here and Piscoran (ROU) has done 3. At 5.7 Km Vittozzi still leads from Öberg, Skardino (BLR) and Puskarčíková (CZE); Tandrevold has made up a lot – 14th at S2 and 5th now! Exchange 1 – Sweden lead from Belarus, Italy, Slovakia and Norway; second women away! Early on leg 2 Darya Domracheva (BLR) leads from Tiril Eckhoff (NOR); back in for S3 – Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN) leading; 13 seconds made up since the exchange! Looks like the graphics aren’t matching the lanes? Kuzmina (SVK) clear and out first ahead of Doro Wierer (ITA), Anna Magnusson (SWE), Eckhoff, Kaisa M and Maren Hammerschmidt (GER). Magnusson seems to be losing ground - odd as Öberg’s skis looked blindingly fast. S4 – Kuzmina clear again and she’s out 17.2 ahead of Kaisa (1 spare); Doro 3rd (2 spares) then Maren H and Magnusson; Clare Egan (USA) is doing 2 penalty loops. At 5.7 Km of this lap, Kaisa leads after pulling back 21 seconds! Then Kuzmina with Hammerschmidt fractionally ahead of Eckhoff – at Exchange 2 it’s Finland from Slovakia (+3.6), Germany (+10.2) and Norway (+ 10.8). Johannes Thingnes Bø has this leg for Norway and he’s quickly into the lead, pulling out some 10 seconds over Benedikt Doll (GER) who has dropped to 4th; Seppaelae (FIN) now 2nd and Hasilla (SVK) 3rd. Three leaders in almost together, slight gap to Doll – Seppaelae clear and leads out from Windisch (ITA) and Hasilla; Bø used 2 spares and Doll 3 – 4th and 7th respectively now; Bø is +16.8, Doll + 31.9! So, in for S6 with Bø gaining some 10 seconds on this lap; Windisch has passed Seppaelae and Bø is up to 3rd. That’s great shooting by Windisch – clear and away; Seppaelae will be on the penalty loop, with Beatrix (FRA), Nelin (SWE) and a couple others! So, after S6 Windisch leads from Hasilla, Bø (+23.7) and Doll; Seppaelae in 5th, +1:00.3. Windisch is really flying on the final lap – he will be handing over to Lukas Hofer, which might be interesting! Final exchange – Italy lead from Slovakia, Norway, Germany and Sweden (+1:08.4). Great shooting by Italy here too – just 2 spares used so far; Russia are next best with just 3 spares used but they are back in 7th. On the lap Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) is up to 2nd after passing Kazar (SVK) Arnd Peiffer (GER) has lost 7 seconds to the leaders. In for S7 – Hofer has missed his 3rd, 4th and 5th and is on the penalty loop; meanwhile Svendsen, shooting very fast, is clear and away, ahead of Kazar (+21.0) and Peiffer (+26.7), then Hofer (+30.2), Lindström (SWE) and Shipulin (RUS). At the next split point EHS has 30 seconds over the chasing group of Peiffer, Hofer and Kazar. Last shoot – Svendsen has missed 3 but avoids the penalty loop – he is out in the lead, ahead of Kazar (+5.1), Hofer (+6.2) and Peiffer (+7.8). Lindström is 5th, but +22.0; should be an exciting final lap!! Next split and EHS has just 3.3 over Hofer, then Kazar and Peiffer (+5.5). At 7.2 Km the gap is just 1.4 between EHS and Hofer – Peiffer up to 3rd, but +6.2. Great finish by Svendsen, so Norway win (0+13), ahead of Italy (1+6) and Germany ((0+10). Slovakia in 4th ahead of Sweden and Russia.


Meanwhile at  Sjusjøen, in the IBU Cup, France have won the Single Mixed relay and Russia the Mixed Relay: IBU report HERE

Östersund – Women’s 15 Km Individual (29 Nov 17): Still no Dahlmeier or Koukalová. For some reason Eurosport doesn’t seem to have commentary, or possibly the stream with commentary is not working! Luckily the IBU feed (from Eurosport!) does have the commentary – not sure what Eurosport are doing? And the IBU keeps dropping out too – not impressed! At last – Eurosport on – early starters coming in for the first, prone, shoot (this discipline goes prone, stand, prone, stand) – Franzi Hildebrand is first there and she’s clear – useful as this discipline has no penalty loops just a full minute added for each miss! Mona Brorsson (SWE) has also gone clear and she’s fastest so far, while Dunklee has missed 1, as has Kryuko (BLR). Apparently it’s really cold for this race, which is under the lights. Still Mona best at S1 at present although Olsbu (NOR) is close – here’s Tiril Eckhoff – both eyes open and all targets down – she’s the new fastest here. Oops – MDH has missed two targets at S1; Hauser and Hinz both clear but just over 20 seconds off the pace. Franzi H is at S2 (standing) and clear again; Dunklee clear this time but Vitková (CZE) has missed one. Mona Brorsson clear at S2, while Doro Wierer has missed 2 at S1; “Dasha” Domracheva has missed 1 at S1 as well. Hammerschmidt clear at S1 and 2nd fastest at present; Marte Olsbu clear at S2 and fastest there. Tiril has missed 1 at S2, Mari Laukkanen (FIN) is clear at S2 (pulse over 170 on arrival!) and just fractionally faster than Olsbu. Kaisa Mäkäräinen has missed 1 at S1; rats, Vanessa Hinz has missed 2 at S2; MDH has missed 2 more! Very unlike her, but early days – meanwhile Franzi H is clear at S3, but her ski speed doesn’t look startling! Susan Dunklee has missed 1 more, but Brorsson is also clear, 10.8 ahead of Franzi. Maren Hammerschmidt has also missed 2 at S2; Anais Chevalier is having real trouble with her blinder at S2 - she’s missed 1. Back at S3 Laukkanen is clear and 18.7 faster than Mona B. Back at S1, Paulina Fialkova (SVK) is clear and very close to Eckhoff’s time; at S3 there are just 7 athletes with 15/15 at the moment. Franzi Hildebrand is at S4 – one miss (her 19th); Dunklee has missed 2 more (4 in all); Mona Brorsson becomes the first to get 20/20 – excellent work! Olsbu has finished at S4 – she’s 0,0,1,1; back at S2 Paulina Fialkova is clear and 12 seconds faster there than Laukkanen, who has just missed 2 at S4. Marie DH seems to have settled, 2,2,0,0, but she still isn’t skiing that fast – about 25 seconds back on Susan Dunklee’s time. Right, Mona B is at the finish, but she might have lost a bit of time on that lap – could be crucial as Julia Ransom (CAN) is also 0,0,0,0 and just 19.4 behind at S4. Olsbu has been flying – 2 misses but just +32.1 behind Mona in 2nd! Back at S1 Denise Herrmann has gone clear and is fastest so far; however Paulina Fialkova has just gone 15/15 and she is 26.6 faster than Laukkanen’s time – now, what can she do at S4? Eva Puskarčíková (CZE) has just come over the finish line in 2nd, 20/20. Herrmann has missed 2 at S2, but Yuliia Dzhima (UKR) has joined the 15/15 team and is also well in touch; Justine Braisaz (FRA, 1,0,1,0) is really skiing fast – despite the 2 minutes penalty she has got herself over the line in 3rd just 1.4 seconds behind Puskarčíková, who was clear! Ransom over the line but +28.8, currently in 4th. Paulina Fialkova has missed her 16th, but even with 19/20 she’s faster than Brorsson leaving the range; meanwhile Amanda Lightfoot is 10/10 so far and +59.7 after S2. Yuliia Dzhima has cleared all 20 and has 19.1 seconds in hand as she leaves the range. More gloom for German supporters  - Franzi Preuß  is 0,1,0,1 and out of it, but at S4 it isn’t all settled yet - Nadezhda Skardino (BLR) has joined the 20/20 group AND she’s 11.8 faster than Dzhima, with Valj Semerenko also 20/20 (a little earlier in real time but +23.0 on Dzhima’s time) – at this point the Eurosport feed drops out again! Looking at the IBU data feed, at 14.3 Km Dzhima is now 21.7 ahead of Fialkova, so she’s pulled out a little – at the finish she’s leading by 20.2, but now it all depends on Skardino; who is just behind Valj on this last lap – handy for a bit of a tow! Currently, at the finish, it’s Skardino, then Dzhima and Semerenko – all 20/20 BUT back at S4 Synnøve Solemdal (NOR) is also 20/20 – 2.2 seconds ahead of Dzhima’s time! And, more good news is that Amanda Lightfoot is 0,0,0,1 and 24th after S4. At the 13.5 Km split, Solemdal is 5.4 behind Skardino; at 14.3 the gap is down again, to 3.8 – at the finish Skardino has held on – Solemdal goes into 2nd +2.9! Looks like that might be it - Nadezhda Skardino (BLR) wins ahead of Synnøve Solemdal (NOR, +2.9) and Yuliia Dzhima (UKR, +12.0). Valj Semerenko (UKR) in 4th ahead of Paulina Fialkova (SVK) and Mona Brorsson (SWE) – all of them clear on the range. Impressive to see Braisaz in the top 10 after 2 misses, but she’s only 3rd fastest round the course – best is apparently Herrmann, then Kaisa M (11th place despite 3 misses)! Fastest on the range is Irene Cadurisch (SUI) ahead of Doro Wierer and Urska Poje (SLO). That’s everyone in – no changes to the top 10; best German was Franzi H (0,0,0,1) in 13th, just ahead of Dasha who had 3 penalties! Amanda Lightfoot joint 31st with Tandrevold (who had 1 more penalty) – that’s a good result for her, especially given the recent problems affecting the UK national governing body.

Östersund – Men’s 20 Km Individual (30 Nov 17): Looks a nice evening; tiny bit warmer than yesterday but still cold enough that the snow should hold up well! Martin Fourcade goes 36, just a couple after Emil Hegle Svendsen (EHS) tonight. Race is on – 108 starters – Martin Otcenas (SVK) is first away, and now he’s at S1; 1 miss. Benedikt Doll has missed his last shot; Simon Desthieux (FRA) is clear, and faster than Sean Docherty (USA), who also went clear – Simon Eder (AUT) a little faster still. Poor Mario Dolder (SUI) has missed his first 3; Iliev (BUL) has missed 2 – wind seems a little stronger? Svendsen away, and now so is Martin Fourcade. Desthieux has taken time out of Eder on the lap, heading for S2 where Doll has just missed another 1 – Desthieux has also missed 1 – looked like a split round, unlucky that the target didn’t fall!? Simon Eder is clear at S2; Simon Schempp has missed once at S1 – his first shot. EHS has also missed 1 at S1; nice to see Klemen Bauer clear the first 2 shoots; 10/10 so far! Martin F is at S1 now, and it’s a fast time – all 5 down; Andrejs Rastorgujevs (LAT) is also fast and he’s also clear at S1. Now, faster still into S1 is Johannes Bø (and his golden gun), he’s also faster getting the first one away; all 5 down and out 10 seconds ahead of Martin F. At S2 Eder is still fastest, but Eberhard is also 10/10 and just 2.8 behind. Tarjei Bø is at S1 – clear but 17.2 slower than his little brother; Desthieux is at S3 and this time he’s lucky – clear, but Eder is now 15/15 and looking comfortable at present. Svendsen is at S2 – clear this time and fastest of those with 1 penalty. Klemen Bauer is 15/15; Martin F shooting deliberately at S2 and 10/10 – still faster than Eder though. Ole Einar Bjørndalen (aka OEB) has started – meanwhile JoBø is at S2 – he’s clear again and 17.2 ahead of Martin F, pretty much all of it gained in the range. At S2 Quentin Fillon Maillet (aka QFM) is 10/10 and 5th fastest although that is also +54.4 against JoBø’s time. Doll is the first to S4, but he’s missed another 2 (1,1,0,2), while Desthieux is 0,1,0,1. Simon Eder is shooting very slowly at S4 but he’s missed 2; Birkeland (NOR) now fastest here. What a shame – Klemen Bauer has missed his 20th target; he leads after S4 at present, just ahead of Lukas Bauer. Back at S3 Martin F is clear, but still shooting quite slowly – he’s clear but so is JoBø and again he’s faster – now 20.6 in hand; Julian Eberhard is also 15/15 but he’s a minute behind the Norwegian, just ahead of Eder and QFM. At S4 Eberhard has also missed 1, but he’s faster than Bauer; on the tracks behind them Svendsen is close to their times despite 1 penalty. Benny Weger (SUI) is the first to go 20/20 but he’s only 3.3 seconds ahead of Eberhard who has 1 penalty; EHS has missed one at S4, but he’ s still just +22.4. Anton Babikov (RUS) has also shot 20/20 and leads after S4, where Martin Fourcade has missed 2! Looking back at S1, where everyone has now shot, the only 1 at that stage who might have threatened the Bøs, and Fourcade was Erik Lesser but he’s missed 1 at S2; QFM doesn’t seem to have the ski speed, although he’s shooting well. I think that’s it – Johannes has cleared all 20, and he’s over 2 minutes ahead of Babikov’s time! So much for me writing off QFM – 20/20 and ahead of Babikov’s time, so he’s currently lying 2nd! Svendsen is 1,0,0,1 and 10th after S4; gaining some places on the lap, but the later starters could push him back down again. Johannes Bø (0,0,0,0) has finished – he’s 2:14.3 ahead of Martin F (0,0,0,2) who is currently 2nd, just ahead of Eberhard (0,0,0,1), Babikov (0,0,0,0) and Hofer (1,1,0,0). QFM (0,0,0,0) is losing time, but at 19.6 Km he is still some 15 seconds ahead of Fourcade’s time – yes, he’s into 2nd! Erik Lesser had the chance to be the top German, but he’s missed 2 at S4 to go 0,1,0,2 – still good skiing though as he’s very close to Schempp’s time and Schempp is 1,0,0,1. Everyone now through S3; Jakov Fak (SLO) is 20/20 [first time in an Individual?] might yet get into the top 10? No, he’s losing time on the lap – meanwhile OEB is through S4, 1,0,0,0 but +3:02.7 in 15th place there. Loginov (RUS) has gone through S4 – 0,1,0,0 just slower than Martin F’s time. That’s everyone finished – Johannes wins from QFM and Martin F; then Eberhard, Babikov and Hofer. Weger in 7th, ahead of Rastorgujevs, Loginov and Bauer. Svendsen ended up 11th, Simon Schempp best German in 16th, but just 6 seconds faster than Lesser who had 1 more penalty; OEB in 18th but slower than Lesser who had 2 more penalties. Scott Dixon (0,1,1,1) was 101st and poor Y Kim (Korea) got the red lantern with 10 penalties. Martin Fourcade was actually fastest around the course ahead of Lukas Hofer and JoBø; Erik Lesser fastest on the range ahead of Leif Nordgren (USA) and Eberhard. For me, not as exciting as last nights race!

Östersund – Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint (1 Dec 17): Still no Laura or Gabi – 104 starters tonight, Veronika Vitková (CZE) away first. Bit colder than last night; winds are very light at present. Vitková is at S1 – clear, and fast to the first shot. Couple rounds fractionally off for Anais Bescond, one target went down anyway, but not the other; meanwhile Kaisa Mäkäräinen is clear. Nice shooting from Lisa Theresa Hauser, clear and fast. Lena Haeki (SUI) also clear and only 0.3 behind Kaisa! Not sure what has happened to Susan Dunklee – 2 misses at S1; Tiril Eckhoff faster into the range than Kaisa but she’s missed 1. That’s good from Veronika Vitková – 10/10. Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK) is also clear at S1, and she’s 11 seconds faster than Kaisa, who has just missed 1 at S2; so has Hauser, Haeki has missed 2. Denise Herrmann clear at S1 and well in touch; at S2 Justine Braisaz (FRA) is 10/10 and out just ahead of Yuliia Dzhima (UKR). Tiril Eckhoff has missed her first at S2, and another 2 also missed – not her day. Kuzmina has missed 2 at S2, and Dunklee another 3. Doro Wierer (ITA) missed 1 in prone, but she’s clear at S2; at the finish Braisaz is in ahead of Kaisa thanks to her 10/10; Dzhima into 2nd now. Denise Herrmann has missed 1 at S2, but her ski speed is very impressive – just 3.6 behind Braisaz’s time as she leaves the range! This is going to be close – Lisa Vittozzi (ITA) is also 10/10 and faster than Braisaz at that stage. On the lap Herrmann has pulled back a lot of time on Justine B, and is now 8.1 faster! At 7.1 Kms Denise is now 12.8 ahead, although Marte Olsbu (NOR) has just left the range with 10/10 just over a second ahead of Herrmann’s time! I didn’t see Franzi Preuß  on the range but she’s (1,1) which is going to push her down the finish list; meanwhile Dasha has missed 1 at S1. Olsbu is losing time on the lap – at present she’s over the finish line is 6th. So, at the moment, Denise Herrmann (GER, 0,1) leads from Justine Braisaz (FRA, 0,0; +15.2), Yuliia Dzhima (UKR, 0,0; +19.6), then Vittozzi and Mäkäräinen. Back at S2 Dasha has missed 3 there; Skardino clear but a little slower today – into 11th at the finish. Marie Dorin Habert is 0,1 but +44.7 as she leaves the range; sadly after a good season opener Amanda Lightfoot has missed 4 at S1. Synnøve Solemdal is clear at S1, and in touch, +15.3 – best of the later starters at present. Vita Semerenko at S2 – very long wait for her last shot (1,0) – the coach’s face was a picture! At S2 Solemdal is 10/10 (again) and leaves +5.9 against Denise H’s time; it’s +16.4 at 6.3 Km, and +22.8 at 7.1 Km – she’s into 4th just 0.2 ahead of Vittozzi! That seems to be it – Herrmann wins (and a World Cup race too; brilliant!) ahead of Braisaz and Dzhima, then Solemdal, Vittozzi and Mäkäräinen. Franzi H currently in 10th despite 10/10; impressed to see Maren Hammerschmidt in 14th despite 2 penalties. Cadurisch was fastest on the range, ahead of Hauser, Poje and Wierer. No prizes for guessing that Denise Herrmann was fastest around the course, ahead of Kaisa, Haeki and Aymonier.

Östersund – Men’s 10 Km Sprint (2 Dec 17): Christian Gow (CAN) first away today; not sure why Eurosport have the title of the programme in French? As we joined coverage just at the start no weather info – looks OK, but perhaps a bit windier than yesterday? Quentin Fillon Maillet away number 12, with Martin Fourcade next – hope he’s not superstitious. Early starters are at S1; L’Abee-Lund has missed 2 – coach doesn’t look happy! QFM is clear at S1, but Martin F has missed 1 – Evgeniy Garanichev (RUS) fastest here at present but he was clear and he’s only 5.7 ahead of Fourcade’s time. Christian Gow is 10/10; Svendsen clear at S1 and now fastest there, just ahead of Anton Babikov (RUS). Oooh – Erik Lesser clear at S1 as well, and 10.2 faster than EHS – very fast shooting! Tim Burke (USA) has missed 3; Simon Desthieux clear at S1 and nearly as fast as Babikov – here comes Johannes Bø; he’s missed his first 3! QFM has missed 1 at S2 but he’s still faster than Gow. Martin F however is clear at S2, and despite his penalty at S1 he’s leading at present. Back at S1 Julian Eberhard has missed 2, but Timofei Lapshin (of, er, Korea) is clear and almost level with EHS, who has missed one at S2 – so has Babikov; rats, so has Erik Lesser but his fast shooting means he’s still just ahead of Fourcade’s time. Desthieux has missed 3 at S2; back at S1 Simon Schempp is clear and now with the fastest time, and Lukas Hofer is also clear and in touch – same for Simon Eder. On the final lap Erik Lesser has lost 9 seconds to Martin F at 8.7 Km; the gap is 1.7 at 9.5 Km. At the finish it’s Martin F (1,0) in the lead, with Lesser 2nd (0,1) ahead of Svendsen (0,1). Back at S2 Mario Dolder is 10/10 and only 3 seconds behind Lesser’s time and Lapshin is also 10/10; Dolder over the line in 4th, pushing JoBø down a place (+33.7 at present , despite 3 penalties!) with QFM 6th. At S2 Schempp has missed 1, so has Simon Eder and Arnd Peiffer has missed 2 after being clear at S1 and with good ski speed. Freddie Lindström (SWE) is 10/10 and in touch – he goes into 5th with Andrejs Rastorgujevs (LAT; 0,1) 6th – Schempp over the line too and into 4th pushing them both down a place. Still some “names” to come – for example Tarjei Bø has only just started; at 2.1 Km he’s even faster than his younger brother was! Looking good too – he’s clear at S1 and fast. Johannes Kühn (GER; 0,1) into 8th – good effort! The commentators reckon the course is getting a little faster; certainly Tarjei is now fastest at 5.4 Km – on the other hand the wind might be getting up a little as well? Tarjei Bø has missed 1 at S2, but he still comes out ahead of Martin F’s time – 7 seconds in hand. At 8.7 Km it’s down to 3.1; just 0.9 at 9.5 Km – he’s done it!! So Tarjei Bø (0,1) wins ahead of Martin Fourcade (+0.7) and Erik Lesser (+3.7). EHS in 4th, ahead of Simon Schempp and Mario Dolder – this should be a good Pursuit! I wonder if Tarjei can recover in time? JoBø fastest around the course, 8.9 faster than Tarjei with Martin F third ahead of Eberhard, Svendsen and Schempp. Erik Lesser was fastest on the range, ahead of Eder and Matej Kazar (SVK). Exciting race!

Beaver Creek – Men’s Super G (1 Dec): Missed the start as the biathlon was on; not a lot of snow on the hills around the Birds of Prey, but the piste itself has a lot of snow, despite the warm, conditions. This seems to be a very challenging course; Eurosport joined this race with Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) leading from Matthias Mayer and Dominik Paris. A short delay while they repair things after Mauro Caviezel’s crash (he seems OK), then Hannes Reichelt goes into 2nd;  Theaux into 3rd, Pinturault 4th, displacing Svindal who is tied with Mayer, and now it’s Kjetil Jansrud – into 2nd! Early starters seem to have had the best of the light? Beat Feuz seems to be a bit off the pace today – he’s 16th at present; 20 away and Kriechmayr leads from Jansrud (NOR) and Reichelt (AUT), then Theaux, Pinturault and Svindal/Mayer. Good run from Thomas Dressen to go into joint 10th with Paris. Not a lot of change – in fact none to the top 10 places with 30 down. Rats, Ted Ligety has missed a gate and he’s a DNF. It’s perhaps a little windier, and it looks as though the top 10 will remain unchallenged! Yep – that’s it, top 10 stay the same – great win for Vincent Kriechmayr!

Lake Louise – Women’s Downhill (1 Dec): Looks reasonable here, although the light is a bit flat – bit of snow around? Vikki Rebensburg is the early leader but Jacqui Wiles (USA) is faster – she leads by 0.14. Yes, it is snowing! Elena Fanchini into the lead, with Sofia Goggia into 3rd; Lara Gut goes 5th, just behind Vikki and now it’s Mikaela Shiffrin – that’s a good run and she takes the lead by an impressive 0.34; who says she’s a slalom skier – snow getting heavier? Now, Tina Weirather – green at inter 1 and it’s getting better – lost a bit on the lower section but that’s still good enough to lead by 0.21 – new coach seems to be working out well! Cornelia Hütter, returning from injury, is 15th away and she is also green – into the lead by just 0.09. Crowd are getting excited as Lindsey Vonn starts out – nicely green at the top dropping to just 0.05 advantage at inter 5 – then she caught an edge and seemed to do the splits and crashed out, taking out all 3 layers of safety netting – looks awful, but in due course she is back up, seemingly OK and she’s going to ski back down to the finish – lucky escape! So, Hütter leads from Weirather and that slalom woman, Shiffrin! That snow looks quite steady? A delay while the team repair all the netting that Lindsey Vonn “altered”. Edit Miklos was on course but was yellow flagged because of Vonn’s crash, so hopefully she is on the way back to the start. Sadly the visibility is getting worse as the snow gets heavier; Alice Mckennis has started well, but she’s losing time lower down – gutsy attempt in the deteriorating conditions. Also a good start by Ester Ledecka (CZE), who is also a parallel snowboard hopeful for the Olympics – into 11th, which is impressive in the conditions. Now, this is impressive – Michelle Gisin (SUI) is only 0.02 off the pace at inter 2 – it can’t last in this weather but even so she gets into 8th, only 0.97 off Hütter’s time – just 0.08 behind Rebensburg! Well, as Breezy Johnson gets into 10th, Eurosport coverage ends – looks like Connie Hütter will take this one, just 0.09 ahead of Tina W with Mikaela Shiffrin 3rd. Elena Fanchini 4th, ahead of Wiles and Goggia, then Rebensburg, Gisin and Johnson – a difficult race, especially for the later starters! And that’s how it ended – no changes to the top 10, so in the overall Mikaela Shiffrin leads with 365 points to Vikki Rebensburg’s 236 with Petra Vlhova third on 221. Given Shiffrin’s range of ability you’d be a brave person to bet against her this year, provided she remains accident free!

Beaver Creek – Men’s Downhill (2 Dec): Looks like a nice day – FIS seem to be having snags with their rankings and points graphics – that certainly isn’t the current status (although I bet Svindal wishes he was that far in front!)! Anyway – race is on  and Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR) is first away – not a lot of snow so the terrain is even more noticeable, and he’s safely down. That looked good; Max Franz (AUT) green at inter 1 but red at 2 and slower at the top speed trap – he’s 1.35 slower than the Norwegian at the finish. Beat Feuz (SUI), who won the opening downhill, is much closer and fast through the speed guns – into second, +0.15. Patrick Küng is off the pace – he goes 4th; Peter Fill into 3rd. Manny Osborne- Paradis (CAN) into 4th and now it’s the battle of the  Norwegians, part 1 – Kjetil Jansrud; he’s red and getting redder – he goes 4th. Vincent Kriechmayr is well in touch – he takes over 3rd place; he doesn’t keep it long though as Dominik Paris takes it away! Thomas Dressen is 10th away and he’s green at inter 2, slightly red at 3 and 4, and now he goes into 3rd – huge PB! So Svindal, Feuz and Dressen on the potential podium, then Paris, Kriechmayr and Andreas Sander. Adrien Theaux still in touch at inter 2, but he’s lost time lower down – into 7th.  Johan Clarey is also nicely in touch at inter 2; it’s slipping away now and he goes 8th.  Battle of the Norwegians, part 2 as Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is next – well in touch at 2, but like so many others he’s losing time lower down – 12th.  Ah, Guillermo Fayed is green at inter 1 but red at 2 and it’s gone by 3; he goes 15th and with 20 away there is no change to the top 6.  The course is getting cut up in the warm conditions! Mauro Caviezel was green at inter 1 and 2 but again it’s all drifted away lower down – he’s 12th. Christof Innerhofer has had injury problems which might explain his late start number (27) but he’s well in touch – brilliant run and he goes into 4th! That seems to be it; Sejersted into the top 20 from start 35, but since Innerhofer there’s no change to the top 10. All over – Well done Aksel, welcome back! Svindal wins from Feuz and Dressen (what a PB!). Innerhofer 4th, ahead of Paris and Kriechmayr.

Lake Louise – Women’s Downhill 2 (2 Dec): Due to some power problems in Lake Louise this race had the start time postponed; Not sure quite what happened, but it seems the public have been told they can’t get up the hill (apparently some people got stuck on the lifts when the power outage happened), and they may be using snow cats to get the racers to the start! Weather looks not too bad, but there is another short delay – no reason yet ( slow snow cats? Maybe strong winds?) and the start has been lowered. I see Lindsey Vonn is on the start list – tough lady! Yahoo – race is on, Anna Veith  (AUT) first away and down; timing and TV cameras apparently running on backup power! Veith has set a good time ; Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT) goes 2nd and Elena Fanchini (ITA) is holding on to 3rd.  Nadia Fanchini goes into 4th and now it’s Vikki Rebensburg – green at inter 1, 2 and 3 – better still at 4 and she leads by 0.97. Next down is Mikaela Shiffrin – she’s green at inter 1 and 2 and even better at 3 – this woman is just amazingly versatile and she takes the lead by 0.13! Lara Gut into 3rd; 10 down already and Shiffrin leads from Rebensburg and Gut. Start intervals are short, presumably to get the racers away before the light fails? Well, here comes Lindsey Vonn – red at inter 1 and 2; understandably a little cautious, but into 3rd (finally 12th).  Breezy Johnson has fallen but she seems OK – certainly strong enough to give the snow a beating! It looks like the visibility is getting worse – band of cloud/mist coming through which isn’t helping Tina Weirather – even so she’s 3rd. Sofia Goggia into 4th; Connie Hütter well in touch on the top sections – into 3rd, just + 0.19. That’s 20 down – Shiffrin leads from Rebensburg and Hütter, then Weirather in 4th ahead of Stacey Cook and Sofia Goggia. Bright sunshine and Ragnhild Mowinckel is green at inter 2, but it’s drifted away and she’s 7th. Start interval has been reduced again; Joana Haehlen (SUI) is really in touch at inter 2; losing time later on – into 8th, but a good run (in the end 11th place). Impressive – Ester Ledecka is into 6th; she’s even better on a snowboard! Another excellent run from Michelle Gisin (SUI), a great effort on the lower part of the course gets her into 3rd.  That’s the end of the Eurosport coverage – well done to them for coping with the delayed start! Shiffrin leads from Rebensburg, Gisin, Hütter Weirather and Cook, and it looks unlikely that the top 6 will change – it didn’t but a good late charge from Kira Weidle (GER) into 8th place from start number 43!

Lake Louise – Women’s Super G (3 Dec): Looks nice – cool, no wind, squeaky snow and sunny! Tessa Worley is the first away; safely down – Jasmine Flury (SUI) was into the red at inter 2 but fractionally green at 3 – she goes second, +0.09! Steph Venier a bit off the pace into 3rd, and now it’s Lindsey Vonn – she’s skidded out, but she’s able to ski down, not her weekend! Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT) was red at inter 2 but she’s gaining time and leads by a pretty impressive 0.56! Johanna Schnarf (ITA) into 3rd; FIS data feed quite flaky – Tina Weirather is green all the way - not completely error free but she leads by 0.27. Lara Gut is just green at inter 1, just red at 2, similar at 3 and into 2nd, +0.11. Ten down – Weirather leads from Gut, Schmidhofer, Worley and Schnarf. Now, can Cornelia Hütter alter the podium – bit scrappy and into 7th. Next away is Mikaela Schiffrin, who has had a superb weekend already – bit red at inter 2 and she’s losing a bit of time – into 5th. Vikki Rebensburg also a bit off the pace today – into 11th. Michelle Gisin was green at inter 1 but a couple errors have spoilt that charge – just 12th. The tricky course seems to be catching a few people out; Anna Veith has missed that awkward gate! Bad news is that Mich Gagnon’s “shoulder injury” has turned out to be a shoulder problem which was so painful that she didn’t notice the ACL problem – that’s the one that has ended her season and Olympic hopes. Here comes one of my current favourites, Ester Ledecka - she’s into the nets and hopefully unhurt. She’s up and skiing down – seems OK. Now, here is Kira Weidle who made a late charge to 8th yesterday – not going to happen today but she’s into 21st. A little odd – it looked as though Verena Stuffer had a knee problem just after leaving the start – she’s carried on and finished but she seems in pain. Thirty down and no change to the top 6 since Shiffrin! Looks very much like a win for Tina Weirather, with Lara Gut and Nicole Schmidhofer in 2nd and 3rd respectively – great result for Lara after her injury. Tessa Worley in 4th ahead of Shiffrin and Schnarf. Good late run from start number 43 – Tamara Tippler – to go 11th. Otherwise, no change – well done Tina!

Beaver Creek – Men’s GS (3 Dec): Ski jumping still on so no commentary on the Eurosport video of the alpine skiing until jumping is over! Mathieu Faivre away first and he’s all over the place! Safely down though, and next is Marcel Hirscher, who has to wait while some gates are repaired! He’s just over 2 seconds faster to inter 1, and almost 3 seconds up by inter 3 – he leads by 3.27! We’ve got Nick and Finlay now – I understand that the men’s tour has had a ski rule change – length a bit shorter and the radius better – should make things a bit more enjoyable? Apparently Hirscher isn’t yet happy with his ski set up, but he reckons he can make up for any snags with brute force – certainly worked well! Thomas Fanara into 2nd, but replaced there by Henrik Kristoffersen. Wind is gusting across the top of the course; apparently there is a storm forecast but it’s not due yet! Good start by Stefan Luitz – briefly red at inter 2 but he’s recovered and he now leads by 0.39 - lovely skiing. Good run by Matts Olsson into 3rd; Luca de Aliprandini into 5th. Ten away and Luitz leads from Hirscher and Olsson. Murisier into 4th, and here’s Ted Ligety – into 2nd, just 0.29 behind Luitz! Manny Feller into joint 4th with Murisier, and later Filip Zubcic goes 6th, +0.93. Start number 27 is Loic Meillard, and he manages to get into 8th, just 1 place ahead of Kristoffersen! That seems to be about it for run 1? Luitz leads from Ligety, Hirscher, Feller/Murisier and Zubcic. Over to Lake Louise …
Run 2: Set by a French coach this time – lots of energy sapping wide turns! Short start interval, to try to beat the forecast storm. Nice to see Stefan Hadalin (SLO) get a second run after starting number 60 in run 1 – nice run too! Odd to see Alexis Pinturault so far down after run 1, but he’s a bit better here – he leads, but surely he should have been even further ahead of Hadalin? Ten down and Pinturault leads from Hadalin and Bjørnar Neteland (NOR). Tommy Ford has taken the lead, but only by 0.04 after being 0.61 ahead at inter 2. Half way and it’s Ford, Pinturault and Hadalin. Zan Kranjec has replaced his Slovenian compatriot in 3rd; good run from Trevor Philp (CAN) but he’s missed the lead by just 0.03 – still a PB! Manny Mölgg green all the way but only 4th at the finish, by just 0.06! Now, Henrik Kristoffersen – 0.42 in hand at the start, and he’s made massive gains between inter 2 and 3 – he leads by a huge 1.06! Loic Meillard into 2nd – very exciting stuff! Matts Olsson right on the edge but fast enough for 3rd; seems visibility is getting worse, but it’s hard to tell given the camera technology. Filip Zubcic (CRO) into 3rd; Justin Murisier (SUI) is exciting to watch – into 2nd. Manny Feller also finding the light conditions difficult – into 2nd. Now, Marcel Hirscher – he’s kept his advantage to inter 1, built on it to 2, lost a bit to 3 but then gained to the finish – he leads by 0.88! Here comes Ted – he’s red at inter 1 and it’s getting redder as he goes – into 6th place! Just Luitz to go – 0.39 in hand – he’s just red at inter 2, drifting off at 3 and he’s into 3rd! So, Marcel Hirscher wins with Henrik Kristoffersen 2nd and Stefan Luitz taking the final podium place. Feller 4th ahead of Murisier and Meillard – good effort by the Swiss.

Östersund – Women’s 10 Km Pursuit (3 Dec 17): Eurosport showing cross country, which actually looked quite exciting, up to biathlon start, which seems slightly delayed – thought it was 1200 local, not 1215? Seems to be plenty of time for the adverts!! Anyway – coverage from the start – Magdalena Forsberg reckons Denise Herrmann doesn’t have the biathlon experience to win this, especially with 4 shoots this time! Interesting that the Semerenko twins start together, having almost the same time in the sprint, and missing the same target too! Fifteen athletes at the front within a minute as they start; just coming in to S1 now – Kaisa Mäkäräinen up to 3rd. Wind looks a bit tricky – Herrmann bit lucky with her 5th and she’s clear and away; lot of misses from the pack though! Denise leads away from Lisa Vittozzi (+18.4), Kaisa M, Marte Olsbu and Braisaz – all clear. Several single misses and Tiril Eckhoff among the few who missed 2. Maren Hammerschmidt up from 14 to 6 at present. Herrmann looking comfortable on the lap, leading pack all taking it steady too. In for S2, second prone – wind has died a little – Denise is 10/10! Olsbu and Kaisa have both missed 1, so has Vittozzi; oops Kaisa has missed another, Kuzmina has missed 4! Out Herrmann, Braisaz (+22.6), Olsbu, Vittozzi, Wierer. Maren H has missed 1 and is 9th, MDH is 10/10 and up from 23 to 12; Julia Ransom is also clear and up from 29 to 11 – good going so far. Coming in for S3 Braisaz is the closest to Denise, but +27 seconds; this will be a test though as Herrmann hasn’t hit all 5 in a standing shoot this year! Not this time either – 2 misses. Justine Braisaz hasn’t missed in the stand this year – she is clear! So, Braisaz leads out ahead of Denise H (+11.2), Olsbu, Wierer and Vittozzi (+29.2). MDH and Ransom have both missed 1 here; Kaisa is 9th but 0,2,1. I see at least 5 x 15/15s including Valj Semerenko and Jialin Tang (CHN, 49 to 27). It’s snowing now as Justine B comes in for the last standing shoot – Braisaz is clear BUT so is Denise Herrmann!! Doro Wierer has missed 3 – out from the range Braisaz leads, from Herrmann (+1.5), Olsbu (+33.5; 0,1,0,1), Vittozzi (+42.2; 0,1,0,0) then Skardino, Hammerschmidt and Hinz. At 8.8 Km Denise leads, with 12.1 seconds lead over Braisaz; Olsbu (+45.7) looks settled in 3rd, nicely clear of Vittozzi. Denise Herrmann has really lit the afterburners – 23.4 clear at 9.6 Km! Denise Herrmann wins the double, and has cleared 5 in the stand too! Justine Braisaz (0,0,0,0) in 2nd, Marte Olsbu (0,1,0,1) in 3rd (from 7th). Vittozzi in 4th ahead of Hammerschmidt (14 to 5th despite 2 penalties) and Skardino (12 to 6th; 20/20). Kaisa in 7th despite 4 penalties, Vanessa Hinz 16th to 8th, just ahead of Olena Pidhrushna (UKR; 28 to 9). Other gainers include Hauser (24 – 12), MDH (23 – 14) and Iryna Kryuko (BLR; 53 – 22). Those losing places include Yuliia Dzhima (1,3,0,1; 3rd to 21st), Solemdal (1,2,0,1; 4 – 19), Franzi Hildebrand (10 – 35) and Kuzmina (15 – 36 with 7 penalties!). Well done Denise (so much for the experts - that crunching noise is poor Magdalena F eating her hat!!).

Östersund – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit (3 Dec 17): Twenty seven within a minute at the start; more wind now than earlier – should be interesting! The men have had less time to recover after the sprints, and that is especially true for the later starters yesterday, such as Tarjei Bø! The race has started – some very quick starts; let’s see if there are any penalties! On the lap Bø, Fourcade and Lesser are together, then about 13 seconds to EHS and Schempp – all starts regular, no penalties. In for the first prone – Lesser and Fourcade have missed their first shots; Tarjei has also missed 1 so it’s Svendsen who leads out, ahead of Dolder and Rastorgujevs, with Lindström 4th – all those clear. Martin F in 5th, then Tarjei and Johannes – Erik has missed 4 and vanished down the list, from 3 to 31! Johannes Kühn has also had a bad one – 3 misses and down from 9 to 33, and Schempp has missed 2. In for S2 – JoBø has missed 1 and the IBU data has crashed! Martin F leads out this time, ahead of Tarjei and Svendsen; Lindström 4th at the next split and Julian Eberhard up to 5th from 21st. Coming in for S3 and I’ve got the data back; Martin F clear while Tarjei has missed his first 2 and 1 more; Eberhard has also missed 3; lots of people missing 2 – Martin F has led out, QFM up to 2nd (+40.8!) ahead of Jakov Fak, Simon Fourcade (clear!), Lukas Hofer and Anton Shipulin. Johannes Bø (0,1,2) in 7th; Bjørndalen up from 31 to 15 but he did miss 1 in that last shoot. Looks like Simon Fourcade and Moravec are the only two 15/15? Final shoot – Martin Fourcade has cleared the lot (last one was a bit lucky!) and he leads out; Fak has missed 1 but JoBø has missed 3. Martin F leads, QFM still 2nd but over a full minute back! Fak 3rd, then Birkeland (from 29th), Lindström and Svendsen – those 3 very close. Erik Lesser (4,0,1,1) is somehow still in 9th, but with Eberhard (0,0,3,0) on his heels. Martin Fourcade (1,0,0,0) takes the win; Jakov Fak (1,0,0,1; 10 to 2nd) has slipped past QFM (1,0,0,1; 12 to 3rd) and they complete the podium. Svendsen is 4th ahead of Lindström, with Lars Helge Birkeland (1,0,0,0) in 6th (from 29th!). Other gainers include Eberhard (21 – 7), Shipulin (25 – 8), Hofer (23 – 11), L’Abee-Lund (41 – 12) and Arnd Peiffer (28 – 15). Losing places – Erik Lesser (3 to 10; after 6 penalties), Schempp (5 – 16), Tarjei Bø (1 – 19), Rastorgujevs (8 – 20) and Dolder (6 – 27).

Some very sad news to start with - Official release of Alpine Canada (7 Dec):  Alpine Canada and Alberta Alpine are deeply saddened to report that on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 during a Nor-Am Cup race at Lake Louise, Max Burkhart crashed into safety netting.  Emergency personnel responded immediately and the athlete was airlifted via STARS to the hospital. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts to save him, he passed away on Wednesday, December 6.  Alpine Canada and Alberta Alpine are devastated about this tragic loss of life and sends its deepest condolences to his family and teammates. Alpine Canada and Alberta Alpine encourage the ski family around the world to support the athletes’ family and teammate through this difficult time.

St Moritz – Women’s Alpine Combined (8 Dec): Run 1 (Slalom, as wind/fog higher up forced the jury to swap things around) – still looks very gloomy and misty for the video run on the slalom course! Wendy Holdener will be first away; I see Lindsey Vonn is number 14, probably hoping for a much better weekend. Well, the race is on – Wendy Holdener is looking impressive on the slalom – a good time. Mowinckel is out; Federica Brignone is over a second off Wendy’s time! Michaela Kirchgasser has almost missed a gate – she has climbed back up but that’s +4.69; Michelle Gisin was in touch at inter 1 – lost a bit lower down but into 2nd. Oddly Mikaela Shiffrin is +0.31 at inter 1 after an error, but she’s recovered well and takes the lead by 0.39 – impressive stuff. Looks, on my monitor, as though the visibility is getting worse on the upper section? Ten away – Shiffrin leads from Holdener and Gisin. Nice run from Elisabeth Kappaurer, into 4th despite being unlucky with the visibility! She’s not there for long though as Ramona Siebenhofer is now into 4th; Lindsey Vonn away – she’s taking it very easy – 11th at present. Steph Brunner just into the top 10; Lena Dürr joins the DNFs – visibility is not good at all, definitely worse! That’s 20 away - Shiffrin still leads from Holdener and Gisin; Siebenhofer in 4th, then Kappaurer and Brignone; only Holdener is within a second of the leader! I have to worry about the chance of a second, Super G, run in these conditions. Now, that is impressive skiing – Petra Vlhova into 4th place despite the thick fog in some parts of the course. Almost the end of run 1 – no changes to the top 6 since Vlhova, and now a Kenyan skier, Sabrina Simader – safely down too, and faster than poor Julia Mancuso!! The second run has been delayed for an hour; if it does go ahead it will clash with the women’s sprint biathlon at Hochfilzen! Rats – race cancelled!
FIS report - The dense fog lowered to the bottom of the slope but remained put despite a rescheduled start time of 14:00. The jury together with the organizers made the decision to cancel the super-G run just after 13:00 when the fog was still thick during course inspection for the athletes.   The regularly scheduled super-G for Saturday will take place at 10:45 CET. Upon completion of Saturday's super-G race, the results will be used to calculate the alpine combined from Friday.   Or, at least, that was the plan!; see below.

St Moritz – Women’s Super G (9 Dec): Odd set up – today’s race is a stand-alone Super G but it was also supposed to be the second half of yesterday’s Alpine Combined, which couldn’t be completed because of bad weather. However, the FIS have had another think and abandoned that plan – today is a Super G only and the Alpine Combined is null and void and will not be replaced in the programme. The FIS report that includes this change is  HERE
Seems the start has been lowered for this Super G too because of the wind on the upper sections; visibility doesn’t look too good either, but it’s better than yesterday.  This course set by a German coach, and Vikki Rebensburg will be first away. Vikki is safely down – it’s a twisty course and I think that jump was bigger than she expected! Cornelia Hütter is getting the worst of the weather – it’s suddenly very windy on her run – she’s into 2nd. Race is interrupted, the wind is blowing snow over the course. Lindsey Vonn will be next  - looks like some sort of knee brace on her right leg? She’s away and the wind has eased – good vis too but she’s almost a full second back in 3rd. She seems to be in pain at the finish – hopefully not another injury? Nicole Schmidhofer into 2nd, and now it’s Mikaela Shiffrin – red through the intermediates and into 4th. Tina Weirather next – she’s green at inter 2; bright sunshine all the way and that’s a very good run – she really nailed that and leads by 0.43! Ragnhild Mowinckel into 3rd and the weather is getting better – very unlucky for Hütter to get that squall. Lara Gut is into the safety nets; a nasty twisting fall  and she’s holding her knee – she is up and with skis back on; hopefully OK. Joana Haehlen also a bit unlucky with the weather and into 9th – conditions are very variable today! Another interruption and then it’s Tessa Worley – she’s into 3rd now, but not for long as Michelle Gisin (SUI) is flying – a really impressive run and she leads by just 0.06; the crowd are delighted! Good run from Jasmine Flury (SUI); back into green at inter 3 and she takes over the lead – Swiss skiers in first and second! More squalls and delays – Flury leads from Gisin and Weirather; Rebensburg 4th ahead of Worley and Mowinckel. The gusty conditions are really causing problems and there is yet another interruption. If the FIS abandon this race with 2 Swiss leading there might be a riot!! Race is back on; Nadia Fanchini into 12th. Federica Brignone is much more in touch – just fractionally in the red all the way through inter 3 – lost a little and into 4th. Nice to see Laurenne Ross back after her horrific knee injury! Nice run from Johanna Schnarf, into 6th; Anna Veith is also in touch on the top section – into 5th, best Austrian so far. And now the wind is back with a vengeance – Valerie Grenier (CAN) on the course as the squall blows through – race interrupted yet again. No specific news about Vonn, but she’s hobbling around near the finish and looks in pain still – not good. Julia Mancuso has skied out – not a good weekend so far for her! Anyway, that’s the 30 away so the race will stand. More interruptions, but no changes to the top 8 as the race eventually finishes! Great day for the Swiss, with Jasmine Flury winning ahead of Michelle Gisin; Tina Weirather in 3rd, ahead of Brignone, Veith and Rebensburg.

Val d’Isere – Men’s GS (9 Dec): Weather not good here either – the icy course is being dug out of fresh snow and the start has had to be lowered – it’s still snowing and a bit misty! This is, even with a lower start, a hard and steep course – set by a Norwegian coach! Matts Olsson (SWE)gets things started – looks hard work! Henrik Kristoffersen red at inter 2 but he’s recovered the time and he’s 0.10 faster. Now, Marcel Hirscher – very green at inter 1, bit less at 2 and he leads by 0.31 – I don’t think he’s happy with it, but it was an impressive time. Mathieu Faivre, who won here last year, goes third – the mediocre visibility seems to be causing a few problems. Interesting – Alexis Pinturault just green at inter 2; he’s lost a little lower and into 2nd, +0.12. Stefan Luitz (GER) is in touch after a slow start; that’s a confident run and it gets him 2nd place, +0.10. Some of the slow motion shots are really amazing – impressive angles! Roland Leitinger (AUT) is the first DNF – too much angle! Ten down, Hirscher leads from Luitz and Pinturault, and next is Ted Ligety – off the pace by his standards and he’s 10th. Victor Muffat-Jeandet is also having a tough time on this very physical course – he goes into 10th. That’s better – Florian Eisath (ITA) into 7th; huge amount of air time for Manuel Feller which has cost him some time – into 8th. Zan Kranjec (SLO) into 7th, but Andre Myhrer and then Loic Meillard are out. Tommy Ford is more in touch – into 9th, the best American so far! Track was always a bit bumpy but it’s now getting a little rutted too; difficult conditions and the weather forecast isn’t good. Thirty down (or not) now – in summary Hirscher leads from Luitz, Pinturault, Kristoffersen, Faivre and Olsson (+0.41) – top nine separated by just 0.89. I seem to have lost video; wi-fi very odd! Luckily nothing seems to be changing in the top ten, so it looks like run 1 is settled? Hang on – Alexander Schmid (GER), into 8th from start number 40! No other late changes.
Run 2: Which clashes with the biathlon! Ted Ligety will be first away. Ten down and Victor Muffat-Jeandet leads from Ted Ligety and Marco Schwarz. We join the Eurosport video/commentary with Manuel Feller leading ahead of Thomas Fanara and Justin Murisier – the 9 fastest still to come. Snow has stopped, but the course seems to be holding up. Alexander Schmid is next – 0.38 in hand at the start and he is gaining time – he leads by 0.65, and apparently he’s never scored World Cup points before! Great second run. Zan Kranjec into 2nd, just 0.09 off Schmid’s time. Matts Olsson has lost his 0.41 advantage by inter 1, and now it’s red light time – he goes 4th. Next away is Mathieu Faivre and he’s gained some time to inter 1; lost a little but he’s done enough to take the lead by 0.23. Henrik Kristoffersen into the red at inter 1, but he’s not losing more time and into 2nd; 3 to go. Alexis Pinturault is also gaining a little and he continues to gain to inter 2 – this is really excellent – he leads by a massive 0.78. So, Stefan Luitz now has just 0.02 in hand as he starts – he’s in the red at inter 1, but hasn’t lost any more – he takes 2nd; guaranteed a podium this week too. Marcel Hirscher has 0.12 advantage – fractionally red at 1, but that was an error – he’s pushing really hard and has taken a gate flag with him – he’s into 3rd! What a second run – Pinturault wins from Luitz and Hirscher. Faivre in 4th, ahead of Kristoffersen and Schmid – spectacular PB for him.

St Moritz – Women’s Super G (10 Dec): Here we go – DYKIABC (Didn’t You Know, It’s All Been Changed) – apparently today’s Super G will now also form part of an Alpine Combined (with a “new” slalom run this afternoon), so that that event can be “resurrected” – this is the FIS statement:
“In a reversal of events from the previous day, the race organizer together with the National Ski Association Swiss Ski announced that they found a financial solution to the problem that prevented them from replacing the alpine combined race cancelled on Friday. Sunday's program includes a standalone super-G race beginning at 10:30 CET that will also be used in conjunction with a slalom run at 13:30 CET to score the alpine combined race.” So that’s all clear, unless they change their minds again! The same report also included this: “Lindsey Vonn reportedly suffered a back injury mid-run but finished the race before collapsing in the finish area. She left the venue walking very cautiously and is currently on the start list for Sunday's super-G.”
The race itself – start point has been lowered (again), despite which the start has been postponed for half an hour due to very poor visibility on the upper section. Nick Fellowes says Patrick Winterton (more usually working on cross country and biathlon) is commentating, if things do start. Well, it is Patrick I’m hearing, but it’s a re-run of yesterday’s biathlon! FIS and the weather not making life easy for the Eurosport schedulers (or the skiers)! Now a further 30 minutes delay, so it will clash with the biathlon relay. Whoops – there we go – race cancelled!

Val d’Isere – Men’s Slalom (10 Dec): Well, the weather hasn’t been kind this weekend, and it’s snowing heavily in Val d’Isere – visibility isn’t good either. First away is Manfred Mölgg and he’s a very early straddle/DNF – good start! Michael Matt is next and he’s safely down, although it wasn’t perfect; Fritz Dopfer red at inter 1 and 2, green at 3 but red again at the finish – still a little rusty after injury? Better run from Stefano Gross, but it’s hard work out there – Gross takes the lead. Fifth away is Marcel Hirscher – green at 1, but red at 2 and 3 and he’s just 4th, +0.55. Khoroshilov off the pace; strangely Henrik Kristoffersen is also red at inter 2, and he’s just 3rd, +0.41. Stefano’s time might hold up for a while!? Lizeroux and Pinturault also disappointed with their times; Yule going well early on, but is a DNF. That’s 10 away – Gross leads from Matt and Kristoffersen; next away is Mattias Hargin and he’s much more in touch – into 3rd. Manuel Feller is green through all the intermediate timing points but he’s skied out – not sure I heard what he said, but perhaps that was just as well? Better from Andre Myhrer, who pulled back enough time on the lower section to go 3rd, +0.21. Dave Ryding is next – off the pace today and a disappointing 10th place at present. Twenty away – Gross leads from Matt and Myhrer; Hargin in 4th ahead of Kristoffersen with Foss-Solevaag into 6th. Hirscher is now down to 8th and Ryding 14th; 4 DNFs. Given camera technology, it’s hard to know how the light conditions really are, but conditions really don’t look good and it seems to be getting misty too. The later starters don’t seem to be making much impression at present. Thirty five away; no change to the top 10 and Eurosport is talking about switching coverage to St Moritz (but that start is postponed). The snow is forecast to continue falling all day! Well, first run complete – no change to the top 15; I make it 24 DNFs!
Run 2: Stefan Hadalin is first away; Marco Schwarz better! Ten down and Schwarz still leads form Loic Meillard and Hadalin. The biathlon ends and Eurosport switch back to alpine skiing – Schwarz still leads with Hirschbühl second ahead of Meillard. Dave Ryding hasn’t had a good day and is currently 9th with the 12th best time on run 2. Jonathan Nordbotten (NOR) has really got the turbos on and he takes the lead away from Schwarz. Luca Aerni is a DNF; Grange into 4th and just the top 10 from run 1 to go. I wonder if Lizeroux would go faster clean shaven? Alexis Pinturault is out after a straddle, and here comes Marcel Hirscher - 0.24 advantage at the start and building on that to take the lead by 0.69 – impressive run, although Schwarz’s time, on a “new” track, is still the best for run 2! Fritz Dopfer into 3rd; Foss-Solevaag goes 4th. Kristoffersen next and he’s red at inter 1; it stays red but Henrik has enough speed to go 2nd. Hargin struggling with conditions – he’s 5th. Andre Myhrer was 0.34 ahead at the start, slightly red at inter 1, green at 2, red at 3 and into 3rd – exciting stuff! Michael Matt is starting well, he’s still green at inter 1 and just there at 2 but red at 3 – slightly scrappy and into 4th. Just Stefano Gross to go and he has 0.55 in hand; down to just 0.07 at inter 1 but still green at 2 – drifting into the red at 3 and he’s lost time on the final section – just 6th. So, Marcel Hirscher takes the slalom win after a second run charge! Kristoffersen is 2nd, ahead of Myhrer; Matt 4th then Nordbotten and Gross. Dave Ryding ended up 19th.

Hochfilzen: Well, it seems Franzi Preuß is ill and won’t be competing here – probably replaced by Karo Horchler, and I think Svendsen is also being rested? Anyway – Men’s 10 Km Sprint is the first event of the weekend; 109 starters with some fairly well-known names starting quite late on. Race has started – quite a tricky looking, very undulating, course – looks a bit icy in patches too. Not too many names I recognise in the early starters – Raman Yaliotnau (BLR) currently fastest at 1.1 Km, but his shooting stats aren’t that reassuring! Right – Yaliotnau is at S1; he’s missed his first, and one more – right on his average! Benedikt Doll is currently fastest at 1.9 Km, just ahead of Henrik L’Abee-Lund – at S1 Matvey Eliseev (RUS) is clear and fastest there. Now, L’Abee-Lund is just 0.4 faster at S1, despite slightly shaky drills – what on earth happened there – Doll, the reigning World Champion, has missed 4 at S1 – shots all over the place. Lars Helge Birkeland clear at S1 and now fastest there; Eliseev unlucky at S1 – very fast shooting but he’s missed his final shot. L’Abee-Lund is 10/10 but QFM has missed one at S1, and so has Erik Lesser. Jakov Fak is clear at S1 but he took 13 seconds to get the last shot away. Simon Schempp is briefly fastest at S1 until JoBø goes 12.9 faster. Martin Fourcade into the range for S1 and clear but 11 seconds slower than Johannes Bø. Tarjei Bø also clear and just slightly slower than Martin F; Birkeland has missed 1 at S2, Freddie Lindström has missed 3 and QFM 2. Still at S2 – Erik Lesser is clear this time and he is competitive; Jakov Fak is 10/10 and fast! However, JoBø is 10/10 and a massive 41.4 faster than Fak! Schempp has missed 1 at S2, but is still just ahead of L’Abee-Lund and Lesser. Martin F is in for his standing shoot – quick shooting and clear but he’s 20.1 behind Bø’s time. Meanwhile Tarjei Bø has missed his last shot; Arnd Peiffer is 10/10 but marginally slower than Fak. At 7.7 Km Martin F has pulled back 32 seconds, but at 8.5 Km he’s still +15.4 and it’s still the same at 8.9 Km. Johannes has finished and he leads; here comes Martin and he’s into second - +12.1. Currently Fak in 3rd ahead of Schempp, L’Abee-Lund and Lesser. Arnd Peiffer into 6th; it seems to be either snowing lightly or raining? Looking back at S1, 77 athletes have been through the range; best of the later starters at present is Tero Seppaelae (FIN) - clear but +23.7. Andrejs Rastorgujevs perhaps still in with a chance of a podium at S2 but he’s missed 1 there (1,1); pity. At S1 Timofei Lapshin, that well-known Korean, is clear and out +13.8 – very fast shooting! Ole Einar Bjørndalen also clear at S1 but +23.1; Maxim Tsvetkov (RUS) also clear and faster than Lapshin. No changes yet to the top 6; Benni Weger into 7th. Of the very late starters I expected Garanichev to be competitive but he’s just missed 2 at S1; Philipp Nawrath is clear but he’s +28.2. At S2 Lapshin has missed his 10th shot; so has OEB, while Tsvetkov has missed his first! Now, at S2 Nawrath is 10/10 , + 50.1, but he’s the only one who might yet change the top 6. Looking back at the times, what happened to Anton Shipulin? He was 4th fastest at 7.7 Km, still there at 8.5 Km but 9th at present at the finish – lost a lot over the final kilometre. Nawrath is also losing time – can he hold on to a top 10? Just – he’s tied in 9th with Anton Shipulin – a great PB! No change to the top 6, JoBø takes the win from Martin F with Jakov Fak getting a well deserved podium place. Johannes fastest around the course ahead of Martin F with Schempp third, just ahead of Johannes Kühn; Lapshin fastest on the range ahead of Eliseev and Lesser.

Hochfilzen – Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint (8 Dec): Oh dear – snowing hard with a lot of fresh snow on the tracks and it’s gusty/windy too – the women have certainly drawn the short straw with the weather today! This is going to make life difficult – possibly a bit of a lottery? Poor Anais Chevalier is the first to ski on the new snow! It’s quite hard to see her at times through the snow – the flags are really moving in that wind. With 10 through the first timing point, Chevalier is still fastest – she’s just in for S1; missed 2, both of which looked a little unlucky. Anastasiya Merkushyna (UKR) first to get 5/5; Olga Podchufarova (RUS) also clear and marginally faster. Katharina Innerhofer (AUT) is also clear and now best after S1. Karo Horchler the first German to go clear, but +12.2. Denise Herrmann now fastest at the first timing point, but I’m not sure today’s conditions will help her shooting? Chevalier through S2 – now (2,1); Podchufarova is the first to get 10/10. Pity – Innerhofer has missed 4 at S2 and Herrmann has missed her 5th at S1. Franzi Hildebrand has missed 1 at S1; Karo Horchler is 0,2. Poor Susan Dunklee isn’t having a good time on the range so far this season – 3 misses in the prone; Tiril Eckhoff has missed 2. Tatiana Akimova (RUS) is 10/10 and 12.4 faster than Podchufarova – Russians obviously used to shooting in heavy snow! Twenty through S2 – only 3 perfect scores! Rats, the light is fading – Denise Herrmann now 1,3; Franzi H clear at S2 though and out just 2.5 behind Akimova. Looking back at S1 MDH is clear there but Laura Dahlmeier has missed 2 – bit unlucky. MDH has missed her last 2 at S2; Kaisa M has missed 1 at S1. Denise Herrmann is really flying now, despite 4 penalties; +58.0 as she left the range and +26.1 at the finish, currently 4th. However Franzi H has now finished, into the lead and 18 seconds faster than Akimova. At S2 – Doro Wierer has cleared 5 there (1,0) and is 26.2 faster than Akimova! Back at S1 Maren Hammerschmidt is clear and fastest at present. At S2 Solemdal is 9/10 (1,0) and just faster than Akimova. Laura D is clear at S2 and out 8th, +49.1; Kaisa has missed her last (1,1). Meltdown time – poor Maren H has missed 4 at S2. More happily, Doro Wierer has finished – she leads by 25.4 from Franzi H with Akimova currently 3rd – Solemdal into 3rd now. Justine Braisaz missed 2 at S1, and another 1 in the stand – her first miss there this year? Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK; 1,0) ahead of Doro after S2 but she only leads for a few seconds as Darya Domracheva is 10/10 and 15.5 faster. At S1 Svetlana Mironova (RUS) is clear and fastest – snow has eased and maybe the track is getting faster? Back at the finish Kaisa has gone 2nd despite her 2 penalties; Franzi 3rd ahead of Yurlova-Percht, Vittozzi and Solemdal, but I think it’s all about to change! Vita Semerenko is now 10/10 and close to Doro’s time. Nice to see Dasha back on form – lovely to watch on the lap, very smooth. Kuzmina through the finish line and she leads, 8.5 faster than Doro but it’s a short stint as leader – Dasha leads by a mighty 22.1. Back at S1 there are 100 of 102 starters through and Celia Aymonier has just got the best time there. Mironova has just missed 1 at S2, but maybe on for a top 5 still? Vita Semerenko goes into 4th, just ahead of Kaisa. Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold has joined the 10/10 club, leaving the range about 10 seconds behind Vita S. Aymonier has missed 2 at S2 – amazing to see she is racing without gloves. Tandrevold has finished – into 5th, just ahead of Kaisa. That’s it – Domracheva (0,0) wins with Kuzmina (1,0) 2nd and Doro Wierer (1,0) 3rd. Vita S 4th, ahead of Tandrevold (best Norwegian!) and Mäkäräinen. Franzi Hildebrand (1,0) best German in 8th; nice to see Amanda Lightfoot (1,0) in 53rd, getting a start in the Pursuit. Kaisa fastest around the course, ahead of Braisaz and Herrmann; Merkushyna fastest on the range ahead of Kuzmina and Hauser.

Hochfilzen – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit (9 Dec): It’s snowing hard and there are gusty conditions too! On the initial lap Johannes Bø is marginally faster than Martin Fourcade; Jakov Fak is going more steadily – all starts regular, no penalties. JoBø is in for S1 – he’s missed 2! Martin F is slower but he has missed his 5th; wind up as Schempp misses his first 2 and there’s a third, but L’Abee-Lund, Fak and Weger are clear, so is Arnd Peiffer. Out in order Fourcade, JoBø (+1.2), L’Abee-Lund (henceforth HLAL; +17.7), Fak, Weger. Julian Eberhard has also missed 3, and OEB 2. Johannes fractionally ahead as they come in for the second prone – it’s windy! Shot for shot and both leaders are clear; Weger has missed 2. Out this time Martin F, JoBø (+0.2), HLAL, Peiffer, Fak, Lesser. Simon Schempp has missed another 1 – he really isn’t happy shooting in bad conditions. Two leaders are in for the first standing shoot; both missed the first shot – rest down for both; HLAL has missed 3, Peiffer 4, Lesser 3 more. So – changes in the pursuing groups! Martin F leads away, JoBø 2nd (+6.4), then Fak (+46.7), Tsvetkov, Birkeland and Schempp who managed to clear these 5! I can’t see any 15/15s at present. Some impressive gains – Tsvetkov 20 to 4th; QFM 38 to 9 among them. The last shoot – Fourcade and Bø in pretty much together – JoBø has shot very fast and cleared the lot, while Martin F has missed 3! Jakov Fak in – all 5 down – fantastic shooting; Tsvetkov clear too. So, JoBø leads out with a very comfortable lead; then Fak (+58.9), Schempp (+1:15.2), just ahead of Tsvetkov and Fourcade with Tarjei in 6th – very close in. This is going to be a mighty fight for the final podium place – Fourcade through Tsvetkov, and now Schempp too – at 11.6 Km it’s JoBø, Fak, Fourcade, Schempp and Tarjei. Johannes Bø (2,0,1,0) takes a very well deserved win; Jakov Fak (0,0,1,0) in 2nd; sprint for 3rd but Schempp (3,1,0,0) is in the inside lane which has deeper snow – Martin F (1,0,1,3) gets 3rd – did he “shut the door” a bit? Tarjei Bø (1,0,1,0) in 5th from 14th at the start ahead of Tsvetkov (20 to 6). Other major gainers include QFM (38 – 12), Simon Desthieux (21 – 14), Freddie Lindström (44 – 16) and Benedikt Doll (47 – 27). Going the other way – Arnd Peiffer (6 – 13 after that melt at S3), Weger (7 – 22), Nawrath (10 – 29) and Nathan Smith (19 – 31). Erik Lesser was fastest in the range (but missed 6!), ahead of Simon Eder and Thomas Bormolini. Rastorgujevs fastest around the course ahead of QFM and Kühn.

Hochfilzen – Women’s 10 Km Pursuit (9 Dec): Eurosport is still on cross country so I’m on the IBU feed instead – still snowing and it’s lying on the track! Domracheva away – 22 seconds ahead of Anastasiya Kuzmina with Doro Wierer away third. I think Dasha is taking is steadily – Kuzmina has closed up by 4 seconds at the first timing point and another 6 by the second split. Dasha is in for S1 – she’s clear and away but Kuzmina has missed 1, so have Doro and Vita Semerenko. Out Domracheva, Kuzmina (+26.8), Hilde Fenne (up from 12th), Franzi Hildebrand, Tandrevold and Doro W. Laura D has missed 1, as has Denise Herrmann. That snow really is coming down and it’s still gusty – Dasha is in for her second prone – wind has eased a bit – she’s clear but so is Kuzmina who is shooting faster; Fenne has missed 2, Kaisa clear this time. Out of the range in order Dasha, Kuzmina (+8.8), Kaisa (+40), Vita S, Doro and Akimova (up from 18). Franzi H has missed 1 and dropped to 11th. First standing shoot – Dasha has missed 1; Kuzmina slow to get the last round away but clear this time, as are Kaisa and Doro. Out this time Kuzmina, Dasha (+12.7), Kaisa, Doro and Yuliia Dzhima (up from 20th; 15/15). Vita S has missed 2 and is 16th here, while MDH is clear and up from 34 to 10. Final shoot, Anastasiya Kuzmina leads in – she is clear but those last 2 took an age. She leads out but Dasha is also clear and out 2nd (+8.4) ahead of Kaisa (+21.6) then Doro, Olsbu and Dzhima; MDH has missed 2. On the lap Dasha isn’t catching, and Kaisa is only making up a little. By 9.6 Km it’s changed a bit – Dasha isn’t closing but Kaisa has almost caught her. Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK; 1,0,0,0) wins; Kaisa (1,0,0,1) nicks second ahead of Domracheva (0,0,1,0). Doro is 4th ahead of Marte Olsbu (up from 13), and Yuliia Dzhima (up from 20). Iryna Kryuko (BLR) seems to be the only 20/20 – up from 35 to 9. Other gainers include Laura Dahlmeier (16 to 10), Vanessa Hinz (27 – 12), and Marie DH (34 – 14). Losing ground – Vita Semerenko (4 – 16), Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold (5 – 17), Franzi H (8 – 28; 0,1,3,0), Fenne (12 – 36; 0,2,2,3) and Mironova (9 – 55; 3,3,1,1). Iryna Varvynets (0,0,1,0 and up from 31 to 15) fastest on the range ahead of Cadurisch (missed 5!) and Merkushyna (1,1,0,0). Fastest around the course was Kaisa, ahead of Denise Herrmann (1,1,1,2) and Justine Braisaz (2,0,1,3 – 23 to 35).

Hochfilzen – Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay (10 Dec): Weather looks a bit better here than for the alpine ski venues; no falling snow at present but it’s windy. Maxim Tsvetkov (RUS) leading on the early lap; Lowell Bailey (USA) has gone past as the pace slows a little. Varabei (BLR) had a fall just after the start, trying to get through a gap that was too small, but he’s catching up. In for S1 and really it’s gusty; Erik Lesser clear with no spares, as are Beatrix, Rösch (BEL), Bailey and Tsvetkov; out in that order, but lots of misses from others – C Gow (CAN), Slesingr (CZE), Buta (ROU), Vitenko (KAZ) and Dovzan (SLO) all on the penalty loop. Bjørndalen needed 2 spares, so he’s pushing on the lap to pull back time. Leading 7 quite close as they head for the standing shoot – Lowell Bailey has missed his first, so has Erik. France on the loop! So, Rösch using 1 spare leads out with OEB clear this time and out 2nd ahead of Lowell Bailey (+17.1). Bormolini in 4th, with Lesser (3 spares) 5th ahead of Kazar. Tsvetkov is doing 3 penalty loops; Beatrix 2 loops. Commentators getting very excited (and a bit boring) as OEB leads towards the first exchange. It’s very windy as they swap – Belgium lead away, just 1.7 ahead of Norway with USA 3rd. Germany 4th ahead of Italy and Slovakia. At the next timing point Doll has passed Nordgren but both are losing time to Claude (BEL) and L’Abee-Lund, who are some 30 seconds clear of the chasing group. In for the second prone – wind is no better – both leaders clear and HLAL leads out; Doll clear but Nordgren and Bormolini are using spares; Weger clear here but USA and Italy on the loop. HLAL leads from Claude (+4.8), Doll (+24.3) and Weger (+1:12.6). Hasilla (SVK) is doing 4 penalties! IBU Datacenter has crashed, but from the video Claude is losing time to Henrik L’A-L. In for the standing shoot and the wind has dropped; HLAL needs a spare, 2 spares, clear with the 3rd spare. Doll also uses all 3 spares. Norway out first ahead of Claude, Weger, Doll, Nordgren and Hofer (+1:23.7). Eliseev has problems with the manual feed of his spare round; officials being slow to help but Eliseev has got the final target down and stays off the loop. Some real problems for certain teams – Canada have done 6 penalty loops, Slovenia 5, Slovakia 8 and Poland 7! So, exchange 2 – Norway lead from Belgium (+32.1), Switzerland (+41.4, despite 1 loop) and Germany (+43.9). Then over 30 seconds to France and Italy, then USA (+1:34.2). At the next timing point Bjøntegaard leads from Lahaye-Goffa and Finello; in for the next prone and the wind is back – Bjøntegaard has missed his first as the wind dies again – last shot beautiful – right in the centre. Bjøntegaard out (2 spares) ahead of Finello (SUI, clear; + 24.1), Lahaye-Goffa (1 spare; + 41.9) and Peiffer (2 spares; + 44.9). Jacquelin is clear to get France up to 5th despite their 2 earlier penalties (+59.2). Peiffer and Jacquelin have both passed the Belgian on the lap; let’s see what the standing shoot does. Wind has died again; Bjøntegaard has missed his 5th but out with just 1 spare – wind back! Finello is doing 4 loops, Lahaye-Goffa 3 – Peiffer out but using all 3 spares; as is Jacquelin. As they leave the range Bjøntegaard leads by 58.8 from Peiffer with Jacquelin 3rd (+1:22.6). Sweden (Samuelsson) up to 4th ahead of Windisch and Finello. At the final exchange Norway lead, Germany 2nd (+58.5) and France 3rd (1:35.1). At the first timing point Birkeland has only lost 3 seconds to Schempp; QFM has lost a couple but it’s all pretty much similar. At this stage just 2 teams have NOT been on the penalty loop! In for the final prone; Birkeland clear (thought a couple were lucky!), Schempp needs all 3 spares but is out 2nd (+1:29.6) while QFM is clear and just 15 seconds back now. Lindström clear and 4th, ahead of Chenal (ITA) and Doherty (USA). Shipulin has got Russia up to 8th. Final shoot of the day – Birkeland needs just one spare and he can stroll to the finish now! Schempp is in – 2 misses and he needs all 3 spares again – he leaves 2 minutes behind the Norwegian. QFM is on the loop but so is Lindström; France out 3rd about 20 seconds ahead of Sweden with Italy a further 15 seconds back; Doherty on the loop and Langer (BEL) is doing 3 loops. Lars Helge Birkeland crosses the finish line for Norway (0+9), almost 2 minutes clear of Simon Schempp (0+17) with QFM 3rd for France (3+13). Sweden 4th ahead of Italy and Ukraine. Russia (3+13) 8th in the end, just ahead of USA. Well done Norway, but you were very lucky with the wind conditions at times!

Hochfilzen – Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay (10 Dec): Still windy but probably a bit lighter than for the men’s race? Race is on – Vanessa Hinz away quite fast; apparently no USA team today and Austria don’t start. Wind has apparently dropped but that means a difference from the zeroing conditions – first shoot – Paulina Fialkova (SVK) leads from Elisa Gasparin, Skardino, Hinz, Persson and MDH; Finland (Toivanen) on the loop; Tandrevold needed 2 spares. Only 6.1 seconds between the top 10 as they leave the range. MDH leading on the lap, pushing the pace; in for S2 – MDH has missed her first, and 2 more. Hinz out first (1 spare) ahead of Vita Semerenko (+10.0) and Fialkova; MDH is doing 2 loops! Skardino (BLR) making ground on the lap; at exchange 1 Germany lead (Franzi H); Belarus just 2nd ahead of Slovakia and Ukraine – France down in 14th. Franzi in for S3 – 2 spares needed; Kryuko (BLR) is clear and out just 2.6 behind Franzi, Yuliiya Dzhima 3rd, +3.4, with Selina Gasparin (I hope! Too many siblings here) +4.3 and Öberg +5.5; Fenne (NOR) is doing 2 loops this time. Wind picking up again as they come in for the standing shoot – Gasparin missing – Dzhima is clear and leads out. Öberg clear and second (+12.8), Franzi H 3rd (2 spares) then Gasparin, Crawford (CAN) and Furuya (JPN). Kryuko is doing 2 loops, Fenne 1 more and Bulgaria have done 4 so far. Gasparin making up time on the lap into the second exchange, Franzi losing ground; Ukraine lead out ahead of Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Canada and Japan. On the next lap Valj Semerenko has lost quite a lot of her margin to Haeki, Brorsson and Hammerschmidt. Megan Bankes (CAN) also catching up. Valj is in for her prone shoot – missed 1, clear with 1 spare, Brorsson all 3 spares. Out Semerenko, Haeki, Maren H (+15.3), then Brorsson, Bankes and Tanaka. Later arrivals suffering from a squall, Solemdal among them and doing 2 loops (that’s 5 for Norway so far – they are unlucky with the wind this time). Valj is in for S6, she’s missed 1 but Maren H is clear and leads out; Haeki (SUI; 1 spare) +6.8, Valj is 3rd, +13.3 – then Bankes, Brorsson and Mun (KOR). Russia are in 7th – Starykh back from her ban, and making up time on the lap! Final exchange – Maren hands over to Laura Dahlmeier; Irene Cadurisch (SUI) +14.7 and a fast shooter! Olena Pidhrushna 3rd with Russia up to 4th, Ekaterina Yurlova-Percht has the last lap. Final prone shoot – Laura D needs 1 spare; Cadurisch doing 2 loops – she looked terrified on the mat. Laura leads out, ahead of Olena P (+36.7) and EY-P (+1:22.1) Cadurisch is 4th, very close to the Russian, then Ransom (CAN) and Vitková (CZE). Final shoot; lucky with her first – 1 spare required and she’s away. Huge gust as Pidhrushna shoots – good to do that with just 1 spare, out + 1:06.9; same needed by EY-P – out 3rd +1:27.3, just 6 seconds ahead of Anais Bescond with Cadurisch just 2 seconds behind her (2 spares this time – much better). Good race for the final podium place – Bescond past Yurlova-Percht at 5.1 Km – great recovery by the French after MDH’s 2 penalty loops. Dahlmeier cruises to the win for Germany (0+9); Ukraine (0+5) in 2nd and France (2+13) get the final podium spot! Russia 4th ahead of Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Poor Norway back in 13th with a massive 8 penalty loops and 19 spare rounds - the men seem to have used up all the luck!

Annecy-Le Grand Bornand (ALGB) – Women’s 7.5 km Sprint (14 Dec): Apparently Gabi Koukalová is still out, with persistent shin problems. Some discussion about the fact that Laura Dahlmeier is starting as number 86, in group 4 – Germans apparently fairly rigid about allocating groups based on the world ranking at the time.  Anyway, back in France this weekend, weather looks OK with light winds, with what looks to be a tricky, twisty course. Magdalena Gwizdon (POL) first away; Tatiana Akimova (RUS) a little faster at 1.7 Km and she’s clear at S1 too, where Gwizdon missed 1. Fifteen (of 94 starters) through 1.7 Km, and the 16th, Denise Herrmann, is the first to go faster than Akimova, who is currently best after S1, although Lisa Vittozzi is clear and +0.7, with Doro Wierer shooting very fast to go 3rd, +1.9. Denise Herrmann is shooting slowly but she’s clear and now leads after S1, but Anastasiya Kuzmina is even faster; no one 10/10 so far at S2, where Franzi Preuß has just missed 2. Good shooting – Vittozzi is 10/10 and 20.3 ahead after S2. Back at S1 Marte Olsbu has missed 3, and MDH 1 – Tiril Eckhoff has missed 2 here as well – very canted rifle position! Herrmann has missed 1 at S2 and is +10.6 behind Vittozzi; Kaisa M is (1,1) and now Kuzmina is 10/10 and 35 seconds ahead of Vittozzi’s time. That really is very quick; this might be the second consecutive win – impressive form considering her best last season was 8th! Valj Semerenko is also 10/10, but 42 seconds behind Kuzmina. At the finish Denise Herrmann has just crossed the line – just 0.6 behind Vittozzi, but Kuzmina seems to be gaining even more time on the last lap – she crosses the line 50 seconds ahead of Vittozzi – huge gap for a sprint race. It’s getting warmer, with some rain and the tracks are getting softer – not good news for Dahlmeier. At present it’s Kuzmina leading from Vittozzi, Herrmann and Selina Gasparin – no one else is within a minute of the leader. At S1 Vita Semerenko is clear and fractionally faster than Valj; nice to see Susan Dunklee also clear and +15.2. Vita has gone 10/10 and leaves the range +37.3 – she could well push Denise off the podium; Dunklee has also gone 10/10 but she’s +54.7. Laura D is clear at S1, but the IBU datacenter has gone offline – swap browser, and it’s back, which tells me Laura is 3rd after S1, +6.3 on Kuzmina’s time; Vita S over the finish line in 2nd, +41.4. Everyone is through S1 now – Kuzmina, Herrmann and Dahlmeier lead the times; Laura is clear at S2, and out 2nd, but +25.8 – out to +32.0  at 7.1 Km. So Kuzmina takes the win, Laura Dahlmeier in 2nd, +33.9 with Vita Semerenko 3rd – all 10/10. Bad luck for Lisa Vittozzi to just miss the podium after such a good race. Herrmann in 5th ahead of Selina Gasparin and Valj S with Justine Braisaz the best of the French in 8th. No surprise that Kuzmina was fastest around the course ahead of Herrmann and Eckhoff (who missed 4); Doro Wierer quickest on the range ahead of Cadurisch and Pidhrushna. Very strange – Thekla Brun-Lie (0,0) the best of the Norwegians in 38th!

Annecy-Le Grand Bornand (ALGB) – Men’s 10 km Sprint (15 Dec): Shipulin and Doll starting late in group 4 today; Philipp Nawrath (GER) the first away – he’s a big strong lad! Seems it should be quick on the tracks today, certainly for the early starters; some debate about whether it might get even faster later, or not. Ten through the 1.7 Km timing point so far – currently Schempp fastest there ahead of Nawrath, who is clear at S1, but he’s had snags loading the rounds, which has cost him time – Beatrix is faster, Eliseev faster still; Brendan Green (CAN) has missed 3 at S1. Simon Schempp clear at S1 and he’s 6.2 faster than Eliseev. Brave shooting from Lindström – very fast to the first shot; clear and out 8th. Tarjei Bø has missed one at S1, but Timofei Lapshin (KOR!) is as fast as Lindström on the range and quicker on the tracks – he leads at S1 now. QFM has missed 2 at S1 (home country pressure?) while at S2 Michal Slesingr is the first 10/10; Sean Doherty has done the same and faster – Eliseev has missed 1 but is still just +13.9. On the lap Tarjei has fallen – not usual! Very fast shooting from Simon Schempp at S2 – he’s 10/10 and away; at S1 Johannes Bø is now fastest, 17.6 ahead of Lapshin, which is very impressive! Martin Fourcade is at S1, and clear but 8.3 slower than JoBø. Arnd Peiffer has missed 1 at S2, so has Tarjei Bø. After S1, at present, the top 3 are JoBø, Martin F and Lapshin; at S2 it’s Schempp, Lapshin and Weger but JoBø is flying on the tracks – probably a penalty loop in hand as he heads for S2. Rats, Erik Lesser has missed 3 at S2, but JoBø is 10/10 and blindingly fast; out 34.7 faster than Schempp! Simon Desthieux 10/10 and out from S2 in 4th – Martin F is also 10/10 but still slower than JoBø by 14.7. At the finish it’s currently Schempp, Lapshin and Dominik Windisch – Doherty (0,0) is 5th ahead of Lowell Bailey (1,0) in 8th – good placings for the USA team. On the lap JoBø is stuck behind QFM for a while – over the finish line 41.8 ahead of Schempp though! Martin F is losing time on the final lap – it’s +18.0 at 8.3 Km, and +20.9 at 9.4 Km. Martin over the finish line – he’s 2nd but 21.1 behind JoBø; Desthieux into 4th, ahead of Lapshin. Tim Burke is 10/10 and faster than Doherty; 5th at 8.3 Km, but losing time to Lapshin. So, at present it’s JoBø, Martin F and Simon Schempp on the podium; Desthieux 4th ahead of Lapshin and Windisch; Desthieux the last to be within a minute of Johannes. Looking back at S1, Bormolini is clear and 5th, +19.4 – best of the later starters at present. Now, that’s better – Benedikt Doll clear at S1 and 3rd, +16.1, with Fredrik Gjesbakk (NOR) in 4th +17.3. Anton Shipulin missed 1 at S1, but he’s clear and fast at S2 – out 9th. Gjesbakk is 10/10 and just 5 seconds back on Schempp's time; Antonin Guigonnat (FRA) is even better – he’s 7 seconds or so faster than Schempp! However, Doll has missed 2 at S2. Good amount of interest in these late stages; Gjesbakk is starting to fade but Guigonnat is still ahead of Schempp at 8.3 Km – still ahead at 9.4 – I understand his World Cup PB so far is 24th place! Well, he’s certainly got a new PB –he has just nicked the final podium place from Simon Schempp! So, that’s it – Johannes Bø wins, with France taking the next 2 podium places – Martin F and Antonin Guigonnat. Schempp in 4th ahead of Desthieux and Shipulin (highest placed athlete with a penalty loop). Gjesbakk in 7th at the end. Simon Eder fastest on the range, ahead of Lapshin and Lesser; JoBø fastest round the track ahead of Martin F and Doll.

Val Gardena (Gröden) – Men’s Super G (15 Dec): Fresh snow here, so the track might be a little slower for the first few? Weather looks OK for the start, bit of mist – looks a tough course with some impressive jumps. Eighty racers on the start list this morning. Beat Feuz (SUI) is first away – he’s down OK but although his coach set the course that wasn’t what he might have hoped for – off the line a few times. As if to prove the point Josef Ferstl (GER) is 0.71 faster; Erik Guay off the pace and into 3rd. Matthias Mayer (AUT) much closer and into 2nd, +0.10 and next away is Aksel Lund Svindal – just green at inter 2, just red at 3; very fast through the final speed gun but a small mistake drops him to 3rd, +0.60 – not a happy Aksel! Huge error by Manny Osborne-Paradis and he’s skied out. Visibility is getting a bit worse and there is light snow at the start; hasn’t stopped Max Franz putting in a great run – he’s 2nd and just +0.02. Andreas Sander (GER) wasn’t lucky with the weather, but he’s into 4th; not for long though as Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) is now into 4th, +0.30! Now getting quite foggy in places and Nick Fellowes reckons if it gets worse there will be a hold. Yes, here we go – race interrupted, and it’s clear why when you see how the fog has thickened. Just 11 away so far – Ferstl leads from Franz and Mayer. Well, fore-runners are back on course and it looks like we are back in business? Adrien Theaux (FRA) next to go – light rather flat and the fresh snow isn’t helping – nice skiing, but into 6th, +0.39. Start interval has been reduced; Kilde away next, big air time and into 4th – right on the edge a couple times there! Now, Kjetil Jansrud – will the fresh snow be a problem? He’s just in the green at inter 2; massive error and very nearly out, slamming on the brakes – he’s finished but only in 14th – the Norwegians aren’t going to win here this time. Pinturault and Reichelt are also off the pace; so is Travis Ganong but Peter Fill is a bit closer – into 8th, +0.52. Weather looks as though it’s closing in again; no change to the top 6 since Kilde went 4th. Good start by Thomas Tumler (SUI) but he’s drifted off course and lost a lot of speed recovering – no top 10 for him; Sejersted very similar but he didn’t recover and missed a gate. Well, that’s good news for Josef Ferstl – 30 racers away so the result will stand even if the weather does really close in again; currently Ferstl leads from Franz and Mayer; Kilde 4th ahead of Kriechmayr and Sander. The race has been interrupted again, this time because of problems on the upper sections. Seems to be a long hold – very annoying for the athletes. Well, that’s’ it – only 38 away but that’s enough, no late changes to the top 10 – Josef Ferstl takes the win!
Rather off topic but I see the multi-talented Ester Ledecka, who finished 7th in the Lake Louise downhill, has just won the opening FIS snowboard parallel GS!

Val d’Isere – Women’s Super G (16 Dec): Course set by a Swiss coach and I think it might be a lower start, again?  It does look a bit cloudy –  Ester Ledecka is still competing in snowboard events, so she misses today’s Super G. Light snow falling as Cornelia Hütter starts, and it is a shortened course; down but a couple line errors and she straddled/took out a control gate just before the finish – might be DQ’d? Laurenne Ross, back from injury, is slower but legal! Stephanie Venier has also drifted into the soft snow off the racing line; she’s 3rd. Bit confusing as Hütter’s time is still showing although it seems she has been DQ’d – it’s gone, so we see Joana Hählen as the leader ahead of Ross and Venier; Nicole Schmidhofer is 0.03 faster still, so she leads. Lindsey Vonn is here and next away; she’s green at inter 2 and going better all the way - nice line and she leads by 0.67 – that’s more like her usual skiing! Tina Weirather is the discipline leader, but she’s fallen here – stopped short of the netting and she’s up and skiing down. Johanna Schnarf is just about to push out of the start when she’s literally pulled back – visibility has dropped drastically as the fog rolls in. Schnarf is away – I suspect the delay and the falling snow didn’t help – into 4th. Lara Gut isn’t fully back from her serious ACL injury, in my opinion – good run but she isn’t at full power yet – into 6th. That’s 10 away – Vonn leads from Schmidhofer and Hählen. There is a TV break and now the FIS feed is showing race interrupted, as the weather intrudes yet again. The service crews are out on the course, clearing more of the fresh snow and repairing the blue lines; snow getting heavier perhaps as Federica Brignone moves to the start. Brignone possibly not helped by snow settling on the course; good run and line but into 7th. Corinne Suter green at inter 1 but then into the red and making a few errors on the lower sections – she goes 7th.  Impressive recovery from Tessa Worley but that cost a lot of time. Anna Veith has also drifted into the soft stuff, which seems hard to avoid – just 8th. Much better stuff from Sofia Goggia – she goes into 2nd just +0.31, and Ragnhild Mowinckel has also had a brilliant run – into 3rd! Vikki Rebensburg is next away – green at inter 1 (just) and still there at 2, but red at 3 and into 7th.  Jasmine Flury isn’t going to win again this weekend – good top section but then losing time and into 13th. A similar story for her fellow Swiss skier Michelle Gisin who goes 10th.  Twenty away, another TV break and this time it’s Vonn from Goggia and Mowinckel. Good start from Romane Miradoli (FRA), but again she’s lost time on the final section; just 11th. I am a fan of Julia Mancuso, but she isn’t on form at all – arguably back from hip surgery much too early. Grenier (CAN) is a DNS, so we need to get to start number 31 for the results to count – that’s Tamara Tippler (AUT), bit unlucky with the mist and into 14th; Vonn looks pretty certain to get World Cup win number 78. No changes to the top 10 since Gisin went into 10th; Vonn leads from Goggia and Mowinckel. Coverage moves to the biathlon, but no late changes to the top 10; that’s win number 78 sewn up!

Val Gardena (Gröden) – Men’s Downhill  (16 Dec): Start clashes with the women’s biathlon pursuit – not a help! Joined a bit late, just in time to see Manny O-P take the lead; Kilde into 2nd with Reichelt holding on to 3rd. Adrien Theaux into 3rd – looks a much nicer day here than in Val d’Isere! Lot of terrain on this course; those Camel Bumps look tricky! Now, Matthias Mayer is green at inter 1 and still just green at 2; gaining time to 3 and nicely green at 4 and 5 – how on earth did he lose that – into 2nd by 0.12. Nick F will be disappointed – he had a bet on Mayer! Now, Thomas Dressen is green all the way to inter 4, and still -0.31 at inter 5 – he takes the lead; Germans on good form recently. Peter Fill well off the pace – looks like something wrong with the left ski – he’s looking at it in the finish and now he’s thrown it away! TV break and now it’s Erik Guay – he should have received good feedback from  Manny O-P; he’s in the red but nicely in touch on the upper sections – I understand his back injury isn’t fully sorted yet; great recovery but into 7th; he looks sore! Now, Vincent Kreichmayr is next and he’s well in touch to inter 4 – he’s 4th at present. Now, Aksel Lund Svindal is on course – green at 1 and going greener through 2, 3 and 4 – he’s a massive 1.23 faster at inter 5 and he takes the lead by 1.34 seconds – awesome stuff! That must be depressing for the rest of the start list! Looking at Andreas Sander’s split times you would think he was miles off the pace - +1.13 at inter 5 but in fact that’s him into 2nd, such was Svindal’s dominant time. So, Svindal, Sander and Dressen at present – Beat Feuz is closer to the Norwegian’s pace on the upper sections – into 2nd, +1.17 though! Now, can Kjetil Jansrud spoil his friend’s day? He’s green at inter 1 and 2, just keeping it at 3 but he’s a bit slower through the upper speed gun – just red at inter 4 and 5, into 2nd, +0.59. Very impressive – Dominik Paris has nicked 3rd from Feuz by just 0.01. He’s not there for long though – Max Franz is quite a bit faster and he goes 3rd. Josef Ferstl into 8th; top 6 looking safer as the race continues – Svindal from Jansrud and Franz, with Paris 4th ahead of Feuz – wait, as I write, Bryce Bennett (USA) into 6th! This might not be over – silly me for thinking it was sorted – Jared Goldberg (USA) now into 6th, which would be an impressive PB. Christof Innerhofer (ITA) has had a great run – he goes into 4th, by 0.02; getting back to his best? Mauro Caviezel nicely in touch most of the way, but lost a bit on the final glide – into 8th. Romed Baumann has gone into joint 5th place with Paris; now he’s joint 6th as Gilles Roulin (FRA) has gone 4th from start number 32! I really think that might be it this time – Svindal wins from Jansrud and Franz; Roulin in 4th ahead of Innerhofer with Baumann and Paris tied in 6th. Feuz gets 8th ahead of Goldberg and Caviezel. That’s it – Svindal wins!

Val d’Isere – Women’s Super G (17 Dec): Hmm, 15 minute postponement to the start time, and again a lowered start (?), I hope that’s not an omen! No Lindsey Vonn today – her knee is apparently hurting after yesterday so she’s going home to rest and make sure it’s not damaged – aim is obviously the Olympics! Weather looks OK; poor Vikki Rebensburg is the first away and she’s crashed out after catching an edge – we have lost the first skier away on both races today (both Germans too, unlucky). Anna Veith has got safely down and that looked a good run? Federica Brignone is just over a second off Veith’s time; Scheyer almost 3 seconds off. Now, it’s Lara Gut and she’s much more in touch – just 0.01 behind at inter 2, but she’s lost time at 3 – into 2nd, +0.64. Good run from Tina Weirather, but she can’t catch Veith – into 2nd, +0.48. Nicole Schmidhofer in touch at the top but losing time lower down – just 5th and over a second off the pace. That’s 10 away – Veith leads from Weirather, Gut and Brignone. Just after the TV break it’s Cornelia Hütter – well in touch to inter 2, but she’s lost the line and that’s badly affected her time – into 6th. Ragnhild Mowinckel into 4th, but only briefly – Sofia Goggia has made some lovely turns and she’s into 3rd; will that be good enough for a second podium this weekend? Michelle Gisin is also on form at present – she’s into 5th place. That’s a nasty crash for Tessa Worley – hit a gate and cartwheeled – she is up and moving, so I hope she’s OK. Looks like her airbag has inflated – not a very stylish look but it seems to have helped and she’s skiing down. Twenty down and it’s now Veith, Weirather and Goggia, then Gut, Gisin and Mowinckel. I’m frankly amazed that Julia Mancuso is skiing today – apparently she’s still in a lot of pain despite a long operation to ease her hip injuries; gutsy lady! Some good skiing by the later starters; Ramona Siebenhofer started 27, into 9th; Anna Hofer 35 to 10th and Brunner 34 to 11 at present. No late changes to the podium – Anna Veith is back with today’s win, ahead of Tina Weirather and Sofia Goggia; Lara Gut in 4th ahead of Gisin and Mowinckel.

Alta Badia – Men’s GS (17 Dec): Run 1 – course set by a French coach – quite straight apparently so it should be fast (hmmm, doesn’t look very straight to me). Weather looks pretty good at present – Stephan Luitz is first to start but he’s done something to his knee just after the start – he has tried to ski down but has stopped in obvious pain – early pause. So, effectively, Matthieu Faivre is first away – looked a good run. Let’s see what Henrik Kristoffersen can do to Faivre’s time – well, that’s a massive improvement despite a bit of braking en route – he’s 1.65 faster at the finish! Fourth out of the gate is Marcel Hirscher – green through the three intermediates and he leads run 1 by 0.17. Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen (too much to type – LKNH from now on) into 3rd; Pinturault is off the pace here, despite it being his coach that set the pattern – 4th, +1.18. Matts Olsson goes into 3rd, but +0.58 – not for long though as Manuel Feller is more in touch and he’s now 3rd, +0.37. Ten away and Hirscher leads from Kristoffersen and Feller with Justin Murisier into 4th. Good to see Ted Ligety here; very athletic run and into 6th, +0.75. Lovely skiing on the lower section by Zan Kranjec (SLO), and it gets him into 3rd place at present. Twenty away – Hirscher, Henrik K, Kranjec, Feller, Murisier and Olsson. Fritz Dopfer is miles off the pace today – over 5 seconds off the leading time; something wrong? Still no update about Stephan Luitz that I’ve heard. Nice to see Jansrud trying this race, but he’s skied out! Looks like the top 10 are settled; coverage hopefully shifting to Val d’Isere. No late changes to the top 10; arguably the best run of the late numbers was Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT) – start 47 and into 16th? Maybe even better was Luca Aerni; start 72 but 29th and getting a second run!
Run 2: Quick update - Stefan Luitz has possibly damaged an ACL – he’s off for an X-Ray, and it sounds as though Vikki Rebensburg may also have a knee injury. OK, back to run 2 – with the first 10 away Aleksander Andrienko (RUS) leads from Florian Eisath (ITA) and Loic Meillard (SUI). Roberto Nani started well and really should have taken the lead, but he’s into 2nd – Nick Fellowes reckons the course is cutting up a bit? Much more like it – Mathieu Faivre takes the lead; Brennsteiner into 2nd. Not as much change as I might have expected – this seems to be a tricky course. Piste is getting bumpy; good run from Roland Leitinger though to get into 2nd by just 0.04! Alexis Pinturault was disappointed by his first run; his second isn’t the best either but he takes the lead – best time on run 2 is still Andrienko’s! That’s a storming run for Luca De Aliprandini – green all the way and he leads, despite an error on the final section. Just 9 to go now; Fanara goes 6th. Next is LKNH; into the red at inter 2 – he’s 3rd; next is Ted Ligety – very exciting to watch and he’s into the lead by 0.27, despite a slight edge catch on the final section. Matts Olsson can’t quite match Ted – into 2nd by just 0.04! Justin Murisier started well but he’s red at inter 2; good recovery and a great lower section gives him the lead. Manuel Feller is just red at inter 1, back green at 2, red again at 3 and into 4th – he’s not happy with that!! Zan Kranjec lost a bit to inter 1 but now he’s gaining time – great skiing and he’s into the lead. He’s guaranteed a place on the podium! Kristoffersen next and he’s gaining time to inter 2 – slight loss to 3 but still green and he leads by 0.12. Just Marcel Hirscher to go – 0.17 in hand at the start, and he too is gaining time – ye gods he’s 1.13 ahead at inter 3 and ends up winning by 1.70 – that really will depress the opposition! Not surprising that he has the fastest time on run 2 as well, but nice that Andrienko has held on to 2nd fastest time for this run. What a display from Hirscher – I think that’s his 5th win in succession here, one more than even Tomba managed.

More to come next week - unlike the IBU the FIS obviously don't believe in giving their athletes a decent break for Christmas!

Annecy-Le Grand Bornand (ALGB) – Women’s 10 km Pursuit (16 Dec): To be honest I’m a little surprised by Kuzmina’s sudden jump in form; let’s see how she does today. She seems to have made a fast start, putting on the pressure. In for S1 and Kuzmina has missed 3 – too hard an early pace? Laura Dahlmeier is clear and away, Vita Semerenko clear and out 2nd, +14.8, then Selina Gasparin, ahead of Denise Herrmann – all clear. Kuzmina 5th after her 3 loops - +33.5. Yurlova-Percht clear and up from 20 to 10 here. Laura in for S2 – clear again, so is Vita but Gasparin has missed 1; Herrmann clear too. Out in order Dahlmeier, Vita S (+19.3), Kuzmina (clear here, truly amazing lap speed, +24.2), Herrmann, Vittozzi and Gasparin. Yurlova-Percht 10/10 and up to 8th. On the lap Kuzmina is past Semerenko and 6 seconds closer to Laura. OK – Laura is in for S3, fast and clear, but so is Kuzmina who leaves 2nd, +12.5. Vita 15/15 and away 3rd, +26.1; then Vittozzi and Herrmann (now 0,0,1; +56.3). On the lap Kuzmina is closing again – phenomenal ski speed despite those 3 loops!? Final shoot – Laura has missed 1; Kuzmina waits ages for her last shot, and misses it – you could hear her gasp of disappointment. Out of the range – Dahlmeier (0,0,0,1), Kuzmina (3,0,0,1), Vittozzi (1,0,0,0), Herrmann (0,0,1,1) and Selina Gasparin (0,1,1,0). Vita in 6th ahead of Dunklee and Wierer. Can’t see the podium places changing! So, Laura Dahlmeier wins her first race of the season, ahead of Kuzmina and Lisa Vittozzi; Selina Gasparin has passed Denise Herrmann on the final lap – impressive! Susan Dunklee up from 10 to 6, Bescond from 28 to 12 and Yurlova-Percht 20 to 13. Other gainers include MDH (30 – 15); Emma Lunder (CAN; 34 – 18); Eckhoff (50 – 24) and Pidhrushna (49 – 30). Going t’other way, the list includes – Vita S (3 to 8), Maren Hammerschmidt (9 – 20), Vítková (16 – 38) and Frolina (19 – 39). Again Cadurisch best on the range, ahead of Puskarčíková  and Merkushyna. Celia Aymonier fastest around the course ahead of Kuzmina and Kaisa M – Laura D just 11th there!

Annecy-Le Grand Bornand (ALGB) – Men’s 12.5 km Pursuit (16 Dec): Off topic but at the cross country in Toblach (15 km freestyle) Andrew Musgrave looks like he’s got a podium place, behind Krüger (NOR) and Manificat (FRA) – excellent! Right – back to ALGB – that’s a good turnout by the supporters, keen to see how Fourcade and Guigonnat can do today. It’s going to be hard to catch Johannes Bø today – he has a penalty loop in hand; Simon Desthieux up a couple places on the lap. JoBø is in for S1 – that’s quite fast and he’s clear; so are Fourcade, Guigonnat, Schempp and Shipulin – out in that order with Desthieux 6th after missing 1 at S1. Babikov and Loginov gaining places at present. On the lap Johannes seems to be gaining time on most athletes – Martin F holding on to the gap. JoBø in for his second prone – good shooting, and that’s 10/10. Martin F also clear and out +36.8. Guigonnat has missed 1, so Anton Shipulin out 3rd, ahead of Schempp with Guigonnat 5th – Babikov up to 6th from 15. Simon Eder is up from 26 to 8, Bjøntegaard from 25 to 10 and I think the snow is getting a little heavier? Martin F is losing a little on the lap – he’s been breathing very hard on the range; maybe a bit off optimum here? First standing shoot – JoBø very steady and clear before Martin has even arrived; and he’s missed 1. Shipulin is clear and out 3rd, just over 5 seconds behind Martin, who is +1:01.6. Desthieux clear and out 4th ahead of Loginov and Doll, Schempp has missed 2, and out 7th. Lukas Hofer is 15/15 and up from 40 to 8th!  On this lap Martin has pulled out a little on Shipulin; in for the final shoot and JoBø has almost a full minute in hand – that was very fast, confident shooting – 20/20! Martin F has missed his last target, but Shipulin has also missed 1. Out Bø, Fourcade (+1:18.0), Shipulin (+1:33.6), then Loginov, Schempp, Desthieux Eder and Hofer (0,0,0,1). Johannes is taking it easy on the final lap, saving himself for the Mass Start (second week in succession that the men have had 3 races in 3 days) – those behind don’t have that luxury! Loginov chasing down Shipulin for the final podium place – under 5 seconds to make up at 11.7 Km. JoBø (0,0,0,0) gets a very impressive win; Martin F (0,0,1,1) on the podium again and Shipulin (0,0,0,1) just outsprints Loginov (0,1,0,0; from 18th to 4th) for the final podium spot. Schempp in 5th ahead of Desthieux with Lukas Hofer in 7th, from 40th! Other major gains include Bjøntegaard (25 – 10), Peiffer (22 – 11), Bailey (35 – 14), Florent Claude (36 – 18) and Finello (54 – 21). Losing ground the list includes Guigonnat (3 – 12), Burke (10 – 26), Doherty (17 – 30), Lapshin (8 -31) and Gjesbakk (7 – 39). Lapshin fastest on the range (but 0,2,0,1), then Shipulin and Eder with JoBø 4th; Lukas Hofer fastest around the course ahead of Loginov and Martin F.

Annecy-Le Grand Bornand (ALGB) – Women’s 12.5 km Mass Start (17 Dec): Massive crowd there, both in the stands and around the course – great support! Massive traffic jam at the first bridge – that’s stretched them out! At the first split time Kuzmina leads from Herrmann, Braisaz, Kaisa M, Vittozzi and Wierer – Kuzmina might be the only Russian to go to the Olympics, albeit as a Slovakian! In for S1 and Kuzmina has missed 2; Justine Braisaz clear and away in the lead followed by Denise Herrmann, Kaisa M, Laura Dahlmeier, Doro Wierer and the Semerenkos (Valj just ahead) – all clear. Among those missing 1 – Vittozzi, Dunklee, Olsbu, MDH and Franzi Hildebrand. On the lap Laura leads ahead of Denise and Kaisa. So, S2 – Laura D has missed 1, so has Kaisa. Vita Semerenko leads out, ahead of Doro W, Braisaz, Hammerschmidt, Herrmann, and Hinz; all 10/10. Laura in 7th, Kuzmina clear this time and up to 12th. On the lap Kuzmina is up to 7th – she’s pulled back 10 seconds, really on form herel! First standing shoot – Denise Herrmann is clear (brilliant effort) and away; Laura D (0, 1, 0) clear this time and out 2nd, +23.4, ahead of Doro Wierer (0,0,1), Justine Braisaz (0,0,1) and Vita S (0,0,1). Kuzmina has missed 1 more – out 9th. Looks like only Herrmann, Kryuko and Chevalier are 15/15. Braisaz pushing on the lap; Kuzmina up to 5th again. Final shoot – Denise H has missed 3 (sigh); Braisaz clear and so is Iryna Kryuko (20/20) rest missing in varying numbers! Out Braisaz (0,0,1,0), Kryuko (0,0,0,0), +15.0, Dahlmeier (0,1,0,1), +24.7, Kuzmina (2,0,1,1; +32.8), Dzhima and Hinz. The French supporters will be going wild; at 11.2 Km Justine is 19.1 seconds clear – Kryuko losing ground to Dahlmeier too, but I think she might just hang on. Kuzmina isn’t catching but she has done an extra 600 meters. Justine Braisaz wins; she has enough in had to slow down and collect a flag. Kryuko (BLR) gets a well-deserved 2nd place as a reward for her 20/20. Laura D gets 3rd place despite 2 penalties; Kuzmina 4th despite 4 penalties, still just +25.5! Nice to see Vanessa Hinz in 5th, ahead of Anais Chevalier – good day for Germany and France. Denise Herrmann ended up 12th – but she has proved she can clear 15/15 – just needs to sort out the nerves! Eva Puskarčíková fastest on the range ahead of Vita and Doro Wierer; Kuzmina fastest round the course, ahead of Bescond and Kaisa M.

Annecy-Le Grand Bornand (ALGB) – Men’s 15 km Mass Start (17 Dec): The bad news is that Eurosport have ski jumping in the schedule just before this race and that almost invariably over-runs! In fact I can’t see the live race on the schedule; have to use the commentary less IBU feed! All very close at 1.2 Km, Martin Fourcade seems to be dictating the pace, ahead of Fak, Schempp and Johannes Bø. At 1.7 Km Martin has JoBø right on his heels! Already we are in for S1 – Johannes ahead; Martin has gone past again – JoBø has missed 2; Shipulin and Lesser very quick to clear. Out in order Anton Shipulin, Erik Lesser, Martin F (+3.1), then Eder, Babikov and Tarjei Bø – all clear so far. JoBø in 25th, +38.7; Desthieux, Fak, Schempp and Doll among those who have missed 1; Eliseev has missed all 5. All very close on the lap – Martin leading at 4.7 Km. What is going on near the range – officials talking about something - a dropped magazine? In for S2 – Erik Lesser shooting very fast and he’s 10/10 and out ahead of Anton Shipulin; Benny Weger in 3rd, ahead of Martin F who was shooting very carefully. Peiffer in 5th just ahead of Eder who missed 1. JoBø clear this time and +30.8 in 9th. Babikov has missed 2 and dropped to 18th. Martin F is back in front on the next lap, ahead of Erik and Anton – leading group of 5 have a fair gap to the chasing pack. The crowd are going wild, obviously hoping for a French double today – first standing shoot – Lesser and Shipulin again fast and clear; JoBø also clear and shooting very quickly. After S3 the order is Lesser, Shipulin, Martin F (+3.0) and Johannes Bø (2,0,0; +20.3) – amazing recovery. Eder in 5th ahead of Loginov, Weger and Peiffer (+31.3). Once again Martin F is setting the pace on the lap and I think he’s pulled out a little time on JoBø? Martin seems to have turned on the afterburners an opened up a sizeable gap on that hill – in for the final shoot – all 20 down, fist pump and away! Anton Shipulin and Erik Lesser are also 20/20 and out almost together about 8 seconds behind Martin F – Johannes Bø also clear here and he’s 4th, +15.7 – not good news for Erik and Anton? Fair gap then to Weger, Peiffer and Fak (+49.9). At 13.2 Km JoBø is past both Erik and Anton; the Russian has dropped off the group so Erik and Johannes are disputing 2nd and 3rd at present – Fourcade pulling away. At 13.7 Martin is 15.1 ahead of Bø, who is 0.8 ahead of Lesser, Shipulin some 12 seconds back. So Martin Fourcade gets his win on home snow to the delight of the crowd. Johannes Bø in 2nd despite 2 penalty loops and Erik Lesser gets 3rd, but 3 seconds behind Johannes even with his 20/20! Anton Shipulin in 4th, ahead of Weger and Peiffer. Sorry to see QFM, Doll and Desthieux among those with 5 penalties; Eliseev has 9 (5,1,1,2)! Simon Eder fastest in the range ahead of Lesser and Shipulin; no surprise that JoBø was fastest around the course, ahead of Martin F, and Lukas Hofer. I am already seriously bored with the advert for the Youth Olympic Games in October 2018!!

Alta Badia – Men’s Parallel Giant Slalom (18 Dec): I always find these hard to follow, because they go through the heats so fast! Poor Thibaut Favrot (FRA) has got Marcel Hirscher as his opponent in the first round – mind you, this is such an odd event that anything can happen! Minus 9 at the finish – sixteen heats in round 1, although Manuel Feller might not start as he apparently has knee issues? Stephan Luitz isn’t here and reports say he has got a ruptured ACL. Hirscher has won his run 1; Jansrud has beaten Molgg and Myhrer is ahead of Ted Ligety.  Next set – Meillard beats Fanara, Olsson has beaten Andrienko – quite close that one until the Russian fell, and Brennsteiner has just pipped Zan Kranjec.  Tonetti beats fellow Italian De Aliprandini; Faivre is just 0.03 ahead of Zubcic and Kristoffersen is slower than Alex Schmidt – there’s a surprise already! Leitinger beats Mayer; Erik Read is quicker than Florian Eisath and Caviezel wins against LKNH. Four to go – Murisier beats Tommy Ford; Roberto Nani gets a free ride as Feller isn’t starting, but needs to complete the course, which he does. Kilde has beaten Muffat-Jeandet; Luca Aerni has just pipped Alexis Pinturault – more winners on the blue course! Right – all change and they swap sides for run 2.
Second run; all 16 – Hirscher has beaten Favrot; well done him, he’s been knocked out in run 1 a few times in this discipline! Other winners – Jansrud; Myhrer; Meillard; Olsson; Brennsteiner (by just 0.03!); De Aliprandini (the first to reverse a run 1 result); Zubcic; Kristoffersen (Schmidt lost his pole on the gate!); Mayer; Read; LKNH (Caviezel falling and out); Murisier; Nani (of course); Kilde and Pinturault (despite a very impressive recovery by Aerni). The FIS live timing feed was useless for that run – keeps crashing!
Next round – 1/8 finals: Hirscher has beaten Jansrud (who is holding his back; result isn’t on the FIS feed); Myhrer beats Meillard; Olsson beats Brennsteiner. Zubcic just 0.02 faster than De Aliprandini; Kristoffersen beats Mayer; LKNH is faster than Read. Nani has an opponent this time – he’s lost to Murisier; Kilde beats Pinturault by 0.02. Nick Fellowes keeps talking about a second run, on the other course, but the FIS are saying they don’t swap course this time! And they are right – straight into the QF
Quarter Final (again, just 1 run) – Hirscher has beaten Myhrer; Olsson beats Zubcic; Kristoffersen beats fellow Norwegian LKNH and Kilde wins against Murisier.
Semi Final – beaten QF’s compete against each other ; QF winners against winners. So Myhrer v Zubcic first – the Swede takes it! Now, Hirscher v Olsson – a Swede wins again, by 0.05 this time! Both wins on the blue course so far. LKNH has beaten Murisier – score one for the red course! Finally Kristoffersen beats Kilde – another red win – honours even.
FINALS: First the “Small” finals, to decide the placings for the beaten semi-finalists and then it’s the “Big Final” for Kristoffersen and Olsson. First away, for 7th and 8th positions – Murisier v Zubcic – Murisier wins. Next LKNH v Myhrer, for 5th and 6th – LKNH takes the win. Last of the “small finals” – Hirscher v Kilde; Marcel takes the win by just 0.08 – all 3 wins on the blue course so far! That’s a useful 60 points to Hirscher in the World Cup overall! Right – the final final! Matts Olsson has chalked up one for the red course to beat Henrik Kristoffersen by just 0.03! So, Olsson wins (his first world Cup win?), Kristoffersen 2nd and Hirscher 3rd. Exciting stuff!

Courcheval – Women’s GS (19 Dec): Course for run 1 set by an American coach, which might help Mikaela Shiffrin, who is racing today after a training session in Norway last week. Lot of fresh snow apparently, so it might be a bit soft in patches? Looks like a very nice day though – blue sky and sun as Manuela Mölgg starts the action; 3 Italians in succession to open the event – Marta Bassino takes over the lead; green all the way. Now Sofia Goggia – red all the way; slowest so far but she caught a gate on the way – hopefully just a bruise. Vikki Rebensburg next, and she’s green at inter 3 – didn’t seem much wrong on the lower section, but she lost time somewhere – just 3rd, +0.55. Shiffrin is green at 1, red at 2, green at 3 and into the lead by 0.51. Lovely skiing! Federica Brignone was in touch at inter 2 but she’s fallen – looks like she hit a rut; sitting up at present but not really in camera shot – hope she’s OK. Course is cutting up a bit and no recent changes to the top 3; with 10 down – Shiffrin leads from Bassino, Mölgg and Rebensburg, then Worley and Goggia. Nina Haver-Løseth (what is it with these Norwegian names?) into 4th – good run! Ragnhild Mowinckel really well in touch on the upper section – slight error but she’s still into joint 5th.  Now – Melanie Meillard fine until inter 3; lost a bit on the final section but still good enough for 7th. Well 20 down and it’s Shiffrin, Bassino, Mölgg, Haver-Løseth, with Mowinckel and Rebensburg tied in 5th. That looks painful - Katharina Truppe has fallen just before the finish – taking out a gate and quite a bit of the actual finish which luckily is inflatable; she seems OK but is holding her leg – again, hopefully just bruised. Quite a delay as they need to replace the timing board and recalibrate. Kristin Lysdahl has also crashed out; didn’t look too bad at first but the replay looked worse – shoulder injury (which is apparently what Goggia has too?). Well, that’s the 30 – no changes to the top 10 since Meillard went 7th and Baud-Mugnier took 10th place. Alex Tilley into 20th place and should get a second run?
Run 2: Set by a German coach this time; rather more direct apparently. Bits of the course look very cut up! Right – the first 10 are away; Meta Hrovat (SLO) leads from Irene Curtoni (ITA) and Tina Robnik (SLO); next away is Ricarda Haaser (AUT) and she’s 0.19 faster. We have lost the video feed just as Alex Tilley takes over the lead; sadly not for long as Sara Hector goes faster. Lara Gut is slowly getting back into form after injury; only 18th after run 1 but now she leads run 2 – only by 0.17 though.  Slight delay while they renew the blue dye – Stephanie Brunner (AUT) first away after that repair work; good to inter 3 but then she’s bounced off the line and goes 6th. Good recovery by Elisabeth Kappaurer who is into 9th – Austrians are not having a good day today; Haaser the best and currently in 4th! Lara Gut’s time has held up well, but fellow Swiss skier Wendy Holdener has displaced her, despite a couple mistakes on the lower section – she was -0.80 at inter 3 but just 0.06 faster at the line. Ana Drev into joint 3rd with Hector; top 10 from run 1 to come. Adeline Baud-Mugnier has taken over the lead; the chainsaw outside the commentary area has started up again! Goggia off the pace; nice to know that Alex Tilley will get a PB today, no matter what comes – there is another interruption to the race, presumably for more repair work? Tessa Worley has skied the lower section brilliantly – she has changed a 0.08 advantage at the start into a 0.68 lead – superb run; best one on run 2 so far! Melanie Meillard can’t quite match Worley’s final section – into 2nd after being green all the way to inter 3. Vikki Rebensburg has lost a lot of her advantage by inter 1 and she’s red by inter 2 – I suspect her crash at the weekend hasn’t helped – she apparently has a swollen and sore knee after that; just 9th – and she has thrown her ski away – set up snags too? Ragnhild Mowinckel is green all the way to inter 3 but loses a bit to go 2nd by just 0.03; she seems happy! Nina Haver-Løseth has gained time between inter 1 and 2; 0.42 in hand at inter 3, but she’s another who can’t match Worley on the final section – into 3rd. Hard to bear – Manuela Mölgg is also green all the way to the last split time and goes 2nd by just 2 hundredths! Marta Bassino is losing time all the way and into the red by inter 3 – just 7th, with just Mikaela Shiffrin to go. Shiffrin wasn’t exactly error free either but with 1.42 in hand at the start it made very little difference and she takes another win – 0.99 ahead at the finish! Tessa Worley, who had the fastest time on run 2, is 2nd ahead of Manuela Mölgg. Mowinckel 4th ahead of Haver-Løseth and Meillard. Lara Gut in 10th, with the second fastest time for run 2, and Alex Tilley ended up 13th (5th fastest on run 2).

Courcheval – Women’s Parallel Slalom (20 Dec): There was a 1 run slalom race earlier today as a form of qualification for the parallel slalom; I think this might be the first time the women have raced this discipline?! Mikaela Shiffrin won that, ahead of Erin Mielzynski (CAN) and Adeline Baud Mugnier; Melanie Meillard 4th ahead of Wendy Holdener and Bernadette Schild. Alex Tilley in 12th , so she goes in the parallel, but some well-known names missed out!  Oddly, on the FIS calendar, the actual parallel slalom, originally advertised as starting at 1800 CET, is now shown as 1030, but clicking on live timing says the event does start at 1800 CET; I wonder if there is a vacancy in the FIS IT team??
Anyway – the 1/16 final sees Coralie Frasse Sombet v Shiffrin as the first match! The 12th match is Alex Tilley v Maren Skjøld. This part of the competition is 2 runs, I on the red course, 1 on the blue to decide who goes through to the 1/8 final – DNF or DQ equals a 0.50 penalty for run 2.
So - Shiffrin v Frasse Sombet – the Frenchwoman has fallen on run 1; no surprise that Mikaela wins run two as well.  Swenn-Larsson v Thalmann – Thalmann takes run 1; Anna SW DQ on run 2 so Carmen Thalmann is through to the next round.  Haaser v Costazza – run 1; Haaser wins but by just 0.05;  a much more dominant display on run 2 gives Ricarda Haaser the win.  Holtmann (NOR) v Meillard – Holtmann DQ on run 1  after a straddle; Meillard cruised through run 2 after Holtmann had a pole problem at the start.  Hilzinger (GER) v Bernadette Schild – the German takes run 1 by 0.17; Hilzinger is just 0.05 ahead after run 2!  Brunner v Curtoni – Brunner has fallen on run 1; very close on run 2 but Irene Curtoni just takes it.  Ferk v Truppe; Truppe takes the first run, and holds on in run 2 to go through. Adriana Jelinkova (NED) v Hansdotter – Frida takes that on run 1, Jelinkova DQ; the Dutch skier caught up a little on run 2 but not enough – Hansdotter through.  Smart (CAN) v Holdener – Wendy takes run 1, Smart is a DNF; Holdener dominant on run 2 as well, she’s into the next round.  Baud Mugnier v Resi Stiegler (USA) – the American is a DNF on run 1; Adeline wins run 2 easily – margin 1.41 at the end.   Mölgg v  Geiger (GER) – surprise on run 1 – Mölgg DQ; Christina Geiger into the next round by 0.41.  Tilley v Skjøld (NOR) – Alex is a DNF on run 1 after hooking a gate; on the pace in run 2 but fell so Skjøld through.   Ignjatovic (SRB) v Bucik -  Ana Bucik gets it but by just 0.05 on run 1; Bucik has fallen so Nevena  Ignjatovic is through. Nasty fall for Bucik, just at the jump but she’s up and skiing away.  Noens v Feierabend – run 1 Noens DQ, and another one skiing with a gate panel; Denise Feierabend lost a bit in run 2 but she’s done enough. Mielzynski v Wallner (GER) – Wallner takes run 1; Canadian a DNF on run 2 after getting into the lead!  Gasienica-Daniel (POL) v Vlhova – the Slovak takes run 1 and holds on in run 2 to get into the next part of the competition.
Now, the 1/8 final – 1 run only from now on. First out – Thalmann v Shiffrin; pretty close stuff, Mikaela wins by 0.21. Next – Meillard v Haaser; Ricarda takes it by 0.22. Third match – Jessica Hilzinger v Curtoni; the Italian took that one quite comfortably. Truppe v Hansdotter – Katharina Truppe gets this one, first win for the blue course. Holdener v Baud Mugnier – Wendy H wins by 0.43. Skjøld v Geiger; Maren S gets that one but by just 0.05. Feierabend v Ignjatovic – Denise F gets through – the FIS feed is all over the place, numbers appearing and vanishing rather alarmingly! Last match – Wallner v Vlhova; Petra V wins by 0.19.
Quarter Final – We start with Haaser v Shiffrin; Mikaela takes it easily in the end as Haaser fell while being pretty much neck and neck after Shiffrin had a wobble on the jump. Curtoni beats Truppe after the Austrian misses a gate – DQ. Skjøld v Holdener – well, Maren S has taken it after Wendy fell – face full of snow. Finally Denise F v Petra V – slight delay while they adjust the start; Vlhova wins by 0.14.
Semi Finals: We start with Truppe v Haaser – we can be certain an Austrian will win this, and it’s Haaser as Truppe skis out. Now two winners from the QF – Curtoni v Shiffrin; Mikaela makes a great start and takes it by 0.18. Denise F v Wendy H – an all Swiss event, which Wendy takes as Denise is a DNF. Finally the other 2 winners from the QF – Skjøld v Vlhova; Petra takes this one to meet Mikaela in the big final; another close one.
The FINALS: First the “small finals” – Denise Feierabend v Katharina Truppe for 7th/8th – Truppe just nicks it by 0.04! Now – 5th & 6th between Haaser and Holdener; it’s a dead heat, so they share 5th! Last “small” – for the final podium place, between Skjøld and Curtoni - Maren has skied out so Irena Curtoni gets third tonight. Now the big one – Vlhova v Shiffrin: Mikaela has made the better start – it’s very close all the way, but Shiffrin takes it by 0.04 and gets another 100 World Cup points! Brilliant racing – that’s Mikaela’s 35th World Cup win!

The Mass Starts in Le Grand Bornand were great entertainment. The French spectators were fantastic, turning up in huge numbers to cheer on two home victories. Delighted to see Justine gain her first victory, the delight of the crowd when she left the range for the final time was amazing. Nice see Kruyko on the podium, 3 Belarus ladies on the podium so far this season, maybe a relay threat? Kuzmina’s ski sped is amazing, hope she hasn’t peaked to early. Laura will be hard bet in Korea.

Over the moon for Martin, it meant a lot to him. Jo Bo is really throwing down the gauntlet this year, he’s always had the potential but has been inconsistent, maybe not this season. It should be a great duel for the rest of the season.

I wonder will any of the Russians be in Korea? I wouldn’t be so sure. I was disappointed to see that Olga Zaitseva has now been banned, I always like her and thought she was a great competition.

Madonna de Campiglio – Men’s Slalom (22 Dec): A little warm perhaps, so maybe the early starters will have an advantage on run 1, although the actual course is very icy (injected)? A good crowd for this night slalom; Andre Myhrer is the first away tonight – course set by a Frenchman working for the Swedish team? Myhrer is safely down – looks a tight, tricky course in places. Manfred Mölgg is smoother and a lot quicker – 0.77 ahead at the finish!  Marcel Hirscher  away third and just fractionally in the red at inter 1 and 2; green at 3 though and 0.44 faster at the finish – as an aside it’s a year ago, in this same event, that a TV drone fell out of the sky and nearly hit him! Stefano Gross into 3rd; Michael Matt into 4th and Fritz Dopfer is off the pace tonight! Now, Henrik Kristoffersen is next – he’s just 3rd, +0.49. Nice run from Alexander Khoroshilov into 2nd; Dave Ryding is 10th away – green at inter 1, red at 2 and 3 – he’s into 5th, +0.75. So, Hirscher leads from Khoroshilov and Mölgg; Kristoffersen in 4th ahead of Ryding with Marco Schwarz going into 6th. Bad news for Dave – Daniel Yule into 5th, commentators stressing that he could actually ski for GB! I wonder how much wind drag Lizeroux gets from that beard? He’s just 11th, while Pinturault goes into 13th. Luca Aerni is much more in touch – he goes 3rd, + 0.23; nice skiing from the Swiss. Manuel Feller into 7th, pushing Ryding down another place; Seb Foss- Solevaag is now into 7th, in his turn. Twenty down – no change to the top 6 since Aerni. Now, this is better – Christian Hirschbühl into 7th, so maybe the course isn’t deteriorating that much? Or maybe it is …. Start number 30 is Loic Meillard and he’s green at inter 1 – haven’t seen that for a while – red on the rest though and into 14th. With 30 down, no change to the top 10 since Hirschbühl; Dave Ryding in 10th. No late changes to the top 15; among the better late runs, I noticed Clement Noel (start number 50) getting into 20th and Timon Haugan got 29th from a start number of 74!
Run 2:  Little bit colder now; course set by a Norwegian and it looks tricky. First decent run was by Ramon Zenhaüsern (SUI); Erik Read into 2nd. Robin Buffet (FRA) takes over the lead by 0.24; Thomas Hettegger (AUT) now into 2nd.  Jean-Baptiste Grange into joint 1st; ten down and it’s Buffet/Grange with Hettegger in 3rd. Clement Noel is building on his advantage; 0.22 at the start, 0.55 at inter 2, but he’s skied out on the steep – pity! Alexis Pinturault doesn’t make the same error and he leads by 0.51; Andre Myhrer into 2nd. Julien Lizeroux is well in touch, and he’s into 3rd;  Linus Strasser into the green at inter 3 but he’s lost it – a mistake just before the final flat – into 9th and we are half way. Michael Matt is out, and so is Meillard; Stefano Gross is slowly losing his advantage but he had just enough – he leads by just 0.04! Now – here comes Dave Ryding – he’s gaining time; 0.10 at the start, lost a little on the final flat but he leads by 0.31. Not sure how Manuel Feller did that - +0.58 at inter 3 but into the lead by just 2 hundredths! Seb Foss-Solevaag into 3rd; Christian Hirschbühl gaining time to inter 3 but he’s also lost it  - one error and he’s down to 7th. Six to go; Daniel Yule takes the lead! Next is Henrik Kristoffersen; he’s gaining to inter 2 – lost a bit to 3 and takes the lead by just 0.02; all very tight! Manfred Mölgg into the red at inter 1 and getting redder; better lower section – into 5th. Luca Aerni slightly red all the way, but he’s nicked the lead by one hundredth; Kristoffersen’s face was a picture!! Khoroshilov has straddled and lost a ski; just Hirscher to go – 0.37 in hand at the start; 0.69 at inter 2 but then a massive error and he’s just 0.01 in the green at 3 – he wins by just 0.04 – what an epic recovery! Hirscher wins from Luca Aerni with Henrik Kristoffersen 3rd. Yule in 4th ahead of Feller and Ryding. Best time on run 2 was by Alexis Pinturault, Hirscher’s was 18th!!

Nice to see you back, Irish Runner - I'm a bit suspicious of Kuzmina's sudden improvement; hopefully just hard work on her part and cynicism on mine!

Lienz – Women’s Slalom (28 Dec): I understand this should have been a GS but the FIS have swapped things around because of the weather. Came to run 1 rather late – fairly predictably Mikaela Shiffrin is leading; in second is Frida Hansdotter (+1.14!), ahead of Wendy Holdener, Petra Vlhova, Bernadette Schild and Melanie Meillard. Hard to believe on a slalom course, but there is no one within a second of Shiffrin! Probably the best of the later starters is Katherina Gallhuber – start number 23 and into 11th.  Just seen a re-run of Shiffrin’s masterclass on run 1 – lovely to watch! Start number 45 is Alex Tilley; sadly she’s a DNF – not sure why Eurosport couldn’t have shown her run as Bormio has been delayed? Lot of DNFs among the later starters but no late charges into the top 10, although Roni Remme (CAN) did get 17th from start number 37.
Run 2: Eurosport join with 10 away (1 DNS; 1 DNF) – Estelle Alphand (SWE) leads from Maren Wiesler (GER) and Adeline Baud Mugnier (FRA). Course is a little rutted with the aftermath of run 1 in places. Michelle Gisin into 2nd; Stephanie Brunner into 3rd – looks very easy to lose time on the lower half! There’s another one – Irene Curtoni still nicely green at inter 2 but going from 0.28 ahead at inter 2 to 0.81 behind at the finish – 4th. Lena Dürr into 2nd, +0.67; that final section really is tricky – the next 2 skiers have lost over a second between inter 2 and the finish – one small error there is all it takes! Denise Feierabend (SUI) had 0.75 in hand at the start – at the finish she’s +0.49 and into 2nd.  Now, Katherina Gallhuber (AUT) had a good first run – that’s a good effort, but going from 0.78 in hand to +0.19, and 2nd place. Alphand’s time is holding up well – Haver-Løseth had 0.88 advantage but the best she can do is 4th, +0.53; just 8 to come – Alphand leads from Gallhuber and Feierabend.  Short delay for repair work to the track; Christina Geiger still has 0.60 in hand at inter 2 and a fairly clean course – she goes 3rd, +0.39.  Costazza is a DNF after a straddle; and Meillard has gone from 1.25 ahead to +0.49 and 4th place. At last – Bernadette Schild (AUT) has taken the lead, but by just 0.05 – Alphand’s time is still the best on run 2 though. Petra Vlhova next, on a course set by her coach – she’s gained to inter 1, lost a bit to 2 and into joint 2nd by 0.05!  Wendy Holdener (SUI) next (-0.42 at start) – she too gains to inter 1, but she’s held most of it at 2 and that’s a superb final section – she leads by a massive 0.88! Two to come – part of me would like to see Alphand stay on the podium, but that seems very unlikely! Frida Hansdotter into the red at inter 1 but not by much – she ends up 2nd, +0.33. Last to start is Mikaela Shiffrin, who has a massive 1.28 in hand – she’s losing time slowly on the run to inter 2, then steadies and gains a little to the end – that’s yet another win! Impressive stuff from Estelle Alphand – still the best time on run 2 and a PB for her in joint 5th. So, Mikaela Shiffrin wins, Wendy Holdener 2nd and Frida Hansdotter 3rd, ahead of Schild and Alphand/Vlhova.

Bormio – Men’s Downhill (28 Dec): Just the 1 training run in the build-up to this event. Weather hasn’t been too kind here (if you want to race; probably great for holiday skiing?) with lots of fresh snow for the course workers to clear; there is a 45 minute delay to the scheduled start time to allow this to happen. They must have been working hard as the race is on – Max Franz first away – the racers here go from 0 to 60 mph faster than my car! It’s going to be very important to stay on the racing line, because off line it’s quite deep snow! Franz is safely down; 128.4 km/h through the final speed gun! Thomas Dressen is a bit faster through the speed guns but eventually 0.28 slower, into 2nd. Matthias Mayer next and he’s 0.41 ahead at inter 3; he’s kept it green and leads by 0.27. Vincent Kriechmayr is nicely green at the top, 0.47 ahead at inter 4 and then a massive error – lucky to keep going but that’s cost him a lot of time – 1.74 off the pace at the finish. Kjetil Jansrud next – also very nicely green on the upper section – he’s keeping it going too and he now leads by 0.44. Manny O-P off the pace initially but into 4th after a good lower section;  here comes Aksel Lund Svindal – slightly red on the early intermediates, and 0.12 behind at inter 4 – faster through the final speed gun and he takes the lead by just 0.13. Norway 1 and 2, Mayer in 3rd. Küng into 5th and then it’s Beat Feuz – nice run, despite a hairy top section, and fastest through the lower gun but into 3rd, +0.27. TV break over and it’s Dominik Paris – on home snow; Nick Fellowes has tipped him to do well today, and he’s spot on – Paris into the lead by just 0.04! The light conditions seem to be improving a little, but times aren’t that impressive until Adrien Theaux goes 6th; 15 down and it’s Paris leading from Svindal, Jansrud, Feuz, Mayer and Theaux (what a recovery from him – I thought he was over!). Travis Ganong has caught an edge and he’s into the netting – he’s gone through 2 sets of net despite the slowing effect of the deeper snow. Travis is back up on his feet but the snow is too dep for him to ski down on that side of the netting; happily he seems OK. Good run from Hannes Reichelt, despite a rather too exciting (for him) jump – into 5th.  Short delay due to wind across one of the jumps – just 20 down so I hope it doesn’t pick up too much.  Racing is continuing, but no changes to the top 10 since Kilde went joint 10th from start number 17. Aha – Mauro Caviezel (start 25) has had a good run, until the very final section, where he lost a bit of time – into 14th, but could have been at top 10! That’s 27 away, and run 2 of the Lienz slalom is about to start – Eurosport staying at Bormio for the present. Another nasty crash – this time Guillermo Fayed, off the rocker jump and into the nets; he’s on his feet and being checked by the medics – seems OK too; tough people! Coverage is shifting to Lienz, but we have got through the magic 30 so the race will stand! Looks very much like Dominik Paris will take the win from Svindal and Jansrud. Can’t see what happened but the race has been interrupted for a long time after Dominik Schwaiger (GER) joined the DNFs – hope he is also OK, and similarly the other late starting DNFs? Right – race is eventually over; very impressive win for Dominik Paris, spoiling the Norwegians’’ day – Svindal 2nd, Jansrud 3rd ahead of Feuz, Reichelt and Mayer.

Lienz – Women’s GS (29 Dec): A much better day – weather nicer with sunshine on the upper part of the course – no wind and a well prepared piste! Course set by an Italian coach; Mikaela Shiffrin has drawn start number 1 today. Right Shiffrin is safely down, and that looked pretty good. Marta Bassino into 2nd, +0.47; Federica Brignone is +0.48 at inter 1 – much better on the rest of the course though and just +0.12 at the finish – into 2nd. Tessa Worley made an early mistake, but the rest was good and she is into 3rd, +0.21 – already looking like an exciting second run! Sofia Goggia was briefly green at inter 2; she is now 3rd, +0.14 – that slightly odd line paid off! Yes – Vikki Rebensburg green at inter 1, dead level at 2 and takes the lead by 0.05 - this is all very close! Ana Drev is well in touch at inter 2, but she’s lost a little lower down – 6th, +0.28. That’s 10 down – Rebensburg leads from Shiffrin (+0.05) and Brignone (+0.17); Goggia 4th ahead of Worley and Drev. Brunner into 7th; Mowinckel into 9th. Twenty down now; no change to the top 10 since Mowinckel. Well now, bib 23 is Tina Robnik (SLO) and she’s had a storming run – into 3rd, just +0.12! Eurosport is swapping to Bormio, sadly just before Alex Tilley’s first run – she’s 16th, +1.40 – hopefully good enough for a second run? As an aside I am already sick of the “Youth Olympic Games” advert - it’s not ‘til October, for heaven’s sake! Not much happening with the later starters, although Meta Hrovat (SLO – start 31) has got into 12th – the good news is that Alex Tilley is still 17th at the moment, just behind Frida Hansdotter and ahead of all but 1 of the Austrians. That’s run 1 over and no change to the top 17!
Run 2: Set by a French coach. I do like the camera run – looks a bit bouncy! Sara Hector opens the second run; safely down. That wasn’t entirely error free, but she’s holding on to the lead at present – lots of skiers losing time on the final section, where Sara was particularly fast. Ten down and Sara Hector still leads, from Lysdahl and Haaser. Estelle Alphand has just missed it – into 2nd, just 9 hundredths behind; Sweden 1 and 2. Now – Elisabeth Kappaurer (AUT) was very good between inter 1 and 2, which helps her hang on to her green light – she takes the lead by 0.09. Next is Alex Tilley – red at inter 1, still in touch at 2 but losing time on the final section – she’ll be disappointed with 10th, at present. Mind you, she’s done better than Frida Hansdotter – the course seems to be cutting up, and she’s just 15th – the slowest so far on combined time. Manuela Mölgg on course now – she’s just 0.03 off the lead at the finish! What a run from Petra Vlhova – gaining time all the way and she goes into the lead by a massive 0.98 – even so that is only the 2nd fastest time on run 2 – Sara Hector still best! Impressive day for Meta Hrovat – great first run from start number 31 and she’s into 2nd now, +0.13 and no matter what, that will be a PB. Lara Gut isn’t back to her best yet, but she’s into 3rd; until Ragnhild Mowinckel takes that place away. Stephanie Brunner has gained a bit to inter 1 – good run and enough in hand on the lower section to take the lead for Austria – very popular! Ana Drev has cut a gate rather too close which has knocked off a little time – into 2nd. Tessa Worley has gained a lot to inter 1, lost most of it by 2 but she’s good on the lower section too and leads by 0.07. Interesting – Vikki Rebensburg is wearing GB team overtrousers – presumably she’s borrowed them from Alex, but she is very welcome to join! Sofia Goggia is well off the pace – looks like her set-up is all wrong? Four to come – Federica Brignone struggling at the top, but good from inter 1 to 2, to get herself back in the green, and good on the final section too – into the lead! Tina Robnik can’t develop her great first run position; she lost speed on the flat and goes 9th. Next away is Mikaela Shiffrin – losing a little by inter 2 and she’s into 2nd – there’s a turn up for today! Just Vikki R to go – she’s gained a tiny bit by inter 1, lost some by 2 – hard to bear – she goes 2nd by just 0.04 – amazing that Brignone took it after such an epic top section, but well done her! So, Federica Brignone wins, with Vikki Rebensburg 2nd and Mikaela Shiffrin 3rd; then Worley, Brunner and Drev. Alex Tilley in 24th place.

Bormio – Men’s Alpine Combined (29 Dec): Downhill first, then the slalom; no Marcel Hirscher or Henrik Kristoffersen, and no Svindal either – resting his knee. I think this combination might favour the speed specialists as it’s a technical and very fast downhill, even if it isn’t quite the full length version – icier than yesterday though, and it’s still the longest downhill in the Alpine Combined calendar by a fair distance! Mauro Caviezel first to go – faster through the speed gun than yesterday’s downhill! Again, it’s a nice day – blue skies and cold conditions. For a mainly tech skier Victor Muffat-Jeandet has had a good stab at that - +2.58. Justin Murisier (SUI) is also not usually seen on the longer skis, but he’s more in touch – into 2nd, +1.69. Nils Mani (SUI) is having a good run – well in touch and into 2nd, +0.27. Kilde into 3rd; Alexis Pinturault into 4th, and he’s good on the technical stuff too. Natko Zrncic Dim (CRO) into 7th; I thought Luca Aerni might have been more in touch – he’s gone 7th, +2.18, but this is a very long course for the technical skiers. Next is Dominik Paris – the winner of yesterday’s downhill – he takes the lead by 1.05, but he’s going to need all of that when the slalom starts - 133.50 km/h though the final speed gun! Max Muzaton into 4th; Peter Fill is going well – into 2nd, +0.50. Fifteen down – Paris leads ahead of Fill and Caviezel with Romed Baumann just going into 4th. Now, Kjetil Jansrud is here today – green at inter 2, but he’s fading a bit – into 3rd and it’s +0.97; tiring a bit? Vincent Kriechmayr a bit more in touch and he’s taken over 3rd place; only for a few minutes though as Matthias Mayer is into 2nd and just 0.21 behind Paris. Thomas Dressen into 5th; not sure what his slalom skills are like? Useful run from Adrien Theaux; lucky escape off the jump – even so 6th place! Another good run from Gilles Roulin – he’s into 10th. Well, that’s run 1 complete – no late changes to the top 10; Paris leads from Mayer, Fill, Kriechmayr, Dressen and Theaux – Pinturault is 19th, +1.65.
Run 2 – Slalom: Top 31 (2 tied in 30th) from run 1 go in reverse order before the slower ones get their second run, but how will the speed specialists do on the shorter skis? Bostjan Kline first away; Klemen Kosi faster so Slovenia 1 and 2 at present!! Nice slalom skills from Martin Cater – he leads and at the moment it’s an all Slovenian podium! Ralph Weber (SUI) into 3rd; Broderick Thompson (CAN) into 2nd. Change has slowed – 10 down and Cater leads from Thompson and Kosi. Gian Luca Barandun (SUI) into 3rd and now it’s Alexis Pinturault – that’s the fastest time on run 2 so far and he leads by 1.02. Is that enough? Romed Baumann into 5th; Innerhofer goes 6th. Nine of the top 30 to go; still Pinturault from Cater and Thompson. Fairly tidy run from Mauro Caviezel, and he’s rewarded with 2nd; Kjetil Jansrud is a big lad for the short skis, but that’s not bad at all – he’s into 2nd. Adrien Theaux is a DNF after a straddle; Thomas Dressen has 1.02 in hand but he’s well into the red by inter 2, and that’s 4th place at present. Vincent Kriechmayr has lost half his advantage by inter 1; just green at 2 as the light fades – he’s now 2nd by just 0.16 – looks like he might have straddled though? Peter Fill has kept just in the green at 2 – he goes 3rd but Kriechmayr has a DQP flashing by his 2nd place. Matthias Mayer has gone from 1.44 ahead at the start to 0.86 by inter 1, and only 8 hundredths at inter 2 after a big error – he’s 6th, and Kriechmayr’s name has gone from the 2nd place – he is a DQ. Dominik Paris still just green at inter 2 – still almost half a second in hand but he’s straddled with 10 gates to go! So, the favourite wins – well done Alexis Pinturault, winner ahead of Peter Fill and Kjetil Jansrud, with Caviezel 4th ahead of Dressen and Mayer. Unless, of course, one of the “non top 30” from run 1 can spring a real surprise? Well Tonetti got himself into 13th (32nd in run 1), Murisier (36th run 1) ended up 19th and Victor MJ went from 45 to 26th, but no change to the top 10; well done Pinturault!

Oslo City Event - Parallel Slalom/GS (1 Jan 18): Events for both Men and Women – the confirmed athletes are as follows:

For the women, the following athletes are confirmed:
1. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) 
2. Petra Vlhova (SVK)
 3. Wendy Holdener (SUI) 
4. Frida Hansdotter (SWE) 
5. Bernadette Schild (AUT) 
6. Nina Haver-Løseth (NOR) 
7. Melanie Meillard (SUI) 
8. Lena Dürr (GER) 
9. Denise Feierabend (SUI)
 10. Ana Bucik (SLO) 
11. Maren Skjoeld (NOR) 
12. Chiara Costazza (ITA) 
13. Irene Curtoni (ITA) 
14. Katharina Truppe (AUT) 
15. Marina Wallner (GER)
 16. Anna Swenn Larsson (SWE)

 On the men’s side, the following athletes will be competing in Oslo:
 1. Marcel Hirscher (AUT)
 2. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR)
 3. Manfred Mölgg (ITA)
 4. Michael Matt (AUT)
 5. Stefano Gross (ITA)
 6. Andre Myhrer (SWE)
 7. Fritz Dopfer (GER)
 8. Alexander Khoroshilov (RUS)
 9. Dave Ryding (GBR)
 10. Daniel Yule (SUI)
 11. Mattias Hargin (SWE)
 12. Luca Aerni (SUI) 
13. Alexis Pinturault (FRA)
 14. Sebastian Foss-Solevaag (NOR) 
15. Linus Strasser (GER) 
16. Kjetil Jansrud (NOR).

The 1/8 finals – I see Dave Ryding is up against his mate/training partner Alexander Khoroshilov in this round! Jansrud v Hirscher should also be interesting; Marcel isn’t always at his best on this type of competition? Anyway – very misty at Holmenkollen, you can’t see the start from the finish; a delay would be good as the ski jumping seems to be over-running (again; lots of people staring at wind speed indicators - riveting!) and the basic video of the Oslo event has no commentary. Looks like we will start with Swenn Larsson v Shiffrin; I presume this is one run per course to start? Mikaela takes this one by 0.49 although it looked closer. Dürr has beaten Feierabend; Schild beats Costazza (I thought, from the graphic) – 3 wins so far on the red course; blasted jumping still on! Ah – Curtoni beats Hansdotter – a win for blue! Holdener beats Truppe comfortably; Skjøld has beaten fellow Norwegian Haver-Løseth; Meillard beats Bucik and Vlhova has beaten Wallner – now for the men! Hirscher has narrowly beaten Jansrud on run 1; Dave Ryding has beaten Alex K and Aerni beats Gross. Matt beats Pinturault by just 0.08; Mölgg trails Foss-Solevaag by 0.50 and Myhrer has the same margin over Hargin, who skied out. At last, we have commentary – Yule has easily beaten Dopfer (coming back from injury) and Strasser has beaten Kristoffersen by just 2 hundredths, although Nick F is saying it’s a tie.
1/8 final – run 2 – Shiffrin has won again, so she’s through. So are Dürr, Schild (Nick reckons she lost the first run – sure the graphic said the opposite?), Hansdotter (as Curtoni falls), Holdener, Skjøld, Meillard and Vlhova (Wallner fell!). Run 2 for the men – the FIS feed is a bit shaky; Marcel Hirscher is through but that was close! Dave Ryding is also through, so he meets Hirscher in the QF! Also through are Aerni, Matt (who managed to hold off Pinturault again), Foss-Solevaag (as Mölgg falls trying to make up that half second from run 1), Myhrer and Yule (although Dopfer made up a lot) Now – Strasser v Kristoffersen with a tiny (0.02) advantage for the German; big error form Henrik and Linus goes through!
Quarter Finals: We start with Dürr v Shiffrin; very hard to see the course through the fog! Shiffrin wins this run by 0.16 – I think we might get 2 runs in the QF, which wasn’t the case last time? Frida Hansdotter has pipped Bernadette Schild by just 3 hundredths! Now, Skjøld v Holdener – Wendy wins that one by 0.21 and Petra Vlhova gets the better of Melanie Meillard. First QF run for the men – Hirscher v Ryding! Dave Ryding has taken it by just 0.02!! Matt has beaten Aerni; Myhrer well clear of Foss-Solevaag who fell, giving the Swede a heathy 0.5 advantage for run 2. And finally, Yule has beaten Strasser! Back to the women and Shiffrin has made no mistakes this time – she wins and is through to the Semis. So are Hansdotter, although the graphic says otherwise (Schild missed the last 3 gates!), Holdener and (big upset) Meillard by just 0.01! Back to the men and Dave Ryding has done it – beating Marcel Hirscher by 0.09! Matt has beaten Aerni, also by 0.09; Andre Myhrer has extended his 0.5 advantage over Seb F-S and Yule has fallen, gifting the win to Linus Strasser!
Semi Finals: We start with Shiffrin v Hansdotter – I’m sure the visibility is getting worse! Mikaela leads by 0.27 on run 1 despite an error; Holdener leads fellow Swiss skier Meillard by 0.30. Now – Matt v Ryding; Dave Ryding has fallen and looks to be in pain – he has skied on down so hopefully no injuries? Myhrer has 0.27 over Linus Strasser going into run 2 of the Semis. Back to the women – course is a bit rutted and it’s freezing too – better from Mikaela this time and she takes it by 0.51. And, Wendy Holdener has also increased her advantage to beat Melanie Meillard by 0.59. Men again – will Dave R be able to ski run 2?  Well, he’s at the start – and he’s made up some time on that run too; sadly not enough and Michael Matt goes through. Andre Myhrer has held on and he’s beaten Strasser – both of them destroying gates en route!
FINALS: Run 1 - Meillard has 0.03 over Hansdotter in the small final; Shiffrin has just 0.01 over Wendy Holdener in the big. FIS feed has frozen (again; they can’t seem to keep up). Fog clearing slightly as Dave Ryding goes against Linus Strasser – not a good start by Dave so he trails by 0.28 after run 1. Big final – Matt v Myhrer; the Swede takes it by 0.26. Run 2 – Hansdotter with just 3 hundredths over Meillard; Melanie has taken the final podium place by 0.10! Now, the big final is even tighter with just 0.01 between Mikaela and Wendy at the start; Shiffrin gets it by 0.17 – that’s another win – her 37th?  So, Shiffrin wins from Holdener with Meillard 3rd – good day for the Swiss too. Just the men to go – Ryding v Strasser – good run from Ryding, but Strasser nicks it by 0.10 to get third tonight. Last race of the evening – Andre Myhrer has a good advantage; Matt has pushed just a bit too hard and he’s fallen. Myhrer takes the win, with Matt second and Strasser 3rd.

Zagreb – Women’s Slalom (3 Jan 18): The “Snow Queen” trophy? No snow to be seen in the surrounding area, and it looks a bit windy too but there is enough snow on the piste to support a slalom (and for the men tomorrow too?). Not a very steep pitch by some standards but this is a long course – it’s going to test the stamina! Wendy Holdener starts the event, and she’s down – Nina Haver-Løseth isn’t so lucky – an early straddle means she’s a DNF, a casualty of the grabby machine made snow? Melanie Meillard into 2nd  but +1.02; now it’s Mikaela Shiffrin – that looked lovely, risky but very confident and she’s leading by 1.41; an astonishing margin! Bernadette Schild into 3rd, but almost 2 seconds back on Shiffrin! Petra Vlhova into 3rd now; with 10 down it’s Shiffrin well in front – Holdener 2nd, Vlhova 3rd and Schild 4th – no one else within 2 seconds of Mikaela! I don’t think the track is doing the later starters any favours, but Katharina Gallhuber (start number 19) is into the top 10 – 7th at present. Twenty down – top 4 the same as above, Hansdotter 5th, Meillard 6th, then Gallhuber, Gisin, and Bucik with Feierabend tied in 10th with Costazza.  Well, 1 change so far – Erin Mielzynski into 10th. And, another great run from Estelle Alphand – start number 25 and she’s into 6th; good effort.  And also a good effort by Katharina Liensberger – she was start number 35, but ended up 8th!  Apparently Alex Tilley straddled and is a DNF for run 1.
Run 2:  Interesting – it’s snowing as they start run 2 under the floodlights. Well – five down and Marusa Ferk leads from Katharina Truppe (fastest on run 2 so far). Yiva Staalnacke (SWE; new name to me) has taken over the lead; course is already cutting up! It hasn’t stopped Anna Swenn Larsson taking over the lead though and that’s the best time on run 2 so far; Marina Wallner into 2nd and then Irene Curtoni goes 3rd.  That was a good run from Roni Remme (CAN) – very impressive on the final section, gaining time there to go 2nd by just 0.01. Good final section from Erin Mielzynski to give her the lead and the new best time for run 2; both Canadians were good on that section – wonder what they spotted? Katharina Gallhuber had 0.58 in hand, and still had most of it at inter 2; slightly sloppy lower down but she takes the lead by 0.05. Eight to go; Liensberger gained to inter 1 but then into the red – she’s 3rd. Melanie Meillard goes 4th; Estelle Alphand has made a good gain to inter 1 – 0.50 to 0.84 but she’s straddled. Now, that’s a bit better from Frida Hansdotter, despite the worsening weather – she’s gained time and takes the lead by an impressive 0.80. Bernadette Schild is struggling with the ruts, but she’s into 2nd; Petra Vlhova lost a bit on the final section – she goes 2nd. – Frida guaranteed a podium place. Wendy Holdener next, and she’s gaining time to inter 2; lost a bit on the final section but she had enough speed to take the lead – 0.52 ahead. However, there is still Mikaela Shiffrin to come and she has 1.41 in hand! She’s losing a bit of time on the run to inter 2 but then accelerates to gain 0.57 on the final section – she wins by 1.59! That’s her 38th win on the World Cup! Must be very depressing if you are a female slalom skier, and of course Shiffrin is impressive in other disciplines too! Good work by Erin Mielzynski though - best time on run 2!

Zagreb – Men’s Slalom (4 Jan 18): Run 1 clashes with the Oberhof biathlon so I can’t see live coverage on Eurosport with a commentary? The FIS feed should do however and there is live coverage of run 2. Piste looks a bit ropey – almost muddy/green in a couple places. Quick update with 15 down – Michael Matt is on good form and he leads from Marcel Hirscher (+0.21), Henrik Kristoffersen (+0.59) and Manuel Feller (+1.07). Foss-Solevaag starts number 16; into 7th; Schwarz goes 9th and Zenhaeusern (start 24) into 10th. Not sure there will be any changes to the top 10 now – there weren’t; Dave Ryding in 18th, I think.
Run 2: Set by a German coach. The track will be crucial today – starting to cut up badly on run 1 despite the efforts of the local team. Not a good start – poor David Ketterer (GER) has straddled just before the finish! Wasn’t going to say much until we had 10 down, but that was a good run from Loic Meillard – 1.18 faster than the best so far! Right – first 10 away; Loic Meillard still leading, from Marc Digruber and Victor Muffat-Jeandet. Hirschbühl into 2nd, as the course begins to cut up again; now it’s Dave Ryding who has 0.94 in hand at the start – he’s lost some to inter 2, but steadied up on the final section to lead by 0.51. At the half way stage Ryding leads from Meillard and Hargin. TV break and Daniel Yule goes into 2nd; Andre Myhrer has displaced him, but Dave Ryding is gaining places here – Nick F is getting (more) excited! Manfred Mölgg gained a bit between inter 1 and 2, but he’s lost it lower down and it’s just 3rd. Fritz Dopfer is losing time and he’s straddled too; Ryding will be in the top 10 tonight! Another TV break and then a nice run from Alexis Pinturault – not entirely error free, especially at the end, but he has done enough – Pinturault leads. Foss-Solevaag into 3rd; Luca Aerni has gained a bit to inter 1 and he’s kept the light green all the way – good effort on this snow! Stefano Gross has also straddled; Manuel Feller has improved his advantage between inter 1 and 2 and that’s a great lower section too – he leads by 0.85, that’s the 2nd best time on run 2 (Meillard still best although he went on a better course)! That’s a great run from Henrik Kristoffersen too – he too has gained time and he leads – 0.68 faster than Feller, and he’s the fastest on run 2 now. Marcel Hirscher has gone fractionally into the red at inter 1; back green at 2 and he takes the lead, but only by 0.11 – Kristoffersen isn’t happy (I think he counted his chickens a bit!). Just Michael Matt to go – great gains to inter 1, lost a bit to 2 and he misses the win by just 5 hundredths! So, Marcel Hirscher gets his 50th win (same as Tomba), ahead of Michael Matt and Henrik Kristoffersen. Dave Ryding ended up 7th – good work on run 2!

Oberhof – Women’s 7.5 km Sprint (4 Jan 18): Well, a good crowd in the stands – very vocal as Denise Herrmann kicks off the event – there will be a lot of pressure on her today, in front of a home crowd! Darya Domracheva, Dasha, is away 4th – tracks are a bit mushy but even so pretty fast in places. At the first split Dasha is marginally faster than Denise H; Kaisa Mäkäräinen between their times. Right, Denise is at S1 – wind has got up a bit; 4 out of 5 – Lisa Theresa Hauser has also missed 1 but she’s faster on the range. Dasha has missed her 5th; Emma Nilsson is clear though but slower than Dasha and Denise despite their penalty loops. However – Kaisa is clear which gives her 25.2 advantage over Dasha; Vita Semerenko also clear and just +8.6!  Bit of a surprise – Lisa Vittozzi has missed 2, possibly due to the wind dropping? MDH has also missed 1; Ekatarina Yurlova-Percht clear though and faster than Kaisa – Justine Braisaz is even better! Drat – Denise has missed her last 3 targets in the stand. Kuzmina has missed 1 at S1 but very fast on the tracks (seems her form improves in Olympic years?) Kaisa has missed 1 at S2 but currently leads after that shoot, as no one has yet got 10/10. Ekaterina Y-P has missed 2 at S2, so has Braisaz; we didn’t see it but Doro Wierer has cleared S2 (1,0) – currently after S2 it’s Kaisa M (0,1), Justine Braisaz (0,2) and Dasha (1,1) with Doro 4th. All change; Kuzmina is (1,0) and fastest while Weronika Nowakowska (0,1) has gone into 3rd. Looking back at S1 Aymonier (FRA) and Frolina (KOR!) are both clear and within 10 seconds of Braisaz’s time. So far only Julia Ransom has cleared all 10, but she’s 38.7 behind Kuzmina’s time. Laura Dahlmeier is at S1 – she’s missed 1 and her time isn’t good either – I know she was supposed to be unwell over Christmas; maybe not fully fit yet? Also at S1 Franzi Hildebrand is clear and just 0.4 behind Braisaz’s time. At S2 Vítková (1,0) is the closest to Kuzmina - +18.7. Laura D has missed another 1 at S2; Franzi H is at S2 – she’s missed 1, but she’s out in 3rd, +23.2 behind the rocket powered Kuzmina (42nd ranked in the world last year; that’s a phenomenal improvement!). Back at S1 Franzi Preuß  is clear but 20 seconds off the pace. Sadly I can’t see Franzi H getting on the podium – she’s not catching Kuzmina or Vitková and losing time against Kaisa – no, she’s over the line in 4th. Still just Julia Ransom with a perfect 10/10 – currently she’s lying 8th; Franzi Preuß  had a chance to join her but she’s missed 1 and out 9th. At present Kuzmina leads from Kaisa M and Veronika Vitková; not sure I see that changing, although Tiril Eckhoff is shown as starting very late – late update; she’s pulled out (illness), so I think it’s all over. Hildebrand in 4th ahead of Braisaz and Nowakowska. Ah, Linn Persson has cleared all 10, but she’s 38.3 behind Kuzmina as she leaves the range. Sarah Beaudry (CAN) also 10/10 – good shooting by the Canadians. Everyone through the first shoot, with no surprises – Kuzmina (1,0) has won again, ahead of Kaisa (0,1; +35.4) and Vitková (1,0; +40.1). Around the course Kuzmina was quickest, but just 10.6 faster than Braisaz, then Dasha and Kaisa. Irene Cadurisch fastest on the range again, ahead of Hauser and Julia Simon – who seems to have picked up a knee or lower leg injury on the final lap?

Oberhof – Men’s 10 km Sprint (5 Jan 18): Looks a bit dull and wet and it’s getting windy again. Lesser, Bailey and Eder not here today; seem to be a few athletes sick after Christmas. I was slightly delayed (by our own wet, sloppy snow) so missed the commentators’ views on the weather – it does sound though as if the later starters might suffer from the conditions – JoBø and Schempp go early; OEB right at the back of group 4? Anyway – on Eurosport for the second person away (Seppaelae), so just made it! Early days but at 0.8 Km JoBø is fastest so far – ahead of Krcmar, Weger and Schempp. Dominik Windisch is at S1 and clear; so is Michal Krcmar and he’s faster on track, but slow to get the first shot away. Schempp has missed 2 at S1 – possibly a bit unlucky with the wind gusts but that was poor grouping. JoBø very fast into the range, fast to get the shots away, but he’s missed his 4th and 5th. Still out in 3rd, +13.3 against Krcmar’s time (and about 40 seconds faster than Schempp with the same number of penalties). Only 3 of 15 clear at S1 so far; it’s apparently less windy than when they zeroed? Martin Fourcade in for S1 and he is clear; out 20.8 ahead of JoBø – good, but it’s less than a penalty loop! Julian Eberhard is shooting very quickly but he has also missed 2. Now, Tim Burke is clear at S1, and out 2nd, just 2.1 behind Martin F – quick shooting! So far only Oskars Muiznieks (LAT) is clear at S2 – pity about the 3 misses at S1; Pidruchnyi is (1,0) and now JoBø (2,0) is out in the lead at S2! Contrast that ski speed with Simon Schempp (2,1) who is +1:25.0 behind after only 1 extra penalty! Back at S1 Tarjei Bø is clear and even faster than Martin F – wind has eased again; Shipulin, Lapshin and Fak also clear and in touch. Martin F in for S2 – 11.1 to the first shot and he’s the first to go 10/10; even so he’s only 13.6 faster than JoBø as he leaves the range. Tim Burke has also cleared 10/10 and he’s just 7.1 behind Fourcade! At 7.4 Km Martin F is now 15.8 ahead of JoBø; meanwhile Tarjei is fastest on the track coming in for his 2nd shoot. Back at S1 Johannes Kühn is the only German clear so far! Martin F is through 8.6 Km and the gap is now 14.2; Tim Burke is now +16.5 and behind JoBø’s time there. Back at S2 – Tarjei Bø has missed 1, and is out +24.2; Jakov Fak is 10/10 and +25.4. At the finish Martin F is over the line and leading; JoBø 2nd (+14.2, with 2 penalties!!), Tim Burke in 3rd ahead of Lukas Hofer, Benni Weger and Michal Krcmar. Interesting – Svendsen is at S1 and he’s clear, and out dead level with Martin F’s time, just 2.9 slower than Tarjei Bø. At S2 Kühn has missed 2, as did Shipulin; I can only see 4 10/10 scores – Fourcade, Burke and Fak plus Jeremy Finello (SUI), who is over a minute behind the lead. Tarjei Bø is over the finish line, in 4th, missing the podium by 6.8 seconds. Looking back at S1, the only threat to the podium at present is EHS, although the commentary team keep waffling about OEB; who knows? Right – Svendsen is also 10/10 and out +4.6, but the track isn’t as good as it was (something which will also affect OEB, who has just started as number 94). At 7.4 Km EHS is now +6.4; at 8.6 he’s pulled back to +5.9; Eliseev is 10/10 but lacking the absolute speed to threaten and Gronman (FIN) is the same. The track isn’t doing EHS any favours – a very impressive effort by him to get into 2nd, just 8.1 behind Martin Fourcade – but Johannes can console himself that he’s only 2.1 behind despite 2 penalty loops and still on the podium – amazing speed! Back at S1 and Bjørndalen has missed 2 – not sure if he will get a slot for the Olympics? Good to see Scott Dixon clear all 10, but with a late start he’s over 2 seconds behind after S2. All the starters through S1 now – can’t see the podium changing now. That’s good shooting, OEB clear at S2. So, Martin Fourcade wins from Emil Hegle Svendsen (both clear), with JoBø (2,0; +10.2) in 3rd. Tim Burke in 4th ahead of Tarjei Bø and Lukas Hofer. Three Norwegians in the top 6; Arnd Peiffer (1,1) best German in 12th; Lapshin best Russian, albeit racing for Korea (I bet the Russians would like him and Kuzmina back!) with Eliseev in 21st, the best in the Russian team although Loginov managed 23rd with 3 penalties. Lapshin fastest on the range, ahead of Christian Gow and Julian Eberhard. No surprise that Johannes Bø was fastest around the track, ahead of his brother (+26.9) and Martin F (+27.9).

Kranjska Gora – Women’s GS (6 Jan): Run 1 set by a French coach; this should have been in Maribor apparently but the FIS decided to move to higher altitude and more reliable snow, although there doesn’t seem to be a lot on the surrounding hills? A little warm today so the course may well cut up for the later starters. Looks a tricky course with some interesting terrain changes; Stephanie Brunner the first away – looked solid; certainly Vikki Rebensburg hasn’t matched it, she’s +0.37. A tricky finish cost Goggia time and she’s 3rd; Mölgg was really in touch until a massive error – impressive recovery! Ah, great run from Tessa Worley to take over the lead; Brignone just green at inter 2, but she’s lost time and goes 3rd – the change in visibility didn’t help her. Here comes Mikaela Shiffrin – green at 1, very green at 2 and into the lead by a massive 0.86 despite a couple small errors! That’s probably that … with 10 away it’s Shiffrin leading from Worley and Brunner, Mowinckel in 4th ahead of Brignone and Rebensburg. Cloud/mist drifting across the course now and the course is cutting up too; bit of a lottery for the racers! First TV break, with 15 down and no change to the top 6; Worley the only one within a second of Shiffrin! Good effort by Tina Robnik to get into 7th; currently she’s the best placed of the later starters. Run 1 over – no late changes to the top 10, but I see Alex Tilley has just made it into run 2 – she will be first to go! Sadly run 2 clashes with the women’s biathlon pursuit – it’s a busy weekend (and I see I’ve missed a lot of the Tour de Ski too; still I don’t think Therese Johaug is competing, so I’m not missing too much!?).
Run 2: Well, Alex Tilley is safely down but Estelle Alphand is much faster! Odd to see Tina Weirather so far down – and she can’t match Alphand either. Ten down and Alphand is still leading, from Hrovat and Kappaurer, so she has gained a good number of places already. Melanie Meillard had over a second in hand but she’s lost it all – into 2nd by just 0.03! Right – the biathlon is over and the commentary free Eurosport coverage is on – Sara Hector now leads ahead of Petra Vlhova with Alphand still holding on in third. Wendy Holdener has gained a lot to inert 1 and she’s kept nicely in the green all the way to take the lead. Eight to go? Sofia Goggia was red at both intermediates but she’s skied a great final section to lead by just 0.02; Tina Robnik having a good day as she’s into joint 3rd at present. Poor run from Vikki Rebensburg who is 8th, but Brignone is more in touch and goes 3rd. Mowinckel will be disappointed with that – only 16th; Goggia leads from Holdener, Brignone and Robnik/Hector. Stephanie Brunner next and she’s looking good – still green at inter 2 but she’s lost time on the last section – 3rd by just 5 hundredths! Tessa Worley has almost a second in hand and she’s gained a little at inter 1 and 2; she too has lost a bit lower down but she leads by 0.60. Just Mikaela to come ; at present Alphand still has the best time on run 2. Shiffrin away 0.86 advantage, down to 0.66 at inter 1 and 0.38 at 2, but she’s skied the lower section well and wins by 0.31! Really an amazingly talented lady; that’s her 39th World Cup win! So Shiffrin again, from Worley and Goggia, with Holdener 4th ahead of Brunner and Brignone; Estelle Alphand in 10th, after being 29th in run 1.

Adelboden Men’s GS (6 Jan): Looks a bit nicer here than in KG – better visibility and a bit of sun too! Again, not a lot of snow on the surrounding hills, but a good amount on the very steep piste. Apparently the road in was blocked by a landslide after days of heavy rain, so it’s been a struggle to get everything open and ready – impressive work from the local team to achieve that. Alexis Pinturault the first away but soon eclipsed by Marcel Hirscher who went 0.87 faster! Henrik Kristoffersen is 5th to go – he’s into the green at inter 1 and stayed there to inter 3 – lost a bit on the final section; into 2nd by 0.11. Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen (LKN-H) into 3rd, +0.65; good run from Luca de Aliprandini into 4th. Ten down and it’s still Hirscher, Kristoffersen and LKN-H. One mistake on the final section has dropped Manuel Feller from a potential 4th to 10th place. Manfred Mölgg green at inter 1 and 2 but then it’s all gone and he’s 11th; Myhrer has missed a gate and he’s out. Best of the later starters here at present is Riccardo Tonetti – start number 22 and into 7th. I wonder what effect sitting in the leader’s chair for so long has on Hirscher and Shiffrin when they come to run 2? No change to the top 10 for ages, but a rash of DNFs among the later starters!
Run 2 – which might clash with the start of the men’s biathlon pursuit!? This course set by a Norwegian coach and it’s really tricky; very tight and twisty! Hmm, quite a few DNFs already – first 10 away with 4 DNFs – Zampa leads from Elia Zurbriggen and Muffat-Jeandet. Good run from Magnus Walch (AUT) – not perfect but a good final section has given him the lead. Stefan Brennsteiner has done well today – start number 46, 19th in run 1 and he leads here for the moment. Gino Caviezel nicely green at inter 2 but he’s lost it – good recovery and 2nd by 0.09! Thomas Fanara gaining time nicely but he’s gone through the two poles of one gate, under the flag – DQ. Manuel Feller is going well – 0.76 at the start , up to 1.33 in the green at inter 2 and he leads by 0.99 – best time for run 2 as well, despite a tricky moment low down. Good final section by Mölgg, into 2nd; Faivre into 3rd and again that was a good final section – he made up a lot there! Zan Kranjec has also skied the lower section very well – he has tied for the lead! Tonetti into 4th; Alexis Pinturault has almost doubled his advantage by inter 1 – he keeps the light in various shades of green and he leads by 0.99! No surprise to see that that is the fastest time for run 2. “A series of linked recoveries” was how they described de Aliprandini’s second run – but it’s got him into 2nd. That will be a PB for him, whatever happens. LKN-H next and the course is set by a Norwegian coach – it hasn’t done anything for Leif, who goes 8th. Henrik Kristoffersen now – half his advantage is gone by inter 1 but he’s hanging on to the rest – lost a bit more on the final section but he nicks the lead by just 0.04! Just Hirscher to go, and he only has 0.11 advantage; that advantage is exactly the same at inter 1, it’s 0.37 at inter 2, 0.49 at 3; he’s looking tired now; a few errors but tremendous recovery speed and that’s another win for him, 0.17 ahead of Kristoffersen with Pinturault 3rd. de Aliprandini 4th ahead of Feller and Kranjec, tied in 5th. And, it’s all over before the biathlon too!

Kranjska Gora – Women’s Slalom (7 Jan): No commentary, as Eurosport is covering the ski jumping, so the slalom is video only, so it’s hard to know why the race is interrupted before it has actually started; looks like a fore-runner has crashed out and injured a knee – certainly someone is being moved off the mountain in a stretcher. Anyway, course set by a Norwegian coach. Race on – Nina Haver-Løseth first away and the snow sounds very icy! She’s down, and we will soon know how good her time was as Mikaela Shiffrin is next! I did think the timing was wrong when it showed Mikaela was 2.09 faster at inter 2 but it seems it wasn’t an error as she leads by 2.94 seconds! That did look rather risky, but it was certainly fast! Frida Hansdotter into 2nd, but 1.47 behind Shiffrin; Wendy Holdener into 3rd. Even Petra Vlhova can’t get close – she’s 4th, and over 2 seconds off the pace! Well, 10 down and no one is within a second of Shiffrin – Mikaela leads from Hansdotter, Holdener and Vlhova. Well, this is boring – most of the later starters are nearly a second behind Shiffrin’s time, by inter 1!! Only Hansdotter and Holdener are within 2 seconds of the American’s time. Best of the later starters is Katharina Liensberger (start number 23) who is currently 7th. Well, that’s 30 away – Shiffrin leads (what a surprise!) from Hansdotter, Holdener, Vlhova, Meillard and Geiger (+2.79) and the number of DNFs are starting to grow. No late changes; run 1 over.
Run 2 clashes with the women’s biathlon relay, but that should be over before the top 10 go! Ten away and Mielzynski leads from Bissig (SUI) and Stoffel (SUI). Right – biathlon over and Estelle Alphand is in the lead, ahead of Swenn Larsson and Costazza; the French might be starting to regret losing Alphand? Carole Bissig still has the best time on run 2 – 10 to go. Alphand has seen off Gisin (into 3rd) and Haver-Løseth (into 2nd). Bernadette Schild has over a second in hand and she’s gaining time – she takes the lead by an impressive 1.73, and that’s the best time on run 2 as well. Liensberger is a DNF; pity after such a good first run. Christina Geiger into 2nd; replaced by Meillard – Petra Vlhova takes over the lead, but it’s a brief time in the seat as Wendy Holdener takes over. Two to go – Frida Hansdotter has gained a little to inter 1, a tiny bit more to 2 and she takes the lead in turn. Here comes Shiffrin – with a massive 1.47 advantage at the start; she’s gaining a little and wins by 1.64 (apparently her biggest margin was over 3 seconds!). That’s her 29th slalom win, and she’s just 22 years old!

Adelboden Men’s Slalom (7 Jan): This also sounds icy, but it’s also quite warm – this time we do have commentary. Course set by an Austrian coach, and it’s steep too. Michael Matt first away and already the course is beginning to rut! Myhrer into 2nd; Dave Ryding had a couple errors on the steep pitch and he’s +1.57 at the finish. Now, Marcel Hirscher – into the lead, but only by 0.25; surprising given how easy he looked. Henrik Kristoffersen starts number 7, and he’s off the pace by his standards – into 4th, +0.71. Ten away – Hirscher leads from Matt and Myhrer; Pinturault into 5th. The course isn’t holding up well – run 2 should be interesting! That’s 30 away – no change at all to the top 10 (Dave Ryding currently in joint 10th with Seb Foss-Solevaag). No late changes, run 1 over.
Run 2: Slightly straighter course apparently, this time, but tight and technical at the top; that final section really is steep! First 10 away; Jean-Baptiste Grange leading, 3 DNFs so far. That’s a bit more like his usual standard – Victor Muffat-Jeandet into the lead. Hirschbühl takes over, and Linus Strasser into 2nd – I thought he’d got that! Half way through and Hirschbühl leads from Strasser and Victor M-J. Seems it’s easy to lose a lot of time on the closing turns! Loic Meillard has managed to keep in the green; he takes over the lead. Dave Ryding has joined the group of those who have lost time on the final turns – he’s into 5th. Foss-Solevaag has nicked the lead by just 0.01; Stefano Gross has taken it over – six to go now, and the track seems to be holding up. Beautiful final section by Alexis Pinturault to go into the lead by 0.60 – great transition from the steep section to the flatter finish. Henrik Kristoffersen is gaining time; great to inter 3 and despite losing a little he leads by 0.67. Myhrer into the red at inter 3, and he goes 2nd; Michael Matt next – and he too is gaining time – lost some from inter 2 to 3 and he has just got the lead by only 3 hundredths! Marcel Hirscher is green at inter 2 and he’s gained a little to 3 – he’s right on the edge, but he’s done the double! Marcel Hirscher wins, ahead of Matt and Kristoffersen; Victor M-J had the best time on run 2.

Oberhof – Women’s 10 Km Pursuit (6 Jan 18): MDH not starting today. Wind has died down, rain stopped at present but it’s a bit warm. Race has started – Kuzmina taking it fairly steady on the first lap – she had 35 seconds in hand at the start; Vitková is going faster than Kaisa M – she seems to have faster skis for the downhill sections? Kuzmina in for S1 and conditions are good – all down (1 a little lucky?); Kaisa has missed her first! Franzi H is clear but Vitková has also missed 1. As a result Kuzmina now leads by 55.8 ahead of Franzi H, then Vitková, Kaisa, Dasha and Laura Dahlmeier (+1:17.1). Kuzmina in for S2 – she’s missed 1 this time, but that was fast shooting; Franzi H next and she’s clear; so are Dasha, Kaisa and Laura D. Kuzmina leads by 44.7 this time, ahead of Franzi H, then Dasha, Kaisa and Laura (+1:02.8). Doro Wierer up from 16th to 6th but Justine Braisaz is going the other way – 5th to 14th after 2 misses. Only 2 Km each lap so Kuzmina is in for the first standing shoot – 4 out of 5 but again she’s shooting fast – out of the loop before the chasing pack are shooting. Franzi H is clear again but Dasha and Kaisa have missed 1 each. Doro, Laura and Vita Semerenko are clear; out Kuzmina, Franzi H (+34.6), Doro, Laura, Dasha and Vita S (+ 1:00.0). Last shoot – Anastasiya Kuzmina has cleared the lot; Franzi H has missed 1, so has Laura; Kaisa has missed another. Out Kuzmina (0,1,1,0), Doro Wierer (20/20; +1:00.2), Vita S (20/20), Weronika Nowakowska (20/20), Franzi H (0,0,0,1) and Laura D (0,0,0,1; +1:30.2). But Kaisa and Dasha are also in touch, as are Yurlova and Frolina. On the lap Kaisa is flying – at 9.5 Km it’s Kuzmina, Wierer, Semerenko, Nowakowska and Mäkäräinen. And that’s the order at the finish too – Dasha takes 6th ahead of Dahlmeier. Poor Franzi H has faded and ended up 11th, after letting Frolina, Braisaz and Bescond through. Again Cadurisch was quickest on the range ahead of Elisa Gasparin and Varvynets; Aymonier fastest on the tracks ahead of Herrmann and Domracheva but Kuzmina was cruising on the final lap. Major gainers include Wierer (16 to 2), Vita S (22 – 3), Laura D (13 – 7), Bescond (21 – 10) Dzhima (42 – 13), Herrmann (45 – 16; 1,0,0,1), and Hinz (55 – 18). Going backwards, the list includes poor Franzi H (4 – 11), Vitková (3 – 14), Linn Persson (8 – 30), Julia Ransom (9 – 37) and Tachizaki (11 – 38 with 5 penalties).

Oberhof – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit (6 Jan 18): I understand Simon Schempp won’t be starting today – muscle problems? Hopefully this will be a close race; certainly the gaps at the start are pretty tight. At 1.5 Km JoBø has passed EHS and he’s just 4.1 behind Martin F – they have pretty much stopped just there, looks almost as if they were discussing who would lead? Leading group in for S1 – Martin F has missed his first; JoBø has also missed 1 but Svendsen s clear and away. Tarjei and Tim Burke also clear, so EHS leads from JoBø (+20.8), Martin F, Tarjei, Tim Burke and Benni Weger (+53.5). Johannes and Martin are catching Svendsen on the lap but of course they are pushing hard – some nasty corners on this course! EHS is in for the second prone; he is clear and out, Martin F clear this time and out 2nd +10.1, Tarjei Bø clear and away 3rd. JoBø has missed another and he’s 4th, ahead of Arnd Peiffer and Simon Desthieux. Tim Burke has missed 2 here, so has Weger; Shipulin clear and gaining places. On the next lap Martin F has gone past EHS; JoBø is right up with his brother. In for the first standing shoot – pretty much shot for shot in the lead, Tarjei clear but Johannes has missed another one - Peiffer also clear. Out Fourcade, Svendsen (+0.6), Tarjei, Johannes (+35.1), Peiffer and Hofer (+1:05.6); Anton Shipulin 15/15 and up to 11th from 28th. Martin F has pulled out from Svendsen, who is probably still recovering from his illness and lack of training. Fog is drifting in as Martin comes in for his final shoot – he’s clear and away; not very sporting to catch Svendsen’s eye and EHS has missed 1. JoBø is clear this time and he’s out just 16.3 behind Martin F; Tarjei is 20/20 and about 10 seconds behind his younger brother. EHS in 4th, ahead of Pidruchnyi and Weger. Peiffer has missed 2, Shipulin 1 and Doll 1. Martin Fourcade wins, with JoBø 2nd (despite 3 penalties) and Tarjei 3rd. Svendsen gets 4th, so a good day for Norway, then Pidruchnyi and Hofer. Gainers include Pidruchnyi (10 to 5th), Doll (17 – 9), Shipulin (28 – 12), Lindström (24 – 15), Rees (30 – 19) , Christian Gow (36 – 21) and Volkov (55 – 28). Falling back the list includes Tim Burke (4 – 14), Pryma (16 – 25), Eberhard (18 – 29), Kühn (20 – 34, with 6 misses), Windisch (22 – 48) and Soukup (25 – 52). Volkov fastest on the range ahead of JoBø and Lapshin; Johannes quickest round the tracks ahead of Fourcade and Loginov.

Oberhof – Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay (7 Jan): Colder today, with fog and snow, but still a good crowd! Norwegian fans drinking already, as we go to yet another advert break. Seems a bit odd to me that Maren Hammerschmidt has leg 4 for Germany; no MDH in the French team today. All very close at 1.5 Km; it’s a 2 Km lap so we’re at S1 already – Hinz has already missed 2, she needed all 3 spares! Vittozzi leads out, ahead of Puskarčíková (CZE), Frolina (KOR) and Tachizaki (JPN). Hinz is 18th, 27 seconds back. In for S2 – standing – Italy shooting well, Puskarčíková in trouble but stays off the loop; sadly Hinz hasn’t managed that – she has 1 penalty loop, as does Hauser! Vittozzi leads out, just 3 seconds ahead of Bescond with Skardino (BLR) third. At the first exchange Bescond has got France into the lead, ahead of Italy and Belarus; Germany in 14th, +1:28.1. At the next split time Chevalier has pulled out another 6 seconds or so on Wierer and the chasing pack – she’s off like a rocket! Chevalier in for her prone shoot – she’s missed 2 already; Doro has cleared the lot and she’s off. Chevalier is on the penalty loop; wind tricky at the moment, and the Swiss are doing 2 loops. Doro is out 20.5 ahead of Pisareva (BLR), Magnusson (SWE) and Dzhima (UKR); Herrmann used 2 spares but she also shot very slowly in the variable wind, which has cost her all the time her ski speed made up. Chevalier in 5th, +38.0 – Korea have done 2 loops. Doro in for the standing shoot – she’s missed 2, but clears with the 2 spares; Chevalier redeems herself by clearing all 5 and she’s out 2nd ahead of Dzhima and Magnusson. Penalty loops for Poland, Norway and Belarus, but Denise Herrmann has cleared the lot and she’s out 8th. Poor Selina Gasparin has done 3 loops in all! Second exchange – Italy lead by 23 seconds, ahead of France and Finland (well done Kaisa); Denise H has got Germany up to 4th, +40.1, ahead of Japan and Ukraine. Russia in 8th, despite needing only 2 spares so far, Norway 14th. On the lap Aymonier is closing down on Gontier; in for the prone already – Gontier has adjusted her sights but needed a spare. Aymonier has cleared the lot and she leads out, Gontier 2nd ahead of Högberg and Franzi Preuß who is up to 26.3 behind after clearing the lot; Belarus will be on the penalty loop. Aymonier fast on this lap too; I think the fog is thickening and the snow is a bit heavier too. Wind all over the place as they come in for the standing shoot – France and Italy have both missed 1; now it’s all gone for Italy – Gontier is doing 2 loops, Aymonier needed 2 spares but Preuß has cleared all 5 and she leads out, 12.2 ahead of Aymonier, Högberg and Laukkanen. Aymonier is flying – she has closed about 8 seconds by the 4.8 Km split. Final exchange – France (1+6) just 0.8 ahead of Germany (1+8), great work by Aymonier; Finland 3rd ahead of Sweden, Russia (still just 2 spares used – good shooting) and Ukraine. Braisaz and Hammerschmidt are fairly evenly matched so far; Brorsson 3rd, Yurlova-Percht past Toivanen. Final prone shoot – Braisaz uses 1 spare, Maren 2 and they are out close together. Y-P up to 3rd, +34.2 as Brorsson uses 2 spares, dropping her to 4th. On the lap Braisaz is pulling away – good skiing and probably good skis too? Justine in for the final shoot – missed her first and 1 more but Maren has missed 3. Braisaz has used 3 but she’s away. Maren H on the loop; Y-P is on the loop too! Braisaz leads out, Hammerschmidt 2nd, +37.6, Brorsson 3rd, +55.0. Y-P is 18 seconds away from a podium place, and clear of Pidhrushna and Sanfilippo. On the lap Braisaz has eased back a little; Maren looks safe in 2nd and Brorsson is holding on to 3rd. France (1+10) take a well-deserved win, ahead of Germany (2+13), Sweden (0+8) and Russia (1+5; 1+3 of that being Y-P’s). Ukraine in 5th ahead of Italy and Finland.

Oberhof – Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay (7 Jan): Still foggy in Oberhof; I understand the Norwegians are resting EHS and JoBø, and Martin F is also not racing today. No team from the USA either. Looks like quite a fair pace on the opening lap; that’s a nasty [up] hill, and a very tight left turn on the descent! First shoot coming up – Christiansen (NOR) clear and leads out ahead of Faur (ROU), Rösch (BEL; despite 1 spare) and Jacquelin (FRA). Doing 1 penalty loop are CZE/BLR/CAN/LAT and SLO – Finland are doing 4 loops – possibly some problem with the rifle? Hard to see the athletes on some sections of the course – very foggy! S2 coming up – Three misses already for France and Italy, same for Germany. Volkov has cleared all 5 and he’s out ahead of Rösch and Christiansen; Rees (GER) on the loop, so are Jacquelin and Bormolini; Faur is doing 2 loops, and so is Kim of Korea. No one has cleared all 10 without using spares; heading for the first exchange – Rösch going well (wonder if the Germans would like him back?). First exchange – Belgium lead from Russia and Norway, ahead of Austria, Switzerland and Sweden. Germany in 10th, 52.4 back. Florent Claude (a French Belgian) is holding off Loginov on the lap; I’m sure the visibility is getting even worse? In for S3, wind has shifted round – very slow shooting as they can’t see the targets; Claude has cleared all 5 with just 1 spare but there are going to be a lot of people on the penalty loop – this is getting ridiculous! Claude is clear – L’Abee-Lund has done 2 loops but he’s still 2nd (+1:07.0), ahead of Hofer, Loginov, Nelin (SWE) and Weger. Kühn (GER) has done 4 loops and so have Desthieux and Pryma (UKR), and they aren’t alone! Finland have now done 6 loops, and Belarus 8! Claude in for his standing shoot; he’s hit 4, and that’s the fifth with just 1 spare again. Nelin has cleared all 5; Luka Hofer needed just 1 spare. Claude still leads but now by 35.9 seconds from Hofer – I think the vis lifted a little after Claude finished. Nelin 3rd, ahead of L’Abee-Lund, Weger and Loginov. Not sure what happened to Kühn – he’s done another 5 loops, so Germany have done 10 in all, as have Finland. Next exchange – Belgium lead from Italy, Sweden and Norway. The coaches are discussing the weather but letting the race go on at present; I suspect the Germans won’t be too sorry if the race is abandoned! Right S5 it is – great shooting by Windisch; Belgium and Norway on the loop and the wind has picked up again. Dominik Windisch leads from Samuelsson (SWE; +3.2), Langer (BEL; +59.5) and Birkeland. Some good news for Germany as Doll has cleared all 5, but they are still over 4 minutes behind. The visibility is variable, to put it mildly; Windisch has cleared all 5 at S6, but Samuelsson is having problems – 1 loop for him. Birkeland shooting well – just 1 spare and he’s out 3rd. Langer needs just 1 spare and he’s out ahead of Russia and Switzerland. Doll uses 1 spare and he’s got them up to 9th. Final exchange and Italy (1+8) lead; they have over a minute in hand – Sweden 2nd(1+8), Norway 3rd (3+10), then Belgium, Russia and Switzerland. No team has avoided the penalty loop! Even given the camera technology on some parts of the course you can’t see anything! OK – Chenal (ITA) is on for his prone shoot – he has cleared the lot; bit lucky as the vis lifted but good shooting. Freddie Lindström also clear and he’s halved the gap to 31.3 seconds. Tarjei Bø has used 2 spares and he’s out 3rd, ahead of Anton Shipulin who needed all 3 spares – mist back in again. Swiss doing 2 loops! Now, the order at present is Chenal, Lindström, Bø, Shipulin, Guigonnat and Dolder (SUI). Lahaye-Goffa (BEL) is 7th but Arnd Peiffer is catching up – all 5 with no spares! Chenal is back for his final shoot – Lindström is right with him, and he’s used just 1 spare. Chenal is doing one loop; Bø using 2 spares and he’s out 3rd, some 40 seconds behind Chenal. Shipulin out 4th after using all 3 spares, as does Guigonnat – Arnd Peiffer up to 6th but he needed 2 spares. Dolder is doing another loop, but out 7th. I think poor Lahaye-Goffa is having problems (no spare rounds??) – no sign of him at present, and that’s the chance of a top 10 gone – yes, he’s done 3 loops and out 13th. So, Sweden (1+9) win – great leg from Freddie Lindström – Italy (2+11) 2nd ahead of Norway (3+14). Russia get 4th, ahead of France and Germany (10+10!) – 6th a lot better than 22nd, which they were at one stage. Belgium finish 13th, the last team not lapped.

Flachau – Women’s Slalom (9 Jan): The FIS don’t give the competitors much time off, do they!? Lot of ski (and other?) VIPs in the crowd for this night event. Bernadette Schild will be the first away on a course set by a Swiss coach; safely down – big sister is there and seems vaguely happy with that run? Melanie Meillard is 1.56 off that pace; now a surprise – Petra Vlhova has straddled. Now, Mikaela Shiffrin – in the red at inter 1, less red at 2 but redder at the finish – she’s 2nd, +0.37! There’s another surprise for this evening! This looks to be a tricky course – Frida Hansdotter has made a couple errors - into 3rd, +0.73. Nina Haver-Løseth is into 4th, but she’s +1.54 – that must have been some run by Schild! Yet another upset – Wendy Holdener has straddled too! The course doesn’t seem to be holding up too well – a mix of hard and soft snow. Lena Dürr is also out – 3 DNFs from 8 starts. Ten away – Schild leads from Shiffrin and Hansdotter – no one else within a full second. Irene Curtoni into 6th, and that’s the first TV break. The second group seem to be quite a way off Schild’s pace; Katharina Truppe has done well to get into 8th. Erin Mielzynski into 9th, from start number 21, but after that no change to the top 10. Sadly Alex Tilley is among the DNFs. Good effort from Carole Bissig (start number 55) who got into 28th and so gets a second run.
Run 2: Rather unseasonably warm, even in the evening; course set by an American coach this time. With the first 10 away Marina Wallner (GER) leads from Carole Bissig (best time on run 2 at present) and Julia Grünwald. Better run from Denise Feierabend this time – she leads by 0.56, with the best time on run 2. Nastasia Noens has taken over the lead; now it’s Katharina Liensberger, who leads at the half way stage from Noens and Feierabend. A couple more who haven’t disturbed the top 6, and then Chiara Costazza goes ahead; Gallhuber into 4th and Geiger goes 6th. It’s either getting rather misty on the final section, or they’re letting off too many fireworks! It is mist, I think, but it hasn’t worried Katharina Truppe, who takes the lead with 7 (?) to go. It’s getting quite rutted now; Swenn Larsson into 3rd. Meillard has joined the DNFs, so Truppe will get a PB tonight – 4 to go. Nina Haver-Løseth was comfortably ahead at inter 1 but she lost a bit later – she does lead, but by just 5 hundredths! Frida Hansdotter has 0.80 advantage at the start, and she’s gaining time to inter 2 – she leads by a pretty impressive 1.19! Mikaela next – 0.37 in hand; it’s up to 0.60 at inter 1, 0.87 at 2 and she leads by a massive 1.43 – normal service seems to have been resumed! No real surprise that she has the fastest time for this run! Now, how will Schild do with so much pressure – she’s just red at inter 1, and losing time on the way BUT she has enough to take 2nd – good effort, and a slalom PB! Mikaela Shiffrin wins (that’s 41 World Cup victories), Bernadette Schild 2nd and Frida Hansdotter 3rd. Haver-Løseth in 4th ahead of Truppe and Costazza. Liensberger with the second fastest time on run 2, in 8th place.

Ruhpolding – Men’s 20 Km Individual (10 Dec): Nice day, but the temperature is rising which might well slow down the track, so some bits have been salted; however, in some of the technical sections they won’t use salt as it makes the section too fast! I wonder why they didn’t start the race earlier in the day? Arnd Peiffer is the first away today; 108 starters in all! OK race on, and Arnd is at S1 – as this is the Individual there are no penalty loops – just 1 minute added for each miss – rather more serious than a loop! Arnd is clear, so is Christian Gow but Desthieux has missed 1. Tero Seppaelae, the new Finnish star, has missed 2; Schempp and Lindström among those missing 1, but Loginov is clear and very close to Arnd’s time; so is L’Abee-Lund and now Simon Eder too. Emil Hegle Svendsen in for his first shoot – like a number of other serious players, who could afford to do it, he was rested from the last relay – he’s clear but +22.9 after S1. Meanwhile Erik Lesser is fastest at S1, 19.7 faster than Ondrej Moravec with Peiffer 3rd, but Arnd has missed 1 at S2. Martin Fourcade in for S1 – clear and out 0.7 faster than Erik Lesser; at S2 Florent Claude (BEL) is the only one 10/10 so far and he leads at present, but Loginov has missed 2. Schempp is clear at S2 and just slightly slower than Peiffer; JoBø is in for S1 – shooting carefully and he’s clear, and out 3rd, +1.8 – very controlled. Impressive – Simon Eder is 10/10 and 29.5 faster than Claude; EHS has missed 2 here. Ondrej Moravec is really flying – 10/10 and 19.1 faster than Eder after S2. Oh gloom – Erik Lesser is shooting too fast – 3 misses at S2; better news is Arnd Peiffer clearing all 5 at S3. Martin F in for his first standing shoot – clear and he’s out 40 seconds faster than Moravec. JoBø is also 10/10; he’s now +14.8 against Fourcade. At S3 only Claude is 15/15 but he’s a bit slow on the tracks; Eder has missed 1 at S3. Moravec is now also 15/15 and he’s just over a minute clear of Peiffer, Windisch and Schempp, who have all missed 1 target. Peiffer at S4 and he’s missed 1 more; back at S3 Fourcade is 15/15 and over a minute faster than Moravec! Freddie Lindström is at S4 and he’s missed 2 more (1,0,0,2). At present, after S4 it’s Peiffer (0,1,0,1) 4 seconds ahead of Schempp (1,0,0,1); Claude in 3rd (0,0,0,1; +19.0.) Slightly odd – JoBø is 15/15 but he’s 37.7 behind Martin F. Back at S1 there are a few challengers, but many are losing touch after S2; Krasimir Anev (BUL), Landertinger and Krcmar are all 10/10 and in touch. At S4 Moravec is 20/20 – he’s 1:23.8 faster than Eder, so his ski speed isn’t too bad either – faster than Peiffer and Schempp too. Martin F is now at S4 – he’s missed his 20th shot! Still out ahead of Moravec, but that’s given JoBø a chance. Anev and Krcmar now 15/15 but slower than Moravec. Back at S1 OEB is clear but 19.6 off the pace. Commentators’ mikes are going – breaking up badly! Well, that might well be it – Johannes Bø (+48.3) has also missed one at S4 and he’s trailing Moravec (+29.9) – there was a suggestion that the Norwegian tech guys hadn’t got their ski prep quite right – seems unlikely? Now, Michal Krcmar is 20/20 (only the second as far as I can see) and out 4th, +1:04.1. At the finish Martin Fourcade looks set for another win – he leads from Moravec with JoBø 3rd (+1:06.3). Krcmar in 4th ahead of Eder and Hofer. Back at S2 Bjørndalen is 10/10 and 4th but +42.2 – very fast shooting! The tracks do seem to be getting slushy now, and cutting up. Dominik Landertinger into 5th and Slesingr goes 7th; back at S3 OEB has missed 2, which might well cost him a place at the Olympics? He leaves 34th, +3:16.7. Miha Dovzan (SLO) has shot 20/20 but he’s off the pace; still in 10th after S4 though (ended up 17th). OEB in for S4 – that was fast shooting – 1 more miss though. At present Martin Fourcade leads, ahead of Ondrej Moravec, Johannes Bø, Michal Krcmar, Dominik Landertinger and Simon Eder. Best German at present is Arnd Peiffer (0,1,0,1) in joint 10th; +3:05.0. Wow – Roman Rees (GER) has become the 4th to shoot 20/20 (standing average was 73%!) and he leaves that range in joint 3rd; sadly his time is tied with one Johannes Bø – can he stay in the top 5? Meanwhile OEB (0,0,2,1) has crossed the line, currently 39th and +4:43.6. Back at 18.3 Kms Rees has lost a bit and is 4th – impressive though as he’s had the very worst of the tracks! He’s still 4th at 19.4 Km – on course for an impressive PB – yes, he’s held on for 4th – best German by a good margin (Arnd ended in 11th)! Czechs holding on to 2 in the top 6 (and 8th too); looks like Volkov is the best Russian, in 27th!  Bjørndalen has finished in 42nd, but will the selectors think he ought to be in the Olympic relay team? Martin F fastest around the tracks, ahead of JoBø, Rastorgujevs and QFM. Volkov was quickest on the range ahead of Lesser, Eder and Shipulin.

Ruhpolding – Women’s 15 Km Individual (11 Dec): First of all – the Individual Men’s globe has been decided – it’s a tie between Martin F and JoBø – I think they are still discussing who gets it, when – 1 week each throughout the year, or maybe the IBU could splash out for 2? Missed the women’s race live so I’ll have to see the catch up, but looking at the IBU data center (sic) details I don’t think I’m going to enjoy all of it – another poor day for the Germans (Oh, there I go, telling you the plot!). Anyway, the replay is on; best of the early starters at S1 was arguably Iryna Varvynets (UKR; start number 3); she remained fastest until replaced by Dasha (19!), then Doro Wierer and eventually Laura Dahlmeier, with a couple others in between their times! I never really expected this format to suit Denise Herrmann – she only missed 1 at S1 but took a relatively long time to get the rounds away. Kaisa Mäkäräinen missed 1 at S1, but she might have the speed to recover? Doro had 14 seconds to settle at S1 but then it was fast and clear. At S2 Varvynets was fastest with 10/10 when she went through; again she held on until Doro went faster. Meanwhile , Kaisa cleared at S2 while Dahlmeier was clearing S1; at S3 Denise Herrmann missed another 2 (1,1,2). Also at S3 Dzhima is faster than Varvynets; Kaisa however is faster than both, despite that early miss but Dasha has gone 0,1,1! Laura D has cleared at S2, and is now fastest there. Eh up, Bendika (LAT) is 15/15 and faster than Kaisa! Yuliia Dzhima is the first to go 20/20; Doro has cleared 15/15 and she’s fast! Didn’t see her at S1 and S2 but Kuzmina is 2,0,1 after S3; Kaisa at S4 and clear again – just the 1 miss but she leads here at present – however, while that was happening Laura D has missed 3 at S3. Looking back at S2 Valj Semerenko is 10/10; at S3 Franzi Hildebrand is 0,1,0 and 2nd – Valj S goes 15/15 and is marginally faster there. Doro is at S4 – she’s done 20/20 and she’s 30.2 faster than Kaisa; amazingly Kuzmina (2,0,1,0) is just under 2 minutes behind Doro, so she’s skied 1 minute faster at this stage! Laura D might well not be over her illness yet – (0,0,3,1) and almost 4 minutes behind Doro. At the finish Doro W is fastest at present, but only 12.1 faster than Kaisa M – who had a minute added! Valj Semerenko has just gone 20/20 and leaves the range in 3rd; ahead of Dzhima and Skardino, who has also just shot a perfect score. Sadly Franzi H, who was in touch at S3, has missed another 2 (0,1,0,2) in her final shoot. Update – at S4 the positions are Wierer, Kaisa M, Valj S, Dzhima, Skardino and Bescond (+1:13.1 with 1 miss at S2). Bendika missed 1 at S4, but she’s still 8th there. Valj is over the line but she’s lost time to Yuliia – at present it’s Doro, Kaisa, Yuliia and Valj, and Dasha (0,1,1,0). Now, here’s a turn up – Rosanna Crawford (start number 96) is 10/10, and faster than Doro at S2; she’s cleared all 5 at S3 now and was 1.8 ahead of Doro – never been on the podium in the World Cup! Right Crawford at S4 – all 5 down again and she’s out 7.8 behind Doro! Tracks arguably not as fast, but Doro lost a lot of time to Kaisa on the last lap. That was a massive effort by Rosanna Crawford – she’s over the line in 3rd, +21.3 – what a PB! So, Doro wins, ahead of Kaisa and Rosanna Crawford. Dzhima in 4th ahead of Valj S and Dasha, then Skardino, Bescond, Kuzmina (2,0,1,0; +1:32.3) and Bendika. Best German Maren Hammerschmidt (1,0,1,0) in 15th – but I think she’s the one they have missed out of the relay team? Franzi H ended up 17th, just behind Daria Virolainen who was the best of the Russian team. Marte Olsbu best Norwegian (2,0,1,0) in 26th, with Susan Dunklee (1,1,1,0) in 27th and Amanda Lightfoot (0,2,0,2) in 79th. Poje (SLO) fastest on the range ahead of Merkushnya (UKR), Wierer, Vittozzi and Crawford (joint 4th). Denise Herrmann (1,1,2,1) fastest around the course but 40th after all those penalties, ahead of Kuzmina, Hildebrand and Domracheva; Kaisa only 5th there and Dahlmeier 10th. Final note – well done to Nadezhda Skardino, who has won the Women’s small crystal globe for the Individual!

Ruhpolding – Men’s 4 x 7.5 Km Relay (12 Jan): There are a couple tight sections on this course and with 26 teams starting we could see a few tangles? At the first split time there are only 4.6 seconds separating first and last; great support from the spectators, who are out on the loop in force.  In for the first prone – Sweden and France having a few problems and needing spares. Volkov leads out, ahead of Lesser and Rösch – he seems to like relays! Bailey in 4th ahead of Birkeland and Dovzan (SLO). Faur (ROU) the only one on the penalty loop, after being pretty good in the last relay! In for S2 – Birkeland clear and out just ahead of Erik Lesser (+0.2), then Lapshin (KOR), Kazar (SVK), Bailey and Bormolini; Rösch is doing 2 penalty loops – end of his dream for today! Erik Lesser is pushing hard on the lap – at the first exchange it’s Germany just ahead of Norway and Slovakia with USA 4th ahead of Korea and Italy. Doll leads away ahead of Tarjei Bø, then Hasilla, Nordgren and Hofer. Tarjei Bø has made a break on the lap – looks like Stenersen (SWE) is injured, not sure what happened (some suggestion he fainted?). S3 – Bø has used all 3 spares – perhaps that burst of speed was a bad idea? Lukas Hofer is clear and leads away; Hasilla (1 spare) out 2nd, +8.9 ahead of Doll (1), Eder, Semenov (UKR) and Tarjei Bø. Bø is pushing the pace again and he’s closed up on the chase group. Now, S4 and Doll is having an epic – all 3 spares used! Simon Eder (10/10, no spares) leads out; Bø used 1 spare and he’s 2nd ahead of Hofer, Hasilla, Tsvetkov and Semenov – Doll 7th +28.0. Exchange 2 coming up – Doll is gaining places but he isn’t really catching the 3 leaders; Italy lead at the exchange, then Norway, Austria, Slovakia, Germany and Russia. USA have done 2 penalty loops on this leg and are down to 22nd. Now, can Windisch hold off Svendsen and Mesotitsch, who are very close – some 26 seconds to the chasing 3; Peiffer, Bartko (SVK) and Babikov. Bad news for that 3 is that Martin Fourcade is closing and he’s joined the chasing group. S5 – EHS and Windisch clear and out, Mesotitch needed 1 spare; out 3rd ahead of Martin Fourcade! Arnd Peiffer used 2 spares and he’s out 6th, +33.0, just behind Babikov. EHS and Dominik W are close on the lap – Martin F now 17.2 behind; Mesotitsch and Peiffer losing time. Now, S6 – Italy and Norway have both missed 1, Windisch has made it 2 misses – Fourcade clear. Out Svendsen, Fourcade (+7.2), Windisch Babikov, Peiffer (+37.9) and Mesotitch. Interesting that Martin F is on leg 3 – Guigonnat must be bricking it at the prospect of his final lap against JoBø! Final exchange – France lead from Italy and Norway (+1.0); Germany in 4th, but +48.1 (Arnd losing some 10 seconds on that last lap) ahead of Russia and Austria. So, Guigonnat from Chenal, JoBø, Schempp, Landertinger and Shipulin then about a 45 seconds gap to the chasing group. Johannes is off like the proverbial scalded cat; Schempp has lost 11 seconds to JoBø, but is matching Chenal and Guigonnat. Final prone shoot – JoBø clear and away; Guigonnat (1 spare) 2nd, +26.3; Chenal (2) 3rd and as Schempp needed 2 spares, he’s let Shipulin through – he’s 5th, +1:21.3! Guigonnat is losing time on the lap and Chenal even more; but we didn’t see the split times for Shipulin and Schempp. JoBø rather erratic at S8 – 2 misses (lucky it wasn’t more) but he’s cleared with 2 spares and out – Guigonnat clear and out +17.7; Shipulin has used just 1 and he’s up to 3rd as Chenal goes on the loop! So, After S8 it’s Bø, Guigonnat, Shipulin (+57.2) and  Schempp (2 more spares; +1:30.9) with Landertinger just 8.3 behind the German. Germany are not shooting well today – 10 spares, compared to Russia’s 4; but, good grief – the USA team have done 8 loops (8+12; 4 loops by Doherty) and there’s an asterisk by the team on the data feed. So, Norway cruise to the win, France in 2nd with Russia making up the podium places. Germany in 4th, ahead of Austria and Sweden.  There has been a time adjustment to the USA’s time – not sure why; should they have done even more loops? Commentary team also confused by that – they say they’ll find out and explain tomorrow. (If they did, I didn't hear it!)

Ruhpolding – Women’s 4 x 6 Km Relay: I understand that Gabi Koukalová has confirmed that she will not go to the Olympics, and will not compete at all this season. Franziska Preuß starting off for Germany; the Swiss are including all 3 Gasparin sisters in their team. All very close still as they come in for S1 – Vittozzi leads out, ahead of Gasparin, Preuß , Chevalier, Persson and Kaisheva – all clear. Susan Dunklee among those who used 1 spare while poor Lunder (CAN) is the only one on the penalty loop. Conditions on the range looked pretty good; it’s quite close on the lap as so many shot clear! In for S2 already (a 2 Km lap) – Vittozzi has shot very fast and leads out, then Gasparin, Preuß, Hauser, Kaisheva and Chevalier (+11.5). Dunklee has used all 3 spares – no penalty loops for anyone this time. At the first exchange Italy lead from Germany, Switzerland and Belarus. Denise Herrmann has overtaken Doro Wierer on the lap; Marie Dorin Habert has halved the deficit for France early on, but losing a bit later. Prone 2 coming up – Doro has shot fast again and leads out; Denise clear too and out 2nd ahead of MDH, Brorsson, Innerhofer and Eckhoff – no one on loops this time. Denise in for her standing shoot – stadium quiet – Doro out and clear, lovely shooting; Denise H used 2 spares but she’s out 2nd, +20.6. Innerhofer is 3rd, ahead of Brorsson, Eckhoff and MDH. Bulgaria on the penalty loop this time. Herrmann has closed down on Doro by the 5.4 Km split – just 3.6 seconds gap – she’s past! Germany lead after the exchange, ahead of Italy, Norway, Slovakia, France and Switzerland. Gontier has passed Franzi H at the next split; Poliakova, Chloe Chevalier and Tandrevold all about 12 seconds back so they’ve gained time. Franzi back in front at the next timing point and the chasing group dropping back a little. In for S5 – Franzi has missed her first and 2 more – all 3 spares used! Magnusson (SWE) leads out, ahead of Chevalier, Gontier and Franzi H; Gasparin in 5th ahead of Poliakova and Tandrevold (+14.3). Japan on the penalty loop this time; Franzi H has broken a pole. Next shoot – Chevalier clear and out; Magnusson in 2nd, ahead of Selina Gasparin; Franzi up to 4th, +23.1, just ahead of Gontier with Tandrevold a further 7 seconds back. Slovakia doing 1 loop, Austria doing 2 as are USA, Belarus 3. Final exchange – Aita Gasparin leads away for the Swiss, ahead of Sweden, France and Germany (+24.4); Italy and Norway still in touch too. Dahlmeier and Olsbu making up time on the lap. Final prone shoot – Aita has missed her first 2; Laura thought she was clear and broke position! So, Laura D leads out ahead of Öberg, Sanfilippo, Gasparin and Olsbu (2 spares). The last shoot of the event – Laura D has missed 2, Sanfilippo first to clear and she leads out but just 0.7 ahead of Laura; Öberg 3rd just 5.6 back with Olsbu another 10 seconds back. Aita on the loop. Sanfilippo is holding on to her lead, but she’s slipped on the tight corner – Laura is past, and Nowakowska has passed Olsbu on the lap. At the finish Germany (0+9) take it but that was a real battle! Superb race by Italy (0+3), Sanfilippo doing a great job on the final lap, with Sweden (0+5) holding on to the final podium place. Norway (0+9) 4th, Olsbu back past Nowakowska, Poland (0+5) 5th and the Czechs (0+7) 6th. Good, exciting race!

Wengen – Men’s Alpine Combined (12 Jan): This is the second, and final, Combined this season, so the first globe will be awarded today! Joined this one a bit late – it’s the downhill run first. Early leader was Peter Fill, the first away, and he held on there until start number 12, Dominik Paris, took it away by just 2 hundredths! So, as I join the action Paris leads from Fill and Kilde; Marc Gisin into 5th and then Kjetil Jansrud goes 4th. I can’t see Svindal’s name on the list – wonder if he’s decided to give it a miss and concentrate on the downhill (surely worth doing this run for training?) – I’m sure the commentators must have mentioned something but I missed it – hope he isn’t injured again! Now, 20th away is Vincent Kriechmayr and he’s green all the way – he’s into the lead and by a massive 0.74 (but he isn’t renowned for slalom training)! Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) into 8th, +1.38. That’s a good run from Christof Innerhofer – he’s got into 4th, +0.84, which suggests that the track is holding up well. Adrien Theaux doesn’t start, and I understand Alexis Pinturault isn’t skiing today either. So, with 30 down it’s Kriechmayr leading from Paris, Fill, Innerhofer, Kilde and Jansrud. Hannes Reichelt is on course – he doesn’t seem to be going absolutely flat out; commentators reckon it might be “an extra training run”, but even so he’s into 2nd place, +0.59 – wonder if he’ll do run 2? Nice to see Ted Ligety skiing today – he didn’t look ready to go at the start to be honest; he’s 26th at present and that’s +2.68 – a bit odd that run! First run complete – no change to the top 10 since Reichelt!
Run 2: Arguably the toughest slalom course on the tour, and conditions are a bit soft – the snow actually looks dirty. It’s quite misty too, which isn’t going to help! Ah, I see Hannes Reichelt is listed as a DNS for this run – he’s not the only one either! Has to be said that the snow conditions don’t look good, and they aren’t going to get any better. First 10 of the fastest 30 (in reverse order) are away –Victor Muffat-Jeandet is leading; Giles Roulin has straddled the 2nd gate and even more of a surprise Luca Aerni, the current Combined World Champion, has fallen and is a DNF (4 so far, of 11 starters)! Half way and Victor M-J still leads, from Trikhichev and Murisier. Mauro Caviezel into 3rd, and the track looks awful – the chemicals haven’t set and the ruts are getting quite large! It looks very easy to lose a lot of time between inter 1 and 2, especially if you aren’t a slalom specialist! It’s biathlon time – have to catch up later and/or keep the FIS data stream running. As an example of how tricky this run can be, Ryan Cochran-Siegle has gone from 1.17 ahead at the start to +2.59 at the finish – 11th at present; Marc Gisin is a DNF.  Kjetil Jansrud into 3rd, but he’s now lost that place to Peter Fill; Dominik Paris into 5th - Victor M-J still leads! Kriechmayr joins the DNFs; I think this is over – we are now on the skiers who were outside the top 30 – Victor Muffat-Jeandet takes the win, ahead of Pavel Trikhichev with Peter Fill 3rd; then Jansrud, Paris and Caviezel. So, who gets the globe? I still think it’s a bit odd to have a globe awarded for just 2 races, so there were lots of people in with a chance – delighted to see that it was won by Peter Fill (2 downhill globes already but this is his first combined one)! Well done also to Pavel Trikhichev for getting his first podium, and Victor M-J for his first World Cup win.

Bad Kleinkirchheim – Women’s Super G (13 Jan): Actually this was originally planned to be the Downhill, but …
FIS statement: A strong weather system of rain that swept through Bad Kleinkirchheim ahead of the World Cup's arrival this week negatively impacted the race slope, and it has taken several days of hard work to create a surface that can be used for a full-length speed event.  Thursday's training run was cancelled due to the aforementioned course conditions. On Friday morning, it was evident that athletes could not complete a training run to the finish due to the snow conditions on the lower portion of the track. As such, the ladies ran from the top of the course to the super-G start in a shortened downhill training run. Christina Ager of Austria posted the fastest time of the day on this short sprint.  On Saturday, the ladies will contest the super-G starting at 10:45 CET. If all goes according to plan, another downhill training run from the reserve start to the finish is scheduled for Saturday starting at 14:00 CET. The downhill race has been rescheduled for Sunday at 11:15 CET. 
Anyway – it’s Saturday and the race appears to be on, bit gloomy in BKK though and not a lot of snow around in the area. Sofia Goggia first on course, and she’s a bit wild – safely down though. Next away is Lindsey Vonn – she’s a lot cleaner and faster to inter 3, where she’s 0.90 ahead, didn’t see anything obvious but she’s just 0.06 ahead at the finish! Schmidhofer is out; the TV director is looking for something to focus on - Lindsey is on the radio and we get to overhear – not fast enough with the bleeps there, so poor Matt Chilton (?) is in full apology mode! Laurenne Ross down but off the pace; Tina Weirather is in the red at inter 2 and 3, but she’s faster on the lower section and leads by 0.19. I don’t think she thought it was that good, but she’s smiling now! Christine Scheyer into joint 3rd; now, that was a very impressive run from Lara Gut – she leads by over a second, despite whacking a gate! This is a tough course – Federica Brignone nicely in touch – slightly red at inter 2 and 3 but a great lower section gives her the lead by 0.18! That’s 10 away – Brignone leads from Gut and Weirather. Cornelia Hütter into 3rd – good run. Tiffany Gauthier (FRA) a little unlucky with the visibility but into 4th; hopefully we won’t get any more wisps of fog. Getting a bit foggier at the top; oddly it seems to be the lower section, where the vis is good, that is really costing some of the skiers a lot of time! Long pause for course maintenance; the course workers are watering the “hole/lump” near the finish that has been causing a few problems – now the salt and some shovel bashing! That was a long wait for Anna Veith; in touch early on but she’s lost a lot from inter 2 to 3 – she’s 12th. Nadia Fanchini more in touch – she’s into 5th; two Italians in the top 6. On the plus side, the visibility seems to have improved – not a lot of use at present as the race is interrupted again for more maintenance work! Tamara Tippler nicely in touch at inter 2, but losing a bit of time lower down – into 6th.  More delays for hole filling – they seem to be having as much success as our local council does with potholes! Ricarda Haaser another one who lost time on that lower section – she’s managed 8th though, just ahead of Lindsey Vonn. That’s the 30 away point, so the race counts; Brignone leads from Gut, Hütter, Gauthier, Fanchini and Tippler. Coverage is moving to Wengen! No late upsets; top 10 unchanged – well done Federica Brignone!

Wengen – Men’s Downhill (13 Jan): Perfect conditions apparently – just as well given the fierce nature of this course; start at the top of the mountain and ski all the way down to the village! Beat Feuz is the first away; though the Kernen-S and he’s under the bridge as a train goes over – supposed to be lucky! He’s down – that’s a pretty epic two and a half minutes! Manny O-P next but he’s off the pace a little – 2.36 behind at the finish. Aksel Lund Svindal next – it’s all very close, drifting in and out of the green – he’s into 2nd by just 0.18. Great recovery by Thomas Dressen just before the finish – he is 3rd at present. Odd – Kjetil Jansrud is a bit off the pace; this venue isn’t exactly his most productive and he’s 1.53 slower than Feuz, into 4th. Dominik Paris into 4th now, +1.22; Christof Innerhofer miles off the pace – wrong set-up? He’s crashed in the Kernen-S; he’s up and back on his skis – hopefully OK. Peter Fill has got a bit caught up at the start, and that’s not helped his run – he’s steadily losing time and ends 6th, +1.79. Ten away and it’s Feuz, Svindal and Dressen leading. TV break over; Matthias Mayer has actually gained time on the lower section and he’s onto 3rd place. Rather odd – Max Franz +1.10 at inter 1; he’s kept it under control to go 9th, but that was a disappointing start to his run. Kilde is also over a second off at inter 1 – the top section certainly isn’t getting faster! That’s better – Andreas Sander just 0.38 off the pace at inter 1; sadly he’s losing time lower down! Now, Nick F has tipped Hannes Reichelt today – but Reichelt is over a second off at inter 2; he’s pulled a bit back lower down and he’s into 4th, +0.77. Another TV break on the way, after Vincent Kriechmayr – who is currently 6th. Feuz still leads, from Svindal and Mayer; then Reichelt, Dressen and Kriechmayr. Max Muzaton into 7th (a PB?), but I think he may be the last to get into the top 10? Jared Goldberg into the netting but he seems annoyed rather than injured. Good effort by Martin Cater to get into joint 11th from start number 32. No late changes to the top 10; good win for Beat Feuz and Svindal’s 2nd place keeps him ahead in the DH standings. I think this race might be on the Ski Sunday programme?

Wengen – Men’s Slalom (14 Jan): Nice weather but a very icy looking piste – looks rather mucky! Stefano Gross away first on a course set by a German coach – not his cleanest run perhaps, but down. Good grief – Andre Myhrer is 1.62 faster; great run! Well, Michael Matt is no slouch but he’s 1.81 behind Myhrer, in 3rd place. Manni Mölgg has lost over a second between inter 3 and the finish - +2.02 at the finish. Henrik Kristoffersen next – all very close at the top, bit red at inter 3 and he’s into 2nd, +0.24. Dave Ryding goes number 6 – he’s +0.83 at inter 3, and he’s out – first DNF of the day. Here comes Hirscher – green all the way; lost a bit between 2 and 3 but he leads by 0.35! I gather he’s never won on this piste, so that’s a good start. Ten away – Hirscher leads from Myhrer and Kristoffersen, then Feller, Gross and Pinturault (+2.00). Daniel Yule into 5th; Hargin has straddled, just as Nick F was talking about his recovery skills! Khoroshilov has also straddled; I thought the icy stuff would have been more to his taste. Impressive lower section by Marco Schwarz to get into 5th; Hirschbühl and Meillard also DNF – that’s 6 from 21 starts. Now, that’s good from LKN-H (Haugen!!) – into 4th, just 0.76 off the pace. Track must be holding up well, despite the ruts – Ramon Zenhaeusern into 6th from start number 24; Victor M-J (23) and Marc Digruber (26) also getting into the top 10 (at present). That’s the top 30 away - Hirscher leads from Myhrer and Kristoffersen, then LKN-H, Feller and Zenhaeusern. Impressive late charge by Kristoffer Jakobsen (SWE; start number 49) into 9th place! Run 1 complete; no further changes to the top 10.
Run 2: Poor Naoki Yuasa has straddled almost at the finish – DQ! First realistic time on the run is Nolan Kasper’s. Well, following on from Lindsey Vonn’s radio call yesterday, the soundman managed to pick up Phil Brown’s comment after a disappointing run – Nick F’s turn to apologise! Ten away and Manfred Mölgg leads; Lizeroux into 2nd. All change as Linus Strasser takes over the lead; I’m not sure he’d even reached the chair before Michael Matt went 0.89 faster – he seems to be using an older set of skis on this run and they are giving him much more grip. That might take some beating, at least for a while; at the half way point it’s Matt from Strasser and Mölgg. Pinturault goes 2nd, to be replaced there by Stefano Gross, who was next away. Sadly Kristoffer Jakobsen couldn’t capitalise on his first run – 18th at present after a big error, and Daniel Yule isn’t having a perfect day either – although he’s into 6th. Lovely run from Ramon Zenhaeusern – he gets into the lead by a massive 0.74! The Swiss fans like that! They aren’t going to like this – Feller green all the way and gaining; but, the fans are safe – he’s straddled – the Austrian coach is kicking something! LK N-Haugen into a very close 2nd; Henrik Kristoffersen is risking it all, and it’s paying off – he takes the lead by 0.88 – that’s ratcheted up the pressure! Andre Myhrer next – he’s into the red at inter 2 and it’s going the wrong way – he’s 2nd, +0.79. Just Marcel Hirscher to go – 0.59 in hand at the start – green at inter 1 and 2, more green at 3 and he wins by 0.93 – and that was the fastest time on run 2 as well! That’s his 53rd World Cup victory, and the first time he’s won the slalom here. What a race; I'm glad I won't be in the same hotel as Kristoffersen this evening - I doubt he'll be that happy?

Bad Kleinkirchheim – Women’s Downhill (14 Jan): Start apparently delayed by the weather – cloud rolling in at the top of the shortened course, making conditions unsafe. Forerunners on the course however, and it looks like just 5 minutes delay? Race on – Christine Scheyer first away; Federica Brignone is 2.06 faster! Conni Hütter almost falling – what a recovery! She’s into 2nd; Sofia Goggia is nicely green on her run and gaining time – commentators reckon it’s a scruffy run but it’s fast – she leads by a pretty massive 1.10! Italians going well today! Race on hold – not sure if it’s vis problems or maintenance? Light snow falling but the race is back on; Tina Weirather has lost quite a bit between inter 2 and 3 – she goes 3rd. Michelle Gisin into 4th, but +1.85; Lara Gut won’t be on the podium today – into 5th at present. The snow looks a little heavier? Hasn’t worried Nadia Fanchini – she goes into 3rd to make it an all Italian podium, potentially. Fifteenth away is Lindsey Vonn – visibility OK at present, but not good; she’s lost a lot between inter 1 and 2 – the time is still going – she’s 14th, +3.03 and apparently she hasn’t officially qualified for the Olympic Downhill yet. Anyway, at present it’s Goggia, Brignone and Fanchini, then Weirather, Gisin and Venier. Visibility seems to be closing in again; Anna Veith into 6th, best of the Austrians at present. Interesting – Jasmine Flury (start number 24) into equal 5th place with fellow Swiss racer Michelle Gisin! That’s 30 away – no changes to the top 10. Until … another good run from Tiffany Gauthier (start 36), who is going well here – she’s into 4th! Marte Bassino (46) into 10th, but that was the last change to the top 10. Well done Italy – all 3 podium places – Goggia wins from Brignone and Fanchini with Gauthier in 4th (again)!

Ruhpolding – Men’s 15 Km Mass Start (14 Jan): Bit dull and overcast; doesn’t look too windy? Quite a modest pace on the first lap; Shipulin, Hofer and JoBø up with Martin F as they head for shoot 1. The Russian leads in – he has the first miss too, and 1 more (or is it 3? Graphic shows 3 targets standing)! Out in order Desthieux, Fourcade, Rastorgujevs, Tarjei Bø, Schempp and Doll – JoBø 7th, +4.8. EHS has missed 1 and Arnd Peiffer is among those joining him. Shipulin and Moravec are shown as missing 3. A fairly slow pace on the lap is letting people who have missed close up. In for S2; Martin F clear and leading out, just ahead of JoBø, Simon Eder (1,0), Freddie Lindström, Simon Schempp and Erik Lesser. I count 13 who have 10/10; Dominik Windisch is 2,2 already and has the most penalty loops so far. Now the pace is getting more like it – a group of 4 at the front – Martin F, JoBø, Schempp, Tarjei – Freddie getting back there. In for S3 – Johannes clear and he leads out ahead of Schempp, Tarjei, Guigonnat, Eder and Fak – Martin F has missed 2 and so has Freddie L; EHS and Birkeland are both 1,1,1! Eight perfect 15/15 scores; Windisch and L’Abee-Lund both have 5 penalties each. JoBø has turned on the speed in the lap – 7.8 ahead of Schempp; Martin F 37.7 behind. Final shoot – JoBø in with a good gap but how hard has he been pushing? He’s missed 1; still out in the lead though – ahead of Guigonnat (20/20, +8.8), QFM and Martin Fourcade (+17.6). Schempp has missed 1 but still 5th ahead of Fak (20/20). Just 3 perfect scores today; Windisch now up to 7 loops. At 13.6 Km JoBø leads but in 2nd, just 10.7 behind, is Martin F; Guigonnat 3rd ahead of QFM and Beni Doll, who is just 0.4 ahead of Simon Schempp, but hey need to gain 10 seconds to catch a Frenchman! Gap down at 14.4 but it’s still 9.2 between JoBø and Martin – can’t see him catching! Guigonnat is hanging on, trying to pass Martin – he has quicker skis too. Tarjei is past the Germans! At the finish Johannes Bø (0,0,0,1) wins, 4.5 seconds ahead of Martin F (0,0,2,0) with Antonin Guigonnat (0,0,0,0) in 3rd. QFM in 4th ahead of Tarjei Bø, Schempp, Peiffer, Slesingr (20/20) and Doll. Jakov Fak (20/20) in 10th. Shipulin fastest on the range, ahead of Eder and Eberhard. Martin F 15.1 faster around the track than JoBø; Tarjei 3rd fastest.

Ruhpolding – Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start (14 Jan): Well, we have what was listed – and with commentary! Justine Braisaz is here today – I wonder if she’s fully well though? Kuzmina off like a scalded cat; no gentle start like the one we had in the men’s race! First shoot – Braisaz has missed 3 so I suspect she isn’t well yet. Doro Wierer clear and away, ahead of Dasha, Anais Chevalier, Vittozzi, Olsbu and Crawford; all clear. Kuzmina, Franzi H, Laura D, Kaisa and both Semerenkos among those with 1 miss. Justine B the only 1 with 3 misses or worse. Dasha, Vittozzi and Olsbu opening a little gap over the chasing group. Wind might have picked up as they come in for S2 – second prone; Dasha clear, Vittozzi has missed her 5th; Kuzmina has missed another 2. So, Dasha leads out, ahead of Crawford, Doro W, Laura D then Yurlova-Percht and Vittozzi (+19.9). Franzi H is now 1,2; same as Kuzmina – Justine B is 3,1. I count just 6 athletes with 10/10? Eurosport seems stuck in the advert break – morons! Over to the IBU feed, which luckily has commentary. Dasha is in for S3 – she’s missed 1; Rosanna Crawford 15/15 and she leads here; Laura D also clear this time as is Kaisa. Order this time Crawford, Dahlmeier, Kaisa, Dasha, Doro, Vitková. Herrmann is 1,1,1 and second best German; poor Franzi H is 1,2,1 and 25th while Kuzmina is 1,2,3 and 29th. Dasha and Kaisa just clear of Laura, with Rosanna about 5 seconds back. Final shoot – Laura seems to have good skis and she leads in – Rosanna Crawford is 20/20 and she leads – the other leaders have missed at least 1! Crawford out, ahead of Vitková (1,0,1,0), Kaisa (1,0,0,1), Laura (1,0,0,1) then Vittozzi (0,1,1,0), Chevalier (0,1,0,0) and Dasha (0,0,1,2) with Herrmann (1,1,1,1; +42.5). At 10.7 Km Rosanna is holding on; Herrmann up to 6th. Laura’s skis are running well; at 11.8 Km it’s Laura, just 0.7 ahead of Kaisa with Rosanna 3rd – Vitková close though – this is all very close – Kaisa attacking on the final hillock. Kaisa gets her first win of the season, ahead of a very tired Laura D. Veronika Vitková has nicked the final podium place from Rosanna Crawford with Denise Herrmann in 5th ahead of Dasha. What a superb race – brilliant! Good work by Maren Hammerschmidt who got 11th despite 4 penalties. Puskarčíková fastest on the range (but 5 penalties), ahead of Merkushyna and Vittozzi. Denise Herrmann fastest around the tracks, ahead of Kaisa, Laura and Maren H.

Antholz-Anterselva – Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint (18 Jan): No Canadians here today, among other absentees. Sadly Eurosport is showing tennis and snooker live, so they aren’t covering this race until much later this afternoon! I’ll try the IBU video and datacenter – weather looks OK; zero degrees air temp, sunshine and very light winds. No sound at all which is a bit eerie; pleasant surprise – suddenly we have a proper commentary! Maren Hammerschmidt the first away; apparently the approach to the range here is quite tough, so the shooting will be fairly critical. Kaisa Mäkäräinen away 7th; it’s the Semerenko twins’ birthday today! At the first split the early leader is Mari Laukkanen, who is even faster than Kaisa. Not sure a fast start will suit this venue though. MDH is off to an unlucky start – pole breaking at the start and no immediate replacement to hand.  Maren H is at S1 – she’s missed her first and one more; Selina Gasparin has also missed 2 - Mun of Korea is the first to go clear.  Kaisa has also missed 2; so has Laukkanen! Wind has got up a little since they all zeroed; MDH is the second person clear; Fenne has also missed 2, so just 2 out of 10 have 5/5! Dzinara Alimbekava (BLR) and Poltoranina are clear; Mike – 2 out of 10 is NOT 2%! Anna Frolina (KOR) clear too and now best after S1 (Korea 1 and 2!!); Dunklee has missed 1. Maren is through S2 and she’s missed another 1; so has Gasparin. Pity – Mun has missed 3 at S2; Vernonika Vitková fastest at S1 now, and Laura Dahlmeier has just recorded the same time – both clear. At S2 Kaisa is 2,1; MDH has just cleared all 10 and leads, 28 seconds ahead of Hauser (1,1). Paulina Fialkova (SVK) also clear at S1 with the new fastest time; Denise Herrmann has missed 1. At 6.1 Km MDH has opened up 35.9 on Hauser, and she’s also pulling away from Alimbekava, who has also cleared 10/10. Frolina has missed 1 at S2 but she’s only 11.9 behind MDH. Back at S1 Domracheva is clear and 1.6 behind Fialkova; at S2 Laura Dahlmeier is 10/10, just 2.4 behind Vitkova’s (0,0) time; Yurlova also 10/10 and +11.3 as she leaves the range. Fialkova has missed 1 at S2; Braisaz has missed 1 at S1. Denise Herrmann has missed 1 at S2 (so 1,1) but she’s only 10 seconds behind MDH’s time; I don’t think Marie is really back to full fitness yet?! Kuzmina at S2 (1,2); Dasha has missed 1 here. On the final lap Laura D is gaining time on Veronika Vitková – at the finish Laura is 8.6 seconds faster -  currently Dahlmeier, Vitková, Yurlova-Percht. Anais Bescond into 3rd now. Back at S1 Franzi Hildebrand is also clear and marginally quicker than Vitková. On the final lap Dasha is flying, +17 as she left the range down to +8.9 at 6.4 Km and she’s currently 3rd! Franzi H is 10/10 but +10.1 as she leaves; I can’t see her getting on the podium, but that’s still a good run. At S2 Olsbu (1,2) has an asterisk by her name – not sure why at present. Vanessa Hinz (1,0) is in touch, but Braisaz is 1,1 and over a minute behind; of the later starters Tiril Eckhoff is clear at S1 (+9.4) but Doro Wierer is also clear and now the fastest after S1. Now, this race isn’t over – Tiril Eckhoff is 10/10, so her eyes seem to be better today, and after S2 she’s 6.3 seconds faster than Laura D; Doro has missed 1 though. At 6.1 Km Tiril is now 7.2 faster than Laura and the gap is up to 11.1 at 6.4 Km – what a comeback! Yes, the “renewed” Tiril takes the lead by 12 seconds; Dasha off the podium. I think that might be it, although Franzi Preuß  is clear at S1 and about 2 seconds behind Tiril’s time, and Nicole Gontier is also 5/5, +5.8 on Fialkova’s time (the best at that stage).  So, at present Tiril Eckhoff leads, ahead of Laura Dahlmeier and Veronika Vitková (all 10/10) then Domracheva (0,1), Bescond and Yurlova-Percht. Doro into 7th at the moment, Franzi H in 9th and Denise Herrmann 10th, just ahead of Vanessa Hinz. Gontier is in for her standing shoot – she’s missed 2; and so has Franzi Preuß. That’s it all finished – no late changes to the top 10; Kuzmina in 18th, Kaisa M in 26th. Doro Wierer fastest on the range, ahead of Julia Simon and Irene Cadurisch – I see Felicia Lindqvist (SWE) was 4th fastest! Darya Domracheva fastest around the course ahead of Eckhoff, Herrmann, Dahlmeier and Kuzmina; Eckhoff 7 seconds faster than Herrmann today!

Antholz-Anterselva – Men’s 10 Km Sprint (19 Jan): Once again, not live on Eurosport, so it’s the IBU feed and this time no commentary! Looks a nice day – plenty of blue sky, but I’m not sure what the temperature is doing on the tracks; a few not so well known names in group 1 so maybe the teams are expecting the course to get faster? Having said that, number 10 is Emil Hegle Svendsen, and Landertinger, Rastorgujevs and Seppaelae are already on the course too! Andrejs Rastorgujevs is at a rather windy S1, and he’s clear! Dominik Landertinger is also clear but he’s 28.6 slower than Andrejs; Roman Rees is better – just +10.2 after his clear shoot – Sean Doherty has missed 3! Svendsen is in; he’s missed his 5th shot. Pity – Rastorgujevs is already at S2, but he’s missed 2 there – however the next few in are also missing, so he still leads at present; Rees has also missed 2. Back at S1 Tobias Eberhard (AUT) is closest to Andrejs’ time, +8.9; it looks tricky – Windisch has missed 4 here. At S2 EHS has missed 2 more and Slesingr has also missed 2. Michael Rösch has cleared at S1, and he’s just 1.8 behind Rastorgujev’s time there; Simon Eder also clear and in touch. Still no one with less than 2 penalties in total after S2 although Lapshin is now the fastest, but at S1 Julian Eberhard is now fastest with Birkeland just 2.2 behind – good shooting! JoBø is through S1 and even with his one penalty he’s out 4th, +4.8 – flying on his skis! Some loud sighs from the crowd accompany the news that both Lesser and Schempp have also missed 2 at S1, but Shipulin is clear and leads by 3.7 from Arnd Peiffer; Martin F has also just gone clear 5.7 slower than the Russian. At last – a 10/10, and it’s all credit to Ondrej Moravec, although I don’t think he has the ski speed to make the most of it. Martin Otcenas (SVK) and Lowell Bailey are out of S2 with just 1 penalty apiece, but Lars Helge Birkeland is 10/10 and much faster than Moravec! Julian Eberhard has missed two in the stand, but his time is only just behind Moravec. JoBø clear in the stand, and out 33.5 ahead of Birkeland- amazing speed! Suddenly we have commentary! Tarjei Bø is 1,2; Anton Shipulin (0,1) is out 2nd, but that place is taken away by Arnd Peiffer (10/10) but out +22.4. Martin Fourcade is 10/10 as well, and just 3.1 behind JoBø’s time – so Johannes is very fast, but he has skied 150 meters more – now what? On the final lap JoBø is still flying – he was 33.5 ahead of Birkeland at S2 – by 8.8 Km it’s up to 58.9! At 8.5 Km Martin F has lost some 6 more seconds to JoBø; and over another 1 at 8.8 Km. At the finish JoBø leads; Martin F in 12.8 seconds behind him and he’s dragged Arnd Peiffer with him, so that the German is presently in 3rd (+42.2) ahead of Shipulin, Birkeland and Julian Eberhard. Back at S1 Emilien Jacquelin (FRA, start 94) is clear and a little faster than Martin F! So, Jacquelin is at S2 – he’s got his 10/10 and out 16 seconds behind Martin’s time, but crucially he’s 3.4 faster than Arnd Peiffer – the podium isn’t settled yet! At 8.5 Km Jacquelin has slipped to 5th, behind Peiffer and Shipulin – he’s over the finish in 5th, behind Shipulin and ahead of Birkeland, but that’s a massive PB for him! So – impressive win for Johannes Bø (1,0), ahead of Martin Fourcade (0,0) and Arnd Peiffer (0,0); Shipulin 4th ahead of Jacquelin and Birkeland. Good ski speed also from Benedikt Doll (2nd best German today) – pity about the 4 penalties! Lapshin fastest on the range, ahead of Birkeland, Nordgren and Shipulin; no surprise that JoBø was the fastest around the course, a massive 35.6 ahead of Doll and 36.0 ahead of Martin F in 3rd.

Cortina d”Ampezzo – Women’s Downhill (19 Jan): Missed this one (Physio appointment) and arrived back with 30 away (I’ll try to catch the video later; looks as though Eurosport aren’t showing this again due to all the tennis and snooker?). So, at present it’s Sofia Goggia in the lead, with Lindsey Vonn 2nd (+0.47, after a narrow escape!) and …. Mikaela Shiffrin 3rd! Lara Gut is 4th, ahead of Nicole Schmidhofer and Ragnhild Mowinckel, and that's how it stayed Good effort by Kira Weidle (GER, start number 28) who got into 9th.  Apparently today is Julia Mancuso’s final race – pity! In the overall Shiffrin now has 1441 points; nearest to her, in 2nd, is Sofia Goggia on 570 then Wendy Holdener on 560. The FIS report is HERE

Kitzbühel – Men’s Super G (19 Jan): This was supposed to start at 1030 (UK time) but due to the weather and snow conditions the start has been delayed until 1200 and the race will now be from the Mausefalle to Oberhausberg (hopefully!) – first time that particular configuration has been used. Well, that worked, so we have a race, albeit somewhat shorter than planned. Weather a bit better so there is a slot of opportunity to try and get this one complete.  I joined a little late (tried to fit in my daily walk during the delay; it took longer today - avoiding sheets of ice on the road!), but I arrived back just in time to see Kjetil Jansrud’s run. The leader as the Norwegian started was Hannes Reichelt, and it was very close all the way – Jansrud mainly in the green, just red at inter 4, but he takes the lead by just 7 hundredths! So, Jansrud leads, from Reichelt, Theaux and Paris. Kilde into 4th; next away is Beat Feuz – he takes over 4th place as the visibility starts to get worse again. Vincent Kriechmayr into 5th; Andreas Sander has taken that position away from him – for a while I thought he might nick 4th. Next to start is Aksel Lund Svindal – the FIS feed chooses this moment to stall! Svindal just red at inter 1 and 2, green at 3 and almost half a second up at 4; he leads by 0.50. Peter Fill into 6th; Matthias Mayer next and he’s in touch – very wild and athletic, and he’s into 3rd place, just one one hundredth ahead of Reichelt! Twenty away – Svindal leads from Jansrud, Mayer and Reichelt; Theaux in 5th, ahead of Feuz. The course is getting rutted; hopefully this won’t affect tomorrow’s downhill! After the TV break it seems harder to get in touch, I suspect the visibility isn’t helping; it’s getting worse too! Anyway – 30 away so the results stand – good effort by Blaise Giezendanner to get into 9th from start number 28 (same as Weidle did in the women’s race, if the position doesn’t change!) which puts him just ahead of Kriechmayr. Nasty crash for Christopher Neumayer, but he seems to be up and OK. Since Giezendanner none of the late starters have made it into the top 20. So, an impressive win for Svindal, ahead of Jansrud and Mayer – downhill tomorrow, weather permitting!

Cortina d”Ampezzo – Women’s Downhill (20 Jan): Hmmm – wall to wall tennis on Eurosport, although it seems they might condescend to cover the skiing as it starts, but with no commentary! Weather looks really good and the scenery at the resort looks amazing. Nadia Fanchini the first away, and safely down – couple snags en route but it looked OK, although she seemed to be shaking her head in the finish area. Anyway, Stacey Cook was 0.71 slower (a bit acrobatic at times!) so Fanchini’s run couldn’t have been too bad! Next is Sofia Goggia, yesterday’s winner, but she’s had an epic over the top jump – down but up again; very lucky to avoid a nasty crash. Next is Christine Scheyer; nicely in the green at the top but losing time from inter 2 to 4, and she goes 3rd. Tina Weirather is flying at the top and over a second in the green at inter 3; fastest so far through both speed guns too and she leads by 1.40 at the finish! Lovely skiing, and now we have a target time! Johanna Schnarf can’t match it, but she does take 2nd; Connie Hütter into 3rd. Ragnhild Mowinckel is more in touch; red all the way but good enough for 2nd; now, Lindsey Vonn and she’s straight into the green – and she stays there all the way, to take the lead by 0.92. I wonder if Vonn will give an update to Mikaela Shiffrin? Anyway, Michelle Gisin is into 3rd, and now it’s Shiffrin; nice run - only good enough for 5th at present, but very impressive for someone who is best known for the technical events – a very talented woman! Jacqueline Wiles into 3rd – Americans going well today. Ramona Siebenhofer is into 4th place but over a second off Vonn’s time. That’s 20 away – Vonn leads from Weirather, Wiles, Siebenhofer, Gisin and Mowinckel. No late charge from Kira Weidle today (9th yesterday; currently 27th), and no late changes to the top 10; Vonn takes the win.

Kitzbühel – Men’s Downhill (20 Jan): The weather is a bit nicer today, possibly the light is a bit flat  – looks a really demanding course! Hannes Reichelt is the first away – a couple “moments” but he’s down and safe. Good start by Christof Innerhofer, but into the red at inter 3 – off line in the Hausberg and he’s fallen – seems OK and he’s back on his feet – lucky escape! Next to go is Kjetil Jansrud; again green at 1 and 2, but then into the red – he’s 0.89 off the pace at the finish. Caviezel into 3rd, and now it’s Aksel Lund Svindal – fractionally in the red at inter 3, 4 and 5; he’s lost a bit more from 6 to 7 (memories of his crash 2 years ago playing on his mind?) and he goes 2nd, +0.71. Beat Feuz has started well, but he too is into the red at inter 3; back in the green at inter 6 and he stays there to the finish – he leads by 0.21. The Swiss haven’t won here for 8 years – will today change that? Johan Clarey is doing things differently – red at 1 and 2, then green and he’s about half a second ahead at inter 4 – then it starts to drift away – over a second off at inter 7 and he’s fallen, pretty much at the same place as Innerhofer. Looked a heavy hit and he’s into the netting – he’s up but it’s taking a while to untangle everything – he’s OK. That’s 10 away – Feuz leads from Reichelt, Svindal and Jansrud. Peter Fill green from inter 1 to 3 but again it’s all going away from him lower down – he’s into 4th, in a Norwegian sandwich. Matthias Mayer right on the edge but still in touch – massive error low down – I’m amazed he managed to stay on his feet; what a superb recovery! Adrien Theaux nicely in touch; just 0.32 behind at inter 4, but then he loses time and into 7th. The course is getting bumpy, and there are a couple softer patches too. Vincent Kriechmayr is green at inter 1 and gaining time as he goes – 0.79 in the green at inter 4; only just green at 6 and slow through the final speed gun – he’s into 3rd, knocking Svindal off the podium. Now, here’s an upset in the making – Thomas Dressen in touch at inter 3 and going greener as he comes down the hill – 0.53 ahead at inter 5. He’s lost a bit lower down but it’s still green and he takes the lead by 0.20 – he’s understandably delighted  and the crowd have gone wild. Another German on course now – Andreas Sander is also well in touch all the way to inter 7 – one error off the final jump costs him –into 5th! Jared Goldberg into the nets; he’s back on his feet and hopefully just bruised. He’s on his skis and making his way down. Good run from Marc Gisin to get into 5th; I think that might be the last “late charge” though – 30 away and Dressen leads from Feuz, Reichelt, Kriechmayr, Gisin and Sander. Svindal holding on to 7th at the moment. Just as I finish that sentence – Brice Roger (FRA, start 31) powers his way into 7th! And a good effort by Emanuele Buzzi (ITA) to get 11th from start number 44. That’s it – well done Thomas Dressen! Beat Feuz second ahead of Reichelt, Kriechmayr, Gisin and Sander.

Kitzbühel – Men’s Slalom (21 Jan): Heavy snow overnight and it’s still snowing – very wintery! The course seems to be “full of terrain” and it’s also a very difficult pattern of gates, set by a Russian coach – with the added problems of the weather, it’s going to be a real test. Stefano Gross is the first away, again; he doesn’t look happy with his run. Next away is Marcel Hirscher – he’s apparently spent ages on the inspection and it seems to have paid off – he leads by 0.65, but even so he doesn’t seem happy with the run! Now, Daniel Yule is nicely in touch – he’s 2nd but just 0.18 off Hirscher’s time. Great start by Michael Matt, he’s 0.35 ahead at inter 1, and over half a second clear at inter 3 – very impressive run and he leads by 0.95! That’s a huge advantage to take forward to run 2. Myhrer slightly off the pace here; Henrik Kristoffersen next and he’s green at inter 1, better at 2, lost a little but he’s done enough to lead by 0.10. That gives him just more than a second over Hirscher for run 2. Alexis Pinturault well off the pace too – he seems to have given up? First 10 away – Kristoffersen leads from Matt, Hirscher, Yule, Gross and Myhrer. Foss-Solevaag into 6th; Dave Ryding next – I think Nick F is watching a different run! Pity – not Dave Ryding’s best run and he’s 11th at present, +2.89. Not sure how Feller got into 8th – great recoveries! The course seems to be getting very rutted; Marco Schwarz has gone into 8th place. Haugen (LKN-H) into 5th, a good effort with the conditions as they are. Some reasonable runs from the later starters – and now Ramon Zenhauesern is into 8th, +1.78. I think that might be the end of any changes to the top 10; only Michael Matt is within a second of Henrik Kristoffersen! Run 1 over – no change to the top 10.
Run 2: Excellent second run from Fritz Dopfer to take the early lead; this looks a very technical course! Dave Ryding next to go – he’s building on his advantage; 0.18 at the start becomes 0.63 at the finish and he leads; lovely run. Luca Aerni on course and he’s keeping himself in the green, but he’s fallen in that awkward final flush; Marc Rochat also out, having lost his way on the course! It’s snowing harder now – Dominik Raschner is out too; pity after getting a second run from start number 62. Jonathan Nordbotten (NOR) is nicely green all the way – lost a bit lower down but still enough in hand to take the lead by 0.24; 5 DNFs already though. Clement Noel (FRA) has skied that nicely – he goes 2nd. Nice run from Manfred Mölgg tool – he’s into joint 3rd place with Dave Ryding and that’s half way. Manu Feller has lost all his advantage by inter 1, but then he gets into the run and takes the lead by 0.33 – great recovery! Victor Muffat-Jeandet slipped into the red at inter 3 but he’s recovered it and leads by 0.06. Andre Myhrer is out – this venue doesn’t seem to be good for him – 8 to go. Ramon Zenhauesern nicely green all the way until the final few gates – he’s into 3rd. The snow really is getting heavier – wet and sticky on the final section and it’s starting to clog up the cameras too! The conditions aren’t helping the later starters LKN-H well in touch until the final section, which drops him to 9th. Daniel Yule has 0.85 in hand at the start, and he’s actually gained some time from inter 2 to 3 – he’s into the lead by an impressive 0.81. Next is Marcel Hirscher – still green at inter 2, and gaining a bit of time – 0.18 at the start is 0.38 at the finish and he leads; what a run – right on the edge all the way! Michael Matt next, with 0.95 in hand – he’s lost a little to inter 1, bit more to 2 and he’s gone the wrong way and missed a gate – Mario will be having a word later! Just Kristoffersen to go – 1.05 at the start is 1.36 at inter 1, so he’s flying; still almost a second ahead by inter 3 and he’s beaten Hirscher at last! Kristoffersen wins, Hirscher 2nd and Yule 3rd. Dave Ryding ended up joint 9th, with the consolation prize of the best time on run 2.

Cortina d”Ampezzo – Women’s Super G (21 Jan): Hmm, lowered start here, but at least the weather is better than it is in Kitzbühel! Johanna Schnarf first away; Ricarda Haaser is off the pace, and off the racing line too, which is costing her a lot of time! Anna Veith green at the top but red by inter 3 – she’s second, +0.17. Michelle Gisin into 3rd; Brignone is a DNS so it’s Lindsey Vonn on course next – green at inter 1 but red at 2 and 3 as the mist drifts in – she’s into 3rd place; unlucky with the weather! She isn’t happy about it – poor Matt Chilton is apologising (2nd time in 2 weeks) for what the microphone picked up as Vonn expressed her dissatisfaction with the weather! The weather gods do like Lara Gut though, it seems – nice and clear on her run and she leads by 0.14 – nice run! Tina Weirather into 4th; nice to see Tiffany Gauthier getting a lower start number – fast through the speed guns, but a bit off line at times – 7th. Ten away; Gut leads from Schnarf and Veith, Weirather in 4th ahead of Vonn and Gisin. Corinne Suter also unlucky with the visibility; she’s 7th at present. Sofia Goggia has stumbled at the start; she’s demolished a gate further down and her air-bag has inflated – DNF. This is good from Nicole Schmidhofer, but she’s made a slight error on the flat – that has cost her, but she’s still into 3rd. Mikaela Shiffrin a bit wild, and she’s missed a gate – DNF. Ragnhild Mowinckel is in touch at the top but she too has lost time lower on the course – into 7th. A flurry of DNFs; with 20 away, no change to the top 10 since Mowinckel. Tamara Tippler is nicely in touch at inter 1 and 2, and still only +0.10 at 3, but she’s lost time lower down – into 7th. Ramona Siebenhofer into 9th from start number 24; no change then and 30 away. Not sure what happened to Nadine Fest but the race has been interrupted after her DNF for quite a while; hope she’s OK. No late changes – well done Lara Gut! So, Gut wins, from Schnarf, Schmidhofer, Veith, Weirather and Vonn.

Antholz-Anterselva – Women’s 10 Km Pursuit (20 Jan): No Susan Dunklee today – nursing a cold. The race doesn’t seem to be on Eurosport at all, at least not anywhere near the live timings – perhaps the Aussies could move their tennis open to June to stop messing up my biathlon enjoyment? Anyway – the race is on; no commentary at present – Tiril Eckhoff has 12 seconds lead over Laura Dahlmeier as they start. Domracheva has passed Vitková on the early part of the lap; Herrmann up 2 places and so is Kaisa. Eckhoff looking very relaxed as she comes in for S1 – she’s missed her 5th shot, but so has Laura D! Dasha clear and she leads, just 0.8 ahead of Tiril; Bescond up to 3rd ahead of Laura D – Vitková has also missed 1 so she’s 5th ahead of the clean shooting Franzi H. Franzi Preuß is also clear and up from 20 to 12, but Herrmann has missed 1 – 2 misses the most I can see. I do like watching Dasha ski; Eckhoff is staying with her on the lap but Bescond and Dahlmeier are losing time. In for S2 – Dasha has missed one, so has Eckhoff but the crowd roar as Laura D goes clear this time and leads out, just 1.6 ahead of Anais Bescond; Dasha 3rd and Tiril 4th, then Doro W, Hinz (up from 11th) ,and Preuß. Kuzmina has missed 1 at S2 but even so she’s up to 9th from 18; Kaisa (0,0) up from 26 to 10. First standing shoot – Eckhoff clear this time and shooting fast – she leads out ahead of Dasha and Laura D (all clear here); Doro has missed another but out 4th, just ahead of Franzi Preuß but poor Vanessa Hinz, who was going so well, has missed 3 here and Denise H is 1,3,1. Kuzmina missed 2 here, as did Kaisa; I can only see 4 15/15 scores. Laura, Tiril and Darya all very close on the lap and already we are at the final shoot – Tiril has missed her first and 1 more, Dasha 1 and a huge roar erupts as Laura clears this time and leads out. As they leave the range it’s Dahlmeier (1,0,0,0), then Domracheva (0.1.0.1; +18.9), Wierer (1,0,1,0; +19.3) and Eckhoff (1,1,0,2; +49.8). Franzi P has missed 2 here and is out 6th, just behind Vishnevskaya (20/20). The only other 20/20s I can see are Runggaldier and Nicolaisen? Laura D cruises gently to another win (by 17.3 seconds!), Doro has passed Dasha and they take the remaining 2 podium spots. Tiril Eckhoff in 4th, Kaisa (0,0,2,0) in 5th from 26th, ahead of Vishnevskaya (14 to 6). Other gainers include Vittozzi (40 to 9), Franzi P (20 to 10, pity about the final shoot), Kuzmina (18 to 11 despite 4 penalties), Chevalier (27 – 15), Hauser (30 – 16), Selina Gasparin (39 – 19), Maren Hammerschmidt (49 – 24) and Solemdal (53 – 29). Going backwards the list includes Yurlova (6 – 14), Franzi H (9 – 18), Vanessa Hinz (11 – 20), Bendika (16 – 31), Jislova (15 – 32), Braisaz (24 – 36), Simon (12 – 41) and Elisa Gasparin (8 – 44 with 7 penalties). Denise Herrmann fastest around the course, but 12th after 5 penalties, then Kaisa, Kuzmina, Dasha and Maren H. Irene Cadurisch again fastest on the range, ahead of Doro and Iryna Varvynets. Nice going Laura!

Antholz-Anterselva – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit (20 Jan): And, no Simon Schempp today – out with recurring back problems and Jakov Fak is also a DNS. This race is on Eurosport, but not live, so it’s the commentary free IBU feed again. Ah, now that’s a pleasant surprise – we do actually have the commentators! Only 4 of the chasing pack are within a minute of JoBø as the race starts – JoBø in for S1; he’s clear and out and Martin F has missed his first shot! Shipulin has missed his first, Peiffer clear, and so is Jacquelin. Order after S1 – JoBø leads, then Fourcade (+36.9), Peiffer, Jacquelin, Shipulin; Lesser and Doll gaining a few places – Lukas Hofer has missed 3 and so has Gronman. Johannes is in for S2 and he’s pulled out even more time on Martin F – he’s clear again (lucky with 1 of them). Martin F also clear this time; Peiffer has missed his 5th, letting Shipulin through. So, JoBø leads from Martin F (+46.0), Shipulin, Peiffer, Jacquelin and Eder. Lesser and Doll have missed 1 each but Svendsen is gaining places up to 19 from 32. Fourcade is losing time on the track again; JoBø in for S3 – that’s very fast shooting and they are all down too! Martin F is also clear here but the gap to the Norwegian is now 59.2. I thought Johannes shot fast but Shipulin is even quicker, and he’s out 3rd – then Jacquelin, Eder (from 18th; 15/15) and Peiffer. QFM is 15/15 and up from 26 to 7; EHS also 15/15 and 11th, from 32. The final shoot – JoBø has cleared the lot today (3rd and 4th a bit lucky!). Martin F clears here (1,0,0,0), out just over a minute back and Anton Shipulin (1,0,0,0) is a further 20 seconds or so back. Arnd Peiffer (0,1,0,0) clear here and out 4th, ahead of Eder (0,0,0,1) and Jacquelin (0,1,0,1). EHS is 20/20 and 7th, just 10 seconds or so behind Jacquelin. Looks like just 2 perfect scores, both Norwegian. The leading 3 are easing back a bit to save something for the Mass Start from the look of it. Johannes Thingnes Bø wins again, Martin Fourcade in 2nd and Anton Shipulin gets a podium place. Peiffer in 4th, ahead of Jacquelin and Svendsen (from 32nd!). Other gainers include Eder (18 – 7), Bjøntegaard (36 – 11), QFM (26 – 13), Anev (35 – 15), Guigonnat (28 – 19) and Tim Burke (43 – 21). Going the other way the list includes Babikov (8 – 14), Kühn (19 – 28), Lesser (15 – 37, with 5 penalties), Siemakov (12 – 41), Moravec (10 – 43) and Chepelin (9 – 45). Simon Eder fastest on the range, ahead of Nordgren and Birkeland; Windisch fastest around the course ahead of Rastorgujevs, Hofer and Guigonnat although the podium team were easing back.

Antholz-Anterselva – Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start (21 Jan): Again, not live on Eurosport (to be fair they are currently showing alpine skiing as well as the snooker and tennis). It’s snowing quite hard in Antholz, misty higher up and fairly cold (minus 4 degrees). Good crowds though, despite the weather. The race has started – no commentary at present. Kuzmina leading the way, ahead of Doro W, Kaisa and Denise Herrmann; the field is starting to spread out as the lap progresses. Here we go – first shoot of 4; Doro clear, as are Herrmann and Dahlmeier, Kaisa and Kuzmina have missed 1, so has Dasha –poor Franzi H (who is apparently having serious muscle problems) has missed 2. Order after S1 – Wierer, Herrmann (+4.6), Vita Semerenko, Yurlova-Percht, Aymonier and Vitková. Laura D in 7th (+13.3), with Hinz, Preuß and Hammerschmidt also clear and in the top 12. Akimova and Selina Gasparin have missed 3 here. On the lap Doro and Denise have opened up a little gap – in for S2 and Kuzmina is right up with the chasing pack despite being 26 seconds behind at S1! Doro clear, and so is Kaisa but Denise H has missed 2. Doro leads out, ahead of Kaisa (+10.4), Valj Semerenko, Yurlova, Hinz, and Preuß (+17.0). Laura D has missed 1 and has slipped to 12th; Kuzmina has missed another 1 but is still in 11th. Anais Bescond and Selina Gasparin now have 5 penalties each. That’s nasty – great clouds of snow dropping off the trees onto the track and the athletes; another natural hazard! Doro and Kaisa have a gap, Yurlova chasing and then another group behind her. In for S3 and the wind is pretty light on the range – Doro is shooting fast and she’s clear again – Kaisa has missed 2, Kuzmina clear. Out Wierer, Kuzmina (1,1,0; +22.9), Hinz, Preuß, Valj S and Laura D (+46.7). Amazing that Kuzmina, with 2 penalty loops done, is still ahead of the next 3 athletes, who have all shot 15/15; I’m sure she wasn’t that fast last year. More snow falling out of the trees – it’s like a mini avalanche at times! Right – Doro in for her last shoot – she’s missed 2! Kuzmina has missed her final shot; Hinz and Dahlmeier have also missed 1 each but Domracheva (1,0,0,0) is clear here, and she’s away. Kuzmina (1,1,0,1) is somehow 2nd, just 3.3 behind, then it’s Doro, Marte Olsbu (1,0,0,1), Preuß, Hammerschmidt and Dahlmeier (+27.6). The bad news for the Germans is that Kaisa is just behind them! Dasha has really lit the afterburners now – I think the loops are starting to catch up with Kuzmina and Olsbu is also losing time, although she has passed Doro by the 11.1 Km split. Kaisa has passed all the Germans to get up to 5th! At 12.1 Km it’s Dasha, Kuzmina (+15.8), Kaisa; then Olsbu, Wierer and Dahlmeier. That’s a great win for Darya Domracheva; Kuzmina 2nd and Kaisa M (1,0,2,1) gets the final podium place. Marte Olsbu has held on for 4th, just ahead of Laura D (1.3 seconds behind the Norwegian!), then Hammerschmidt, Wierer, Franzi Preuß, Hinz and Yurlova-Percht. Solemdal fastest on the range, just 1 one hundredth better than Doro with Vita Semerenko 3rd. Kaisa fastest around the tracks today, ahead of Kuzmina and Dahlmeier – Dasha only 4th quickest, over a minute off Kaisa’s pace. I can’t see any perfect scores today.

Antholz-Anterselva – Men’s 15 Km Mass Start (21 Jan): Good news – there is a commentary on the IBU feed this time. Fairly gentle start (by their standards), so the field is still fairly bunched as they come in for S1; wind kind at present. JoBø has missed 2 at S1; Simon Desthieux leads out, ahead of Martin Fourcade, Anton Shipulin and then it’s Peiffer, Birkeland, Fak and Svendsen – all clear. Eder, QFM and Jacquelin have all missed 3 here; just 11 clear of 30. In for S2 – little more wind perhaps? Shipulin and Fourcade have both missed their last shot here; Birkeland has missed 3, JoBø has missed 2 more. Arnd Peiffer leads out, just ahead of EHS (+2.2), both 10/10 – then a gap to Shipulin (+18.4), Fourcade, Fak and Windisch; just 3 x 10/10! Svendsen past Peiffer on the lap; Fourcade has closed down 10 seconds by 8.6 Km and JoBø has made up about the same. Leaders in for the first standing shoot – EHS has missed 1, and another – Peiffer has missed 3, but Martin F has cleared all 5 and he’s away – Shipulin and Windisch have also missed 1. Martin F (0,1,0) leads out, then Tarjei Bø (1,0,0; +23.4), Bjøntegaard, Doll, Windisch and Shipulin. Johannes (2,2,0) is up to 14th, +53.2. Bjøntegaard keeping up with Tarjei on the lap, in fact he’s past by the split before the final shoot; wind calm. Martin F has missed his last shot, low 6 o’clock. There’s a lot of missing going on, despite the light wind. Martin F (0,1,0,1) leads away, then Tarjei (1,0,0,1; +30.1), Erlend Bjøntegaard (0,1,0,1), then Doll, Kühn and EHS (+50.8). I don’t think the two Germans can catch the Norwegians for a podium place. Amazingly Johannes (2,2,0,1) is in 6th, just ahead of Anton Shipulin. Martin seems to be easing off a little; Johannes might yet catch one or more of the Germans? Martin is waving at the crowd; Tarjei has got past Bjøntegaard but that’s a PB for Erlend I think – getting a podium place. So, Martin Fourcade wins again, ahead of Tarjei Bø, Bjøntegaard, Doll, Kühn and JoBø. Svendsen getting back on form perhaps and he’s in 7th. Not one 20/20; only Fak and Moravec have 19/20! Worst shooting today – Andrejs Rastorgujevs (1,1,3,4)! Simon Eder fastest on the range, ahead of Guigonnat and Shipulin; Johannes fastest on the tracks ahead of Bjøntegaard and Windisch – Martin F only 4th, but he eased off a lot on the final lap.

Kronplatz – Women’s GS (23 Jan): Well, I missed the first run (out walking), but as it’s a giant slalom you might like to take a guess as to who is leading? All those who said Mikaela Shiffrin (as I supposed) – well, she didn’t finish the first run; almost at the finish when she fell – up quickly and I understand more annoyed than hurt! Positions after run 1 are – Ragnhild Mowinckel leading from Marta Bassino, Vikki Rebensburg, Sara Hector, Federica Brignone and Estelle Alphand. Alex Tilley was 35th, so doesn’t make run 2.
Run 2: Katharina Liensberger the first away, but her lead doesn’t last long, and positions are changing quite fast. With the first 10 away Tina Robnik (SLO) leads from Adeline Baud Mugnier and Simone Wild. What a run from Melanie Meillard – just 0.32 ahead at inter 3 and into the lead by 0.97! Meillard is still leading at the half way point, with Wendy Holdener now in 2nd ahead of Nina Haver-Løseth. Ana Drev into third, and several skiers are finding that it’s very easy to lose time between inter 3 and the finish, which is where Meillard was particularly good. Now, Tessa Worley has gained to inter 3, and that’s enough of an advantage for her to take the lead by 0.25; 10 to go. Even Petra Vlhova can’t sort out the lower section – she was already in the red at inter 1 and ends up +1.84 in 16th place! Still Worley, Meillard and Holdener at present. Good run from Irene Curtoni despite a couple line errors; red at inter 2 but she pulled back a bit – into 2nd by 0.08. Estelle Alphand has a full second in hand at the start, still nicely green at inter 3, but it’s all gone on the final section and she goes 2nd – by just 2 one hundredths – bet the French would like her back though, and I think it’s still another PB! Federica Brignone is good on the upper sections and has gained by inter 3 – she’s lost almost nothing on the final section and leads by 1.25 – that’s the new best time on run 2, replacing Meillard’s time. Just 4 to come; Sara Hector into 2nd. Vikki Rebensburg next – she’s gained time to inter 2, and even more to 3 – she’s into the lead – good run, and the new fastest time on run 2. Marta Bassino has only 0.01 in hand at the start and it’s red at inter 1 – she’s into 3rd. So, what can Ragnhild Mowinckel do, she has 0.09 advantage – she’s gained a little by inter 3 – that’s cruel, into 2nd by just 3 hundredths! Vikki Rebensburg wins, Ragnhild Mowinckel gets a career best 2nd place with Federica Brignone taking the final podium place. Bassino in 4th, ahead of Hector and Worley. Alphand ended up 7th and Meillard 9th.

Schladming – Men’s Slalom (23 Jan): Looks a bit icy, although Hirscher apparently thinks it’s not icy enough! Manfred Mölgg starts the first run, with Henrik Kristoffersen next – the Norwegian is into the green by inter 1 and is 0.66 faster at the finish. Stefano Gross can’t match that (into 2nd) and Andre Myhrer is well off the pace. Michael Matt goes 4th, behind Mölgg, and now it’s Marcel Hirscher green at inter 1 and 2, one hundredth in the red at 3 and then back green – he leads by 0.20! I see Kristoffersen was out of the chair and away before he might have had to congratulate Hirscher! With 10 away it’s Hirscher from Kristoffersen and Gross, then Mölgg, Matt and Yule. And, that was the way it stayed; Dave Ryding off the pace tonight – he skied into 11th, +2.02. Best late charge at present is Christian Hirschbühl into 9th, from start number 23. Honourable mention for Clement Noel; 17th from start 29.
Run 2: Set by a Swiss coach. Early lead for Dominik Stehle (GER), who was 28th on run 1; Seb Fosse-Solevaag is much more relaxed this time and he leads by 0.69. Linus Strasser into 2nd; and quickly replaced by Jean-Baptiste Grange. Tenth away is Marco Schwarz and he’s green all the way – he leads by 0.31 – twenty to go. Next, a couple off the pace, a straddle, and a fall by Alex Khoroshilov. That’s better – Clement Noel has gained a decent amount on the final section and he leads by 0.71 – pretty impressive. So, half way; Noel leads from Schwarz and Zenhaeusern, who has just skied into 3rd. Jonathan Nordbotten looking good at the top but into the red from inter 3 onwards and 2nd; Victor M-J had a similar run and he goes into 2nd. Next is Dave Ryding, looking for a Kitzbühel type charge – holding his advantage to inter 2, but then into the red and 5th at this stage. Lizeroux nicely green early on, but after walking back up the hill to “repair” an error he’s over 20 seconds off the leader’s time. Luca Aerni is another one who has lost a lot between inter 2 and 3 – he’s into 7th, and still Noel hangs on. Christian Hirschbühl hasn’t made the most of his late charge in run 1 – he’s a DNF; Dave Ryding still 5th. Andre Myhrer was better on the top sections – lost a lot from inter 2 to 3 but he had enough of an advantage to take the lead by 0.25. Manu Feller into 3rd; nice run from Daniel Yule (yes, I know his parents are Scottish; you always s mention it) to go into the lead by just 0.05. Matt has fallen – DNF, for the second time in two races; Manfred Mölgg goes from green to red between inter 2 and 3 and he’s 3rd. Currently Yule, Myhrer and Mölgg as Stefano Gross comes to the start gate – ruts really forming too. Stefano is losing time, and he too is in the red by inter 3 – he’s into 5th. Almost there; next is Kristoffersen – with 1.11 in hand, and he’s building on it – he leads by a massive 1.74! I don’t like him, but it’s not good to see people throwing snowballs at him, and he’s understandably not happy. Just Marcel Hirscher – he’s lost a bit form inter 1 to 2, got it back to 3 and he’s green all the way and wins by 0.39 – he does recover so quickly! That’s the 500th win for the Austrians, and the 54th World Cup for Hirscher, equalling a number of records, including Herman Maier’s total of wins. So, Hirscher wins, Kristoffersen 2nd and Yule, the well-known Scot, 3rd. Myhrer in 4th ahead of Mölgg and Noel. Hirscher had the fastest time on run 2, ahead of Noel and Kristoffersen, who was actually quite magnanimous to Marcel tonight – although he was understandably still annoyed about the snowballs, which Hirscher has also condemned!

Lenzerheide – Women’s Alpine combined (26 Jan): Super G first; bit overcast and windy at times. No Mikaela Shiffrin today. Denise Feierabend first away, but her time is quickly beaten by the second away – Marta Bassino. Marta holds on for a while but is beaten by Federica Brignone; Wendy Holdener into joint 2nd. With 10 away Brignone leads from Holdener and Bassino, tied in second. Stephanie Brunner looked set to change the potential podium, but she’s skied out. Ragnhild Mowinckel seems to be on form at present – she was nicely green at inter 2 but lost time lower down on the course – into 2nd. Stephanie Venier also looking good at inter 2, but again the lower section is taking time away and she’s into 6th. Next to go is Lindsey Vonn; she is well into the green at inter 2, and has held some of it at 3 – she leads by 0.60! Slightly surprised to see her racing this event. Twenty away now; Vonn leads from Brignone and Mowinckel, Wendy Holdener and Marta Bassino tied in 4th, +0.71. Of the later starters, Johanna Schnarf (start 28) managed 9th. Lara Gut (start 31) nicely in touch at inter 2 and +0.18 at inter 3; lost a bit on the final section, but she’s into joint 4th, tied with Holdener and Bassino!
Run 2: Out walking again, so missed it live – just caught the repeat though! Ana Bucik first away in this slalom run; usefully the course has been set by a Slovenian coach. That looks a pretty good combined time! Having the course set by a Slovenian hasn’t done poor Tina Robnik any good – straddle and a fall. Nevena Ignjatovic (SRB) the first to really challenge Bucik – she’s into 2nd. Ramona Siebenhofer also in touch – she goes into 2nd; Schnarf out too. That was a very impressive run from Bucik – she’s still holding onto the lead; Ricarda Haaser joins the DNFs! That’s 21 challengers gone – still Bucik, Siebenhofer and Ignjatovic. Eight to go; Venier isn’t happy on the short skis and she’s 15th. Feierabend into 5th; at last – Marta Bassino has kept enough of her advantage at inter 3 to take the lead by just 1 one hundredth! Wendy Holdener is arguably the best slalom skier in this run and she leads by 1.5 seconds – that’s a hard target for the remaining 3, although Bucik’s time is still the best on run 2. Lara Gut next, but only 11th in this event. Now, there’s a thing, both Mowinckel and Brignone out on run 2 – they must be really annoyed at that after such a good first run (statement of the obvious, my apologies). Just Vonn to go, with a 0.71 advantage – she’s a bit rusty on the short skis; into 4th, +1.88. So, great win for Wendy Holdener (first of the season) ahead of Marta Bassino and a very happy Ana Bucik, who still has the best time for run 2! Vonn 4th, ahead of Siebenhofer and Ignjatovic.

Lenzerheide – Women’s GS (27 Jan): Run 1 – Looks a nice day; some sun and perfect snow conditions. Steep course from the look of it; I see Vikki Rebensburg is wearing her British Team overtrousers again – hopefully she’s planning to defect? This run set by an Italian coach, and Manuela Mölgg is first away – she’s fallen; OK but not happy and the coach’s face was a picture! Tessa Worley looks a lot more in touch at the start, but this looks like a real test – she’s down and that looks a good target; a few mistakes though. Brignone off the pace, but safely down; Vikki Rebensburg next and she’s almost half a second off at inter 1 - better lower section but she’s still +0.52, in 2nd place. Mowinckel also struggling with the line – turn 3 looks a bit of a beast – into 4th, behind Brignone. Now, Mikaela Shiffrin – a bit cautious and she’s over a second behind at inter 1; this is a surprise – she’s the slowest finisher so far, +1.58! That’s 10 away; Worley leads from Rebensburg and Brignone; Shiffrin still 5th, 2 DNFs (Mölgg & Goggia) – Sara Hector has now joined the DNFs, and looking at the course she may well not be the last! I thought Wendy Holdener might have changed things but she’s only into 7th; Petra Vlhova is much more in touch on the upper section, but then losing time from inter 2 - now she’s into 7th. Disappointing run from Lara Gut – over 2 seconds off the pace at inter 3 and only 11th! Tina Weirather much the same; over 3 seconds behind at the finish and 14th. Twenty away – no change to the top 6, and now 4 DNFs. Good effort by Simone Wild (start 25) to get into 9th. Rats – Alex Tilley (start 34) is the latest casualty at turn 3 – she joins the DNFs (there are now 9 of them). This doesn’t look good – missed the actual crash but Vanessa Kasper (SUI) is being put into a stretcher for what seems to be helo evacuation. Just seen the actual incident – nasty. She’s been moved to the far side of the netting, which is now being replaced, but there is no commentary so I don’t know how serious it is. Run 1 over – no late changes to the top 10; I see Ana Bucik started number 50, and has got into 24th!
Run 2: Well, Melanie Meillard didn’t have a good first run, ending up 28th, but this is much more like it – she leads by 2.75! That might be hard to beat, at least for a while? No fairy-tale podium for Ana Bucik today – into 4th. Even with an advantage of 1.35 at the start, Tina Weirather hasn’t been able to catch Meillard – Tina into 4th. Estelle Alphand starts with 1.59 in hand – she’s managed to keep in the green to inter 3, 0.70 ahead there, but she’s lost time on the final section – into 2nd, +0.14 and that’s 10 away. Lara Gut is also losing time all the way down – she takes over 4th place – Meillard leads from Alphand and Lysdahl. Irene Curtoni looking good – started with 1.80 in hand and she still has almost a second left at inter 3; she takes the lead by 0.72. Tina Robnik is actually gaining time (on a course set by her coach) all the way to inter 3 – lovely skiing and she leads! After a period of little change, it’s now quite volatile – Ricarda Haaser into the lead; Baud Mugnier goes 2nd. Meta Hrovat (SLO) is another of the rare group who can gain time on this course – she leads by 0.77, pretty much doubling her start advantage! Still changing – Stephanie Brunner into 2nd, briefly, as Bernadette Schild is next and takes over, and then Ana Drev replaces her! Very close – Simone Wild green all the way to inter 3, but misses the lead by 0.04! Six to go – Hrovat still leads from Wild and Drev; Marta Bassino getting more and more late in the line and she’s out. Mikaela Shiffrin next – 0.50 advantage and it’s all gone by inter 1; just 4th and that’s only the 12th fastest time on run 2. Mowinckel takes over 4th place; the course is getting rather cut up. Federica Brignone was 0.83 ahead at the start but she’s into the red at inter 3; just 7th! Now, Vikki Rebensburg is next and she has 1.56 in hand – still 1.27 at inter 2, 1.16 at 3 and 1.38 at the finish! Nice run from Rebensburg, although Meillard still has the best run 2 time here. Just Tessa Worley to come – she’s lost almost all of her advantage at inter 1 but she’s clawed 0.27 back by 2 –she takes her first win of the season by 0.07. So, well done Tessa Worley; she wins from Vikki Rebensburg and Meta Hrovat. Simone Wild in 4th ahead of Drev and Mowinckel, with Shiffrin in 7th. Late note: Tina Weirather finished 23rd, but has apparently now been DQd because her binding is 0.1mm too high!

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Men’s Downhill (27 Jan): Ah, my old local ski area! Looks a nice day, although it’s quite dark at some places on course – first away is Aksel Lund Svindal; five years since he’s raced here apparently. He seems happy with the run, but it’s certainly a testing and bumpy course. Johan Clarey is over a second off the pace and Kjetil Jansrud isn’t starting – seems he has flu? Max Franz into 3rd, but +2.00; Beat Feuz more in touch but still red all the way to inter 4 – he’s picked it up now and he takes the lead by 0.28 – great lower section! Mauro Caviezel into 3rd; Dominik Paris is tied with Feuz’s time at inter 2 and green at 3 and 4, red at 5 and into 2nd, +0.18. Peter Fill is going well on the upper section and still green at inter 4 but now he’s started to lose time – he’s 4th, +0.49. Ten away; Feuz leads from Paris and Svindal. Mayer into 5th; he’s replaced there by Thomas Dressen. Hannes Reichelt next; briefly green at inter 4 and into 4th; Vincent Kriechmayr next and he’s much more green, but again he’s lost time after inter 4 – he’s into joint 2nd with Dominik Paris, dropping Svindal to 4th. Well, that’s 20 away – Feuz leads from Kriechmayr/Paris, Svindal 4th ahead of Reichelt and Fill. Now, will this cause an upset – Brice Roger (start 29) green at inter 3 – no, he’s lost a bit lower down; into 9th. I think that might be it – I can’t see anyone taking the win away from Beat Feuz now. That will give Feuz the lead in the downhill standings, 40 points ahead of Aksel Lund Svindal with Dominik Paris 208 behind the Swiss skier, in third. In the overall Marcel Hirscher leads, 174 ahead of Kristoffersen. Nice to see Emanuele Buzzi making another late charge - start 44 and into 10th! Final result – Beat Feuz wins the Kandahar downhill, ahead of Vincent Kriechmayr, tied in 2nd with Dominik Paris – Svindal 4th ahead of Reichelt and Fill.

Lenzerheide – Women’s Slalom (28 Jan): Run 1, and welcome back Veronika Velez Zuzulova (aka VVZ); first race since returning from injury. Matt Chilton still suffering from a nasty cold, from the sound of it. Wendy Holdener starts the event; I think they might have had problems setting a course – maybe moved down the mountain from the planned venue – I missed the early discussion? Anyway Holdener down, and that looked good; Melanie Meillard is 0.23 slower. Now, can Mikaela Shiffrin get back to her normal form? She’s 0.22 slower at inter 1, better at 2 but still red – green at 3 and 0.65 faster at the finish – normal service restored? Frida Hansdotter is into 3rd; with 10 away it’s Shiffrin leading from Holdener (+0.65), Hansdotter and Meillard. VVZ safely down but a bit rusty, as might be expected; currently 12th, +3.63. All gone a bit quiet now – Gallhuber went 7th, Wikström now into 9th (from start 18), and Ana Bucik 10th. Good effort by Erin Mielzynski to go 9th from start 21. Liensberger also good – 12th from start 25. That’s run 1 over – no late changes to the top 10.
Run 2: Looks a mean course, set by a Swedish coach; quite tricky? Anna Swenn Larsson has got this run started, and her time is proving hard to beat for the moment; no one still green at inter 3 so far! Well, Resi Stiegler did gain time at the top and kept her green light through inter 3, but lost it on the final section to go 2nd. Ah, VVZ is getting back in in the swing of things – she leads! Michelle Gisin into 3rd; Marina Wallner has gained a little from inter 1 to 2 and she takes the lead by 0.05! She probably hasn’t even made it to the leader’s chair when Denise Feierabend goes faster – that’s half way and Feierabend leads from Wallner and VVZ; Swenn Larsson still the fastest on run 2. Interesting – Irene Curtoni red at inter 2, but she’s gained time on the final sections, and she leads by 0.29 – good finish! Now, Katharina Liensberger was just 0.01 ahead at the start but she’s got that up to almost half a second at inter 2 and at the finish she’s 0.44 ahead. Erin Mielzynski green at 1, red at 2, green at 3 and into 2nd! Nina Haver-Løseth gained quite a bit to the first inter point, and although she lost some of it lower down, she has enough to lead despite a late error. Gallhuber into 3rd; Petra Vlhova is flying – she’s gaining time all the way; that was brilliant – she leads by 1.52 – second fastest time on this run so far. Five to go – massive error from Schild, when she was heading for second place. Melanie Meillard has gone 2nd; Frida Hansdotter next, and the course was set by one of her coaches – she’s into 2nd by 0.10, so Vlhova is guaranteed a podium place. Wendy Holdener has lost a bit between inter 1 and 2; red at 3 – into 3rd. So, just Mikaela Shiffrin to come – with a massive 1.12 in hand; she’s in sight of the finish with over a second in hand when she skis out – almost unbelievable! So, much to my surprise (and many others, I suspect, possibly including Petra V), Petra Vlhova has taken the win, with Frida Hansdotter second and Wendy Holdener third; Shiffrin doesn’t tie up the World Cup Slalom win today – perhaps she was thinking of that as she approached the finish?!

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Men’s GS (28 Jan): Run 1 – this sounds a bit icier than Lenzerheide! Marcel Hirscher third away and notably faster – he leads by 1.34 but Henrik Kristoffersen is next. Kristoffersen is red at inter 1 and just over half a second back at inter 2; it’s over a full second at 3 and although he’s 3rd at the finish, he’s 1.35 back! Alexis Pinturault has gone 2nd, but +0.94. Ten away and Hirscher leads from Pinturault and LKN-Haugen, who is 1 hundredth ahead of Kristoffersen. Good run from Manuel Feller – he’s third and only 0.98 off the pace; Florian Eisath into 4th. Ah, here comes Ted Ligety and it looks like he’s back in business - -great recovery and he’s into 2nd, just 0.63 back. It went quiet for a while, but now Loic Meillard is 5th, just ahead of Kilde, who is joint 6th with Eisath. Thirty away now, and Hirscher leads from Ligety, Pinturault, Feller and Meillard. Run 1 over – no changes to the top 10 – Kristoffersen in 9th, and the third Norwegian, behind Kilde and LKN-H!
Run 2: First down is Linus Strasser, and he’s holding on as leader for the moment! Tim Jitloff into joint 1st, now it’s all changing! First 10 away; good recovery by Fritz Dopfer to gain time after being almost half a second down at one stage – he’s 2nd behind Giovanni Borsotti. Half way now – Victor Muffat-Jeandet has just taken the lead, ahead of Borsotti and Dopfer. Mathieu Faivre is gaining a lot of time – he takes the lead; nice clean run. Manfred Mölgg into 2nd; with 10 to come it’s Faivre ahead of Mölgg and Victor M-J. Nice run from Matts Olsson to go into the lead; Kristoffersen has stumbled at the start but he’s recovered the focus and he leads by 0.14. Florian Eisath into 3rd; he’s replaced there by Kilde! A number of the remaining skiers are finding it very easy to lose time to inter 1; Manuel Feller is one of them, but he’s pulling some back lower down – great recovery skills, and he takes the lead! Lovely start by Alexis Pinturault, gaining time, but he’s into the red at inter 3 – he’s into 7th and Feller will be on the podium. Here comes Ted Ligety – an error mid-way, and he’s into 2nd. Just Marcel Hirscher to go – he’s gained time to inter 1, and a bit more yet at each new intermediate point – he wins by a massive 1.57! Marcel Hirscher wins, Manu Feller 2nd and Ted Ligety on the podium in 3rd. Henrik Kristoffersen in 4th, ahead of Olsson and Kilde.

Stockholm - City Event (30 Jan): Parallel slalom; women away first – the 1/8 finals; I think Hansdotter beat Stiegler (here as Shiffrin is absent) but it’s not on the data feed; Gallhuber has beaten Feierabend; Truppe has tripped over the gate so that’s an easy win for Nina Haver-Løseth. Costazza is a DNF, so Schild takes that one; Dürr is faster than Holdener (!). That was close – Geiger has pipped Meillard by 0.04; Curtoni beats Swenn Larsson and Vlhova is well clear of Wallner. That’s run 1 over – while they are swapping round, the men get their first run. First heat is Hirscher v Clement Noel – not a good start by the Austrian – Noel takes it! These events aren’t Marcel’s favourite!! Seb Fosse-Solevaag beats Aerni; Schwarz has beaten Yule and Myhrer is faster than Nordbotten – the first to win on the red course (for the men). LKN-Haugen beats Matt; Zenhaeusern beats Gross, fighting back on the final section. Hargin has beaten Dave Ryding and Linus Strasser has beaten Kristoffersen – just one win for the red course from those 8 heats.
Run 2 for the women – Hansdotter well clear of Stiegler and into the next round. Gallhuber wins easily; so does Nina Haver-Løseth, despite clipping a gate. Schild has retained her advantage over Costazza, but Wendy Holdener has recovered from round 1 and has beaten Lena Dürr by 0.08 – very close! Geiger pips Meillard again; Curtoni beats Swenn Larsson by 0.05 and Vlhova takes the final QF place, beating Wallner. The second run for the men – swapping courses again – can Marcel H overturn the first run result? Impressive – Hirscher is on fire and he’s through to the QF. Aerni has also overturned a deficit – brilliant skiing to beat Seb F-S. Schwarz beats Yule again; Myhrer wins again too but Matt has recovered from run 1 and beats LKN-H. Zenhaeusern has won again; Dave Ryding out as Hargin wins again and Strasser has knocked out Kristoffersen! Late news – Schwarz straddled on his second run (which Ed Drake spotted), so he’s DQd and Yule goes through instead.
Quarter Finals: Two runs again – one red/one blue. Hansdotter wins easily against Gallhuber, who mistimed the roller. Schild has beaten Nina H-L; Holdener beats Geiger and Vlhova has only just beaten Curtoni – very close, just 0.04 in it! First QF run for the men – Aerni is 0.19 ahead of Hirscher! Myhrer well clear of Yule – the crowd are happy! Zenhaeusern has beaten Matt (good skiing by such a tall man) and Hargin is a DNF – straddled and almost took out Strasser! Women back for run 2 – Hansdotter wins again; Nina H-L has beaten Schild, overturning the run 1 deficit. Wendy Holdener is through fairly easily and Petra Vlhova had a snag with the gate – she has recovered to win by just 0.04 (again!). Back to the men – can Hirscher overturn another result – not this time – he is 0.08 behind so he’s out too. Myhrer has beaten Yule again; Zenhaeusern also wins again and Strasser is also through, although Hargin almost caught up!
Semi Finals: Very close but Frida Hansdotter has just beaten Nina H-L, by 0.09. Wendy Holdener beats Petra Vlhova! Men again – Myhrer beats Aerni by 0.44; Zenhaeusern has just pipped Strasser by 0.01 – tightest race so far! All very close – Nina Haver-Løseth has knocked out Frida Hansdotter – good skiing but the crowd are disappointed! Yes – well done Wendy Holdener, who has managed to beat Petra Vlhova; she is very happy! Last runs for the men in the semis – Myhrer almost a full second ahead of Aerni at the finish; much closer in the other semi, but Zenhaeusern has taken it!
The Finals: Small final first, for the women – Vlhova v Hansdotter. Hansdotter has fallen, so Vlhova takes 0.50 advantage through to run 2. Now the Big final – Holdener takes the early lead. Here come the men – Small final first – again very close but Aerni takes this by 0.01! The Big final is also very close – Zenhaeusern has won this one, but by just 0.04! Yet another commercial break while the skiers get ready for the last runs. So, Vlhova gets the third place overall, Hansdotter in 4th. Final run for the women – a technical issue has delayed the start. Wendy Holdener has made a small error and stumbled half way down the course, gifting the win to Nina Haver-Løseth; her first win this season! Men’s small final – and they’ve lost the video feed! It seems Linus Strasser has won, by 0.08 – he takes 3rd, with Aerni 4th. Now, Zenhaeusern versus Myhrer part 2 – Ramon Zenhaeusern has done it, by just 0.06! Zenhaeusern wins, Myhrer in 2nd and that’s the event over – very tight racing at times! Swedish fans have all gone silent! My data feed says Myhrer is DQ’d from that run, not that it makes much difference. The FIS report is HERE

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Women’s 2 run Downhill (3 Feb): Bad weather again, so the plan to have a 2 run DH has had to be shelved; the FIS statement explains - Unfavourable weather and then course conditions forced the cancellation of the ladies' downhill training runs in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) on Thursday and Friday, 2-3 February. As such, the two-run downhill race originally scheduled for Saturday, 3 February, cannot take place as planned. The ladies' will hold a downhill training run on 3 February starting at 10:00 CET with a 1-run downhill race from the reserve/super-G start beginning at 12:30 CET. Further details about Sunday's program will be available after the successful training run and race on Saturday. 
So, the race on Saturday – Lara Gut first away; Breezy Johnson fastest in this morning’s (only) training run, and they’ve reduced the start height again since then, apparently. Some light snow, and quite gloomy; forecast a bit more promising for this weekend after a bad week – seems tomorrow’s DH will also be on the shortened track, from the Super G start, although maybe a bit longer than today’s race (hence the extended practice run?). Lara Gut safely down, and Johanna Schnarf can’t match the time; she’s +0.54. Wow – Connie Hütter red at inter 2 but she’s gaining time and fast through the speed gun – she leads by 0.53. Next away is Breezy Johnson – she’s very quick to inter 1 but then losing time – red at inter 3 and she’s into 2nd. Tina Weirather is fast to inter 2 but then into the red – she’s 4th; it seems easy to drift off the line lower down? Sofia Goggia is keeping just in the green – it’s all very close, and she takes the lead by 0.11. Lindsey Vonn goes 9th – she’s just green at inter 1 and even less green at 2 and just red at 3; slower through the gun but a good line lower down – she leads by 0.02! Laurenne Ross is a DNF – through a control gate and into the safety netting; she is on her feet and seems OK. Ten away – Vonn leads from Goggia and Hütter. Anna Veith into 5th; nasty fall for Jacqueline Wiles, but they’ve cut to adverts – didn’t look good, hopefully we’ll get an update when give us video back. Race interrupted; I think she wanted to try standing but the medics don’t want her to do that; the stretcher is being taken off the race course – lower leg injury? The weather is getting worse – visibility fading a bit; that isn’t helping the later starters. Michelle Gisin green by just 0.01 at inter 1 and 2 but she’s lost it heading to 3, going fractionally wide and that’s enough to drop her to 10th. Twenty away – Vonn still leads from Goggia and Hütter; Johnson in 4th ahead of Veith and Gut. Jackie Wiles is in the helo and on her way to the medical centre. Now, 30 away and no late changes to the top 10 since Schmidhofer went into 9th and Fanchini 10th. No further changes, so Lindsey Vonn wins her 80th World Cup race, by just 2 hundredths! Goggia 2nd and Hütter 3rd.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Women’s Downhill (4 Feb): I understand the race is over the full length course? Now, Jackie Wiles will apparently be out for the rest of the season – knee damage. Nicole Schmidhofer starts the event – pretty reasonable run, but a bit off line at times? Breezy Johnson is almost half a second faster at inter 2 and 3, but has lost a bit lower down – she goes 2nd by just 0.01! Vikki Rebensburg is going well – she too is green at inter 2 and 3; just red at 4 and a bit more in touch than Breezy at inter 5, but not as good on the line to finish – she goes 3rd, +0.10. Stacey Cook has crashed – that looked nasty; race is interrupted; she is sitting up and has now walked to the sled which is being taken off the course with her in it. I think they want to make sure that she hasn’t got concussion? Race is back on, and Tina Weirather is next away – she’s 0.48 faster by inter 3, and she’s holding on at 4; this looks good and she’s fast through the speed trap too – she leads by 0.75! Ragnhild Mowinckel into 2nd, +0.53; now it’s Vonn – fractionally green at inter 1 and 2, slightly red at 3, more red at 4 but dead level at 5 – slower through the final speed tarp but a good line here and she leads by 0.12. Good close racing from Sofia Goggia, drifting in and out of the green – she goes 2nd by just 0.11. Ten away; Vonn leads from Goggia and Weirather, Mowinckel in 4th ahead of Schmidhofer and Johnson. Good run from Stephanie Venier; green until inter 5 but good enough for 4th, which will be a PB if she keeps it! Better run today from Michelle Gisin; she’s into 5th. So far the best of the later starters is Nadia Fanchini (18) who has gone 10th; Corinne Suter (20) has taken over 10th. Good start by Tiffany Gauthier, but untidy lower down; Nicol Delago (22) is better, taking a lot of risks and she’s taken over 10th. Visibility has reduced for a while but it’s better now for Alice McKennis, who also started well, but lost it lower down. Thirty away, no change to the top 10, so it looks like Vonn will get win 81? Yes, that’s it over and Lindsey Vonn has won another one (and a weekend double)! Sofia Goggia 2nd, with Tina Weirather 3rd.

PyeongChang – general: Well, some bad news for the Swiss team – FIS news says “Swiss rising star Melanie Meillard of Switzerland suffered a season-ending injury to her left knee following a fall in giant slalom training on Thursday in PyeongChang. She was preparing to compete in the 2018 Olympic Winter Games at the time of the injury.  Meillard sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus in her left knee and will have to end her competition season immediately. She is currently ranked sixth in the World Cup slalom standings and secured her career-first podium finish at World Cup Oslo in January.  She will return home to Switzerland on Friday to determine further medical treatment of the injury”. 

Closer to home, Katie Ormerod is also out – “British snowboarder Katie Ormerod is out of the Winter Olympics in Korea after suffering a severely fractured right heel in training on Thursday.  The 20-year-old medal hopeful suffered a minor wrist fracture in practice on Wednesday but was still intending to compete in Sunday's slopestyle.  But the British Olympic Association (BOA) has confirmed she will have "emergency surgery" on Friday” (source BBC Sport)..

PyeongChang – Women’s 7.5 Km Sprint: Off topic, but delighted to see Charlotte Kalla (SWE) has won the first gold medal of the PyeongChang games by winning the women’s 15 Km skialthlon – even better, she beat Marit Bjørgen into 2nd place; Krista Parmakoski (FIN) took 3rd. Looks like good coverage on Eurosport for the biathlon – nice intro to explain the sport! Course looks good although it’s a bit windy and Mike reckons it’s the toughest Olympic course he’s seen – odd to actually see Mike and Pat on screen! Apparently 87 starters today, including Amanda Lightfoot – it’s very cold on the track; Lisa Theresa Hauser gets the event started. It’s very windy on the tracks in places – the wind is lifting the surface off the course, like low level mist; as an added insult the flat section into the range is into a headwind! Denise Herrmann is in for S1 – quite slow shooting but she’s clear; poor Hauser has missed 3! Susan Dunklee has missed 1; Anais Bescond has cleared all 5 and she’s faster than Herrmann. Kuzmina has started – trying to win this Olympic event for the 3rd time! Darya Domracheva unlucky with the gusty wind – she did very well to only miss 1 at S1. Kaisa Mäkäräinen has missed 2 at S1; Denise Herrmann has missed 2 in her standing shoot. Laura Dahlmeier is in at S1 – she’s clear, and Kuzmina has missed her first shot, and 1 more. Apparently her brother, Anton Shipulin, will not be allowed to start. Sad news – Susan Dunklee has missed 4 in the standing shoot. Still no one with a perfect 10/10; best at S2 at the moment is Veronika Vítková, with Marte Olsbu almost level. Dasha is 1,1 after S2; Hanna Öberg is the early leader at the finish, but Vitková and Olsbu are faster at the intermediates on the final lap. Laura Dahlmeier is the first to clear all 10; bit unlucky with the wind so it was slow shooting, but she’s out 13.3 faster than Vitková. Kuzmina has missed her last shot in the stand. Laura D has the afterburners on – she crosses the line 24.2 ahead of Olsbu; Vitková currently in 3rd. Now, Doro Wierer is at S1 – lucky with the wind but fast and clear; Tiril Eckhoff has missed her first shot, and the second – that’s 3 misses in all now. Doro is the fastest after S1 – 8.3 faster than Laura. The coverage seems to have missed Marie Dorin Habert, aka MDH (1,0) on the way round, but she’s over the line in 4th place, at present. Nice to see Vanessa Hinz (0,1) crossing the line 5th – pity about that 1 miss, but I could say that for many of the athletes! Good shooting by Paulina Fialkova (1,0); she’s in touch with Vittozzi, Olsbu and Vitková after S2. Pity – Doro has missed 2 in the stand. As it stands, Laura D (GER) leads, ahead of Olsbu (NOR; 1,0), Vitková (CZE; 0,1), then MDH (FRA), Hinz (GER) and Vittozzi (ITA). Apart from Dahlmeier, there is only 1 other perfect score at present – Tatiana Akimova (Russian but OAR here); Dunja Zdouc (AUT) has just joined them. A late charge by Irene Cadurisch (1,0), who is out after S2 in 5th place, +21.3; she’s ended up 8th. Great win for Laura Dahlmeier, apparently the first German to win this event since Kati Wilhelm! Marte Olsbu gets silver and Veronika Vitková bronze; MDH 4th ahead of Hinz and Vittozzi. Kuzmina fastest round the course, ahead of Eckhoff and Domracheva – Laura D only 4th there. Irene Cadurisch (SUI) quickest on the range, ahead of Laura Toivanen (FIN), Hauser and Hinz.

PyeongChang – Men’s 10 Km Sprint: Slightly off topic, but well done Andrew Musgrave for getting 7th place in the skiathlon this morning – perhaps he could be persuaded to take up biathlon?! Very cold on the course, and a strong, gusty wind, so the shooting will be tricky again. First away is that well known Korean, Timofei Lapshin! We’ve lost video and Eurosport don’t seem to have noticed – very annoying. Video back – that wind really is vicious at the high point of the track. Lapshin at S1 and he’s clear; quite fast shooting too – more going clear than I perhaps expected, including Julian Eberhard! Benedikt Doll also clear (very lucky with one of them!), but 10.8 seconds back. The Norwegians are flying; at the 1.9 Km split Svendsen and Tarjei Bø are well up the list, which is currently led by Johannes Thingnes Bø. At S1 EHS has missed 1 – rather unlucky with that one! All happening at S1 – Tarjei has missed 2 and JoBø has missed an amazing 3. Arnd Peiffer clear at S1 and so is Simon Schempp; Eberhard and Lapshin have missed 1 each at S2 – so has Doll; Klemen Bauer has missed 2. The wind has died but EHS has missed 1 in the stand; back at S1 Erland Bjøntegaard is clear and fastest so far. Martin Otcenas (SVK) was going well – clear at S1 and fast but it’s all gone wrong – 4 misses! JoBø has missed another 1 at S2; Arnd Peiffer is the first to get all 10, but he’s losing a bit of time to Julian Eberhard on the early part of the lap. Bjøntegaard has missed 2 at S2; Pidruchnyi (UKR) has got 10/10 but he’s 25.4 slower than Arnd as he leaves the range. Erik Lesser’s face is a picture as he misses his 10th; he’s 9/10 like Schempp and Doll (unlucky with that miss, this time – very close). Well that is a surprise – Martin Fourcade has missed 3 at S1 – both favourites have blown it! Meanwhile Arnd Peiffer has really pushed it on the last lap, and he leads from Eberhard, Doll and Schempp. Bjøntegaard into 3rd, despite his 2 misses – just 17.4 off the pace; great speed! Meanwhile, I missed Michal Krcmar (CZE) joining the 10/10 group – and he’s fast too. He’s had a good final lap too and he’s into 2nd. Martin Fourcade is at S2, and he’s cleared those 5 – out 24.1 seconds behind Peiffer’s time in 11th place. Great run from Dominik Windisch (ITA; 0,1), and he’s into 3rd place – the podium at present is Peiffer, Krcmar and Windisch. At 7.3 Km Martin F has closed the gap to 17.9 and he’s up to 7th. It’s going the wrong way now – at 8.6 Km he’s out to 22 seconds again, but holding on to 7th place. Maybe he pushed too hard early on in the final lap, as he’s still +22.9 at 9.5 Km and down to 8th. At the finish he’s 8th, just behind Schempp – that’s the first time this season that Martin hasn’t been on the podium. The wind has picked up again, as Serafin Wiestner (SUI) is at S2 – 1 miss has cost him, because he was well in touch with the leading times – out 9th, +21.6. Wiestner has crossed the line in 9th, just behind Fourcade – that’s a good run. So, Arnd Peiffer (0,0) gets another biathlon gold for Germany; Krcmar (0,0) takes silver and Windisch (0,1) in bronze medal position. Eberhard (0,1) in 4th ahead of Bjøntegaard (0,2) Doll (0,1), Schempp (0,1) and Martin Fourcade (3,0). Martin F was quickest around the course, ahead of Bjøntegaard and Samuelsson; Lapshin best for range time ahead of Wiestner and Lesser. The pursuit should be exciting – Martin F only 22.1 back on the lead time; Tarjei +33.7; EHS + 45.0; JoBø however is +1:12.7. Just 4 perfect scores that I can see. Interesting interview with Martin F at the end.

PyeongChang – Men’s Downhill: Was due to be this morning (Sunday 11 Feb) but the race had to be postponed due to high winds; now scheduled for Thursday. The BBC report says “The men's downhill in PyeongChang has been postponed because of high winds at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre.  The decision was taken with gusts of up to 45 mph expected to continue throughout Sunday.   The event, due to begin at 02:00 GMT, will now take place on Thursday at 02:00 GMT.”
Sadly the Women’s GS has gone the same way as the Men’s Downhill – rescheduled to Thursday! FIS statement: Facing a similar fate as the men's downhill the previous day, the 2018 Olympic Winter Games women's giant slalom scheduled at YongPyong Resort for Monday has been postponed to a future date due to very strong winds. Winds in excess of 70 kilometers per hour that are expected to continue throughout the day at the South Korean ski area have forced the jury together with POCOG to postpone the event as originally scheduled.   A committee comprised of IOC, POCOG, and FIS officials met to determine that the race would be rescheduled for Thursday, 15 February with first run starting at 10:00 KST and the second run at 13:45. The men's downhill rescheduled for the same day will begin at 11:30 KST.   The men's alpine combined on Tuesday, 13 February at Jeongseon Alpine Centre is still on schedule."

Congratulations to Andrew Musgrave;  7th in the Skialthlon!

Now the Women's Slalom has had to be postponed because of the weather! Here is the FIS statement - The Olympic action and YongPyong will have to wait another day as the ladies’ slalom had to be postponed today due to strong winds. The race has been rescheduled for Friday with the first run at 10:00 and the second run at 13:15. This means that for two consecutive days, the world will be treated to two full days of Alpine action. Thursday’s race programme includes the first run of the ladies’ giant slalom at 10:00, the men’s downhill at 11:30 and the second run of the ladies’ giant slalom at 13:45. Meanwhile, Friday’s programme will feature the men’s super-G at 11:00 in addition to the rescheduled slalom. The two events are staged at different venues with all Olympic speed races taking place at Jeonsong, while tech events are staged at Yong Pyong.

After the morning inspection there was some hope that today's planned slalom could be staged as scheduled, but conditions worsened as the morning wore on and after two delays it was decided to postpone the race. FIS Race Director Atle Skaardal said of the postponement, “We had hoped to be able to get today’s race completed as scheduled, but it became clear that the winds were simply too strong to guarantee a fair and safe competition. The forecast for both Thursday and Friday looks very promising as sunny skies and low winds are predicted.”

PyeongChang – Women’s 10 Km Pursuit: Well, Laura Dahlmeier has a 24 second advantage as this race starts – very cold again but the race committee has decided that the race can go ahead; Kuzmina 54 seconds back. Olsbu and Vitková are making up ground, but I think Laura D is cruising to the first shoot – she’s clear but the wind has shifted, Vitková noticed and goes clear but Olsbu has missed 1; Kuzmina is also clear and out 3rd. MDH has missed 2, so has Franzi Hildebrand. Anais Bescond up from 19 to 8th; Tiril Eckhoff clear and up from 24th to 11th. Kuzmina past Veronika Vitková on the lap – she does seem to have amazing speed? Laura in for her second prone shoot – she’s missed her 2nd shot but clears the rest; the wind is gusting and Kuzmina has also missed one; she’s out 2nd – Irene Cadurisch and Anais Bescond both 10/10 and out 3rd and 4th respectively. Kuzmina has caught right up on the lap and is past; that’s another 9 seconds she’s made up. Bescond and Cadurisch are losing a bit of time on the lap – leaders very close as they come in for the first standing shoot – flags shifting around –Laura is clear, but Kuzmina has missed 2. The wind has suddenly shifted; Cadurisch has missed 3; MDH another 2 – amazed to see that Denise Herrmann is 1,0,0 at present and up from 21 to 8th! Laura D leads – then Kuzmina (+37.9), Vitková, Bescond, Olsbu and Vittozzi (+1:09.9). Dahlmeier is in for her final shoot – relatively calm by the standards of this venue – Laura is clear again (0,1,0,0)! Kuzmina (0,1,2,1) has missed her first shot, but clears the remaining 4 – out in silver medal position. Anais Bescond (0,0,1,0) has cleared here and she’s out 3rd, but just very close to Kuzmina who has done 3 more penalty loops. Olsbu in 4th ahead of Öberg and Denise Herrmann (1,0,0,1). So, Laura D gets her second gold medal – brilliant stuff! Real fight for silver and bronze – Kuzmina (2nd from 13th) has just won the sprint against Bescond (19 to 3); Marte Olsbu in 4th, ahead of Öberg and Herrmann (21 to 6). Other gainers include Haecki (26 – 8), Eckhoff (24 – 9), Brorsson (27 – 10), Skardino (36 – 14) and Crawford (53 – 19). Losing ground the list included Vanessa Hinz (5 to 13, 4 penalties), Cadurisch (8 – 16), MDH (4 – 27, 7 penalties!), Braisaz (10 – 34, 7 penalties) and Dasha (9 - 37, 6 penalties) – if you were unlucky with the gusts, the shooting was even trickier than usual! Cadurisch quickest on the range ahead of Yordanova (BUL) and Haecki (SUI). No surprise that Kuzmina was fastest on the course ahead of Eckhoff, Kaisa M and Herrmann. The bad news is that Laura has apparently said that if she wins 3 golds, she might retire!

PyeongChang – Men’s 12.5 Km Pursuit: The bad news for Arnd Peiffer is that Martin F isn’t that far behind him (22 seconds!). There are 27 athletes within a minute of the leader as they prepare for the start – and the gusty wind might cause some more upsets too. Race on - Julian Eberhard has gained a place in the start area! JoBø away, 1:13 to make up! At the 2 Km timing point Martin F has the deficit down to 8 seconds; a couple people seem to be using Julian Eberhard as a mobile windbreak? In for S1, and Martin F is up to 2nd; Eberhard is clear and away in the lead – Arnd is also clear and 2nd, ahead of Doll, Schempp, Wiestner and Lesser – all clear. Martin F has missed his 3rd shot and he’s back to 8th, +27.8! Krcmar has missed 2 but JoBø is clear and up to 21st. Second prone coming up – wind all over the place; Eberhard has missed 1, so has Doll, Martin F clear this time. Right – Arnd Peiffer leads out, ahead of Erik Lesser, Tarjei Bø, then Schempp, Samuelsson and Martin F (+21.4); JoBø has missed 2 this time. That climb looks really brutal; Simon Schempp is gaining places but Martin F is flying – he’s making up a lot of time, but this is a course that really punishes you for going too hard. First standing shoot, and Arnd’s stats aren’t brilliant, sadly. Looks as though the wind is still tricky – Arnd has missed 1, but Martin F is clear! Erik Lesser is having rifle snags, having to manually feed rounds. After S3 the order is Martin Fourcade, Peiffer, Tarjei Bø, Samuelsson, Schempp and Doll. Eder and Rösch are the only two I can see with a perfect 15/15; JoBø is 0,2,4! Fourcade has nearly 40 seconds in hand at the 9.5 km split; in for the final shoot. Martin F has shot fast and got all 5 down; he’s out before anyone else has got a shot away. Order now Fourcade (1,0,0,0), Doll (0,1,0,0), Samuelsson (0,0,1,0), Weger, Desthieux and Peiffer. Schempp and Tarjei Bø have missed 2 each in this final shoot. Good scrap to decide 2nd and 3rd; Martin F wins gold (8th to 1st), Sebastian Samuelsson (14 to 2) wins the sprint for silver with Benedikt Doll in bronze. Tarjei Bø (13 -4) in 4th ahead of Schempp and Weger (15 – 6). Other gainers include Rastorgujevs (24 – 12), Eder (28 – 14), Burke (47 – 17), Nelin (30 – 18) and JoBø (31 – 21 but with 6 penalties). Going the other way, the list includes Peiffer (1 – 8), Julian Eberhard (4 – 15), Windisch (3 – 16), and Krcmar (2 – 30; 7 penalties). Lapshin best for range time, ahead of Nordgren and Eberhard; Samuelsson fastest around the course ahead of Martin F and JoBø.

PyeongChang – Men’s Alpine Combined: At last – we have a completed race on the Alpine schedule! Watching on catch up, due to the unsociable timings – the downhill first. We joined late as the snowboarding ran over, so missed the first 2 away – the start has been lowered and the line amended due to the wind (OT, what on earth were the officials thinking of, letting the slope style go ahead in those winds – lucky no one was seriously hurt!). Anyway, coverage started as Pavel Trikhichev crashed out – nasty looking fall! That gave Eurosport time to recap on the 2 runs we missed – Dressen and Hirscher. Dressen looked good, but Marcel Hirscher was surprisingly good on the long skis, +1.32 against a seasoned downhill racer! The good news for Marcel is that the slalom course looks pretty tough, according to the Eurosport team. There’s a delay while the netting is repaired – no news of Trikhichev that I’ve heard. That wind is still strong – blowing the surface off the course – looks quite awe inspiring! First away after the delay is Ryan Cochran-Siegle, and he is another casualty of the really grippy snow – DNF but he seems OK. Some lovely turns from Victor Muffat-Jeandet; a few errors lower down and he finishes a second or so behind Hirscher’s time; still in with a chance though in run 2. At present, Dressen leads, Hirscher in 2nd and Luca Aerni has just gone third. Next is Alexis Pinturault – he’s green at inter 1, but half a second off at 2 – he’s 2nd, +1.04 at the finish and he’s no slouch at slalom either. Svindal is on course, but probably won’t do run 2? He goes 2nd; a useful recce for the downhill? Good run from Peter Fill but he’s late in the line and had a bad error – into 3rd but not the advantage he needed for run 2. Dominik Paris also having a few troubles on the middle section – he’s into 4th. Matthias Mayer is well green at inter 1, just red at 2 – huge flight off the dragon ridge, and he’s been unlucky with the wind conditions too – into 3rd. Mauro Caviezel into 7th, dropping Hirscher to 8th.  Bryce Bennett was tipped to do well in this event, but he’s into 10th; Kilde has taken over that spot, and now Cater is into 9th. Away with start number 19 is Kjetil Jansrud – surprised to see him in the red at inter 2 and 3 and he’s into 4th. I think after such a good series of training runs he expected more. Kriechmayr into 6th; Marco Schwarz into 15th, which isn’t bad for a technical skier! Innerhofer into 5th; here’s Ted Ligety – he’s into 19th and possibly too far behind Hirscher who is currently 11th. Great start from Jared Goldberg; an error lower down drops him to 9th, but that was good practice for the downhill. That’s 30 away – Dressen leads from Svindal and Mayer; Jansrud in 4th ahead of Innerhofer and Fill. Looking for the slalom types who can make up time there – Pinturault is 10th (+1.04), Hirscher 12th (+1.32), Kosi 16th (+1.37), Mermillod-Blondin (+1.65), Schwarz (+1.74), Ligety (+2.12) and Muffat-Jeandet (2.33).
Run 2 – Slalom: I gather Pavel Trikhichev  is OK! So, the slalom and an icy, tough set by a Russian coach – it’s not going to be easy for the speed specialists; Svindal isn’t going to start. Looks a beautiful day -  blue skies and cold. First away is Justin Murisier, more of a tech skier than a downhill specialist, and he’s straddled and out! First DNF of this tricky course. Next is Victor Muffat-Jeandet – he’s safely down and that looked good. Zubcic next but he’s over 2 seconds slower than the Frenchman. Ted Ligety on course; he’s into the red at inter 1, into 2nd, +0.43. Luca Aerni is the world champion for this discipline but he hasn’t got the measure if this course – almost 2 seconds slower than Victor M-J, who is hanging on to his lead well! Marco Schwarz into 2nd, ahead of Ted Ligety but Victor is still holding on to the lead. Nice run from Mermillod-Blondin into 4th; however, it seems very easy to lose almost a full second of advantage by the first split time! Now, here comes Marcel Hirscher – 1.01 in hand at the start; 0.75 by inter 1 but now he’s gaining time as the wind increases – worst conditions I’ve seen so far, but he’s 1.02 ahead at the finish – that’s just one one hundredth faster than Victor M-J on run 2, but a much better time on run 1 has sealed the lead for Marcel H – very impressive. So, Marcel Hirscher leads from Victor M-J and Marco Schwarz. Here comes Alexis Pinturault – 0.28 in hand; he’s really going for it – into 2nd place, +0.23 – good effort, and the 3rd best time on run 2 at present! Eight to go – all downhill specialists! Paris has straddled; Kriechmayr also out and so is Fill. Innerhofer is down, but a big error on the final section scrubbed off all his speed – into 12th. Jansrud has just over a second in hand but he’s also been very unlucky with the wind – he’s 7th. Mayer has straddled and fallen – he’s taken course workers and equipment with him – luckily he seems unhurt, but that drill shouldn’t have been there! Just Dressen to go – he is 9th! So Marcel Hirscher gets his Olympic gold at last, while the French get silver (Pinturault) and bronze (Muffat-Jeandet). Schwarz in 4th, ahead of Ligety and Mermillod-Blondin.

Summary: “Austrian skiing great Marcel Hirscher won a long-awaited first Olympic gold medal with victory in the men's combined event in Pyeongchang.  Hirscher won with a combined time of two minutes 6.52 seconds over the downhill and slalom events. The 28-year-old is regarded as one of the all-time greats in the sport with 55 World Cup race wins but had never won gold in two previous Winter Games. Frenchmen Alexis Pinturault and Victor Muffat-Jeandet won silver and bronze.”(BBC sport news) The FIS results are listed HERE

PyeongChang – Men’s Downhill: FIS report – “Aksel Lund Svindal made history for Norway on Thursday at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre as the 35-year-old Attacking Viking skied full risk to claim the first men’s downhill gold medal for his nation. He was joined on the podium by his teammate Kjetil Jansrud who also skied aggressively and finished with the silver medal just 0.12 seconds off the lead. Reigning downhill World Champion Beat Feuz of Switzerland completed the podium in third at +0.18 seconds for his first Olympic medal in bronze”.    That makes Svindal the oldest ever alpine skiing gold medallist! Full report - HERE

PyeongChang – Women’s Giant Slalom: FIS report – “Team USA's Mikaela Shiffrin wasted no time in her medal hunt at PyeongChang 2018 as the technical ace picked up her second career gold medal on Thursday, but this time in giant slalom. As one of the pre-race favourites, she was expected to perform well but was likely to face a number of serious challengers. Shiffrin sat in second place after the first run but was able to claim victory with a quick second run.  Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway, a relative outsider who has only finished on a World Cup giant slalom podium once before, lived up to the Attacking Viking moniker of her team to move from fourth place after the first run into the silver medal position. It was the first medal for a Norwegian female in alpine skiing since 1936 and only the second in the nation's history. Her teammates Aksel Lund Svindal and Kjetil Jansrud finished with gold and silver medals in the men's downhill earlier in the day to add to Norwegian celebrations.  Federica Brignone maintained her third-place position from run one to claim her first-ever Olympic medal with bronze. The Italian has 17 career World Cup giant slalom podiums to her name and was considered a definitive medal contender heading into PyeongChang”. Full report - HERE

PyeongChang – Women’s 15 Km Individual: This should have been on Wednesday (14 Feb), but was another casualty of the [forecast] strong winds, and postponed until the next evening (local). Good views of the biathlon tracks and surrounding area – there’s not a lot of snow around apart from the stuff actually on the course! This is the discipline with no penalty loops, just a full minute added for each miss. Laura Dahlmeier goes late on, in group 4 (start number 80), so the race should have interest right to the end! Early interest provided by Marte Olsbu, who is away number 2 and Kuzmina (6). Interesting, as you might expect the tracks to get colder and faster later on? It is still quite windy, especially higher up on the course, but nothing like as bad as the gusty conditions of earlier races. Olsbu is at S1 – she’s missed 1 here but Kuzmina is clear (although it looked like the camera was on the wrong targets initially). Olsbu now at S2 (first standing shoot), and again 1 miss; this time Kuzmina has also missed 1, but she’s now almost 2 minutes ahead of Olsbu (only 1 miss extra, so a 1 minute penalty from that), who is no slouch on the skis normally; have the Norwegians got the wax wrong? Dasha is clear at S1, but she’s 25.8 behind Kuzmina’s time – I can’t help but wonder what accounts for Kuzmina’s amazing speed? Mike Dixon has put the commentator’s curse on poor Kryuko, who has promptly missed 2 at S2. Kaisa has missed her final shot at S1; Braisaz has also missed 1, and so has Eckhoff. Kuzmina at S3 – she has missed another, but that’s a lot better than Olsbu who is now 1,1,3. That’s good from Hanna Öberg; clear again at S2 and she now leads after that shoot. Weronika Nowakwska is the first to clear 15/15, yet even so she’s only 8 seconds faster than Kuzmina, who has 2 minutes of penalties included in her time! Dasha is currently 10/10 and marginally faster than Öberg; Kaisa also at S2 and she has again missed her 5th target; Eckhoff has also missed 1 at each shoot so far. Kuzmina has broken her rhythm at S4 but that 15 second pause was worth it – avoiding a full minute if she’d missed – she’s 0,1,1,0. Hanna Öberg at S3 – she has also cleared 15 and she’s a lot faster than Nowakwska. Rats – Dasha has missed 1 at S3, and Nowakwska has missed 2 in her final shoot. Interesting, Elisa Gasparin has hit 19/20 and is +1:11.0 behind Kuzmina – so taking penalties into account she’s only lost about 11 seconds – very impressive, although she’s losing a bit of time on the final lap. For a change Kaisa has missed her first target this time (S3). Back at S1 Doro Wierer is clear; at S4 Öberg has become the first to clear all 20 – a very steady performance and the Swedes seem to have got their ski preparation right here in Korea. Now, Hanna has 35.1 seconds in hand against Kuzmina’s time as she leaves the range. Double rats – Laura Dahlmeier has missed her 5th shot at S1. Best German after S1 is Franziska Preuß, clear and +22.8. Kaisa has cleared all 5 at S4; meanwhile Öberg is losing time on the lap, but still in touch – the 35.1 is 27.4 at 13.6 Km, but she’s holding on – 27.43 at 14.5 Km – she is into gold medal position, 24.7 ahead of Kuzmina, thanks to great shooting, a very strong metal approach and good skis – brilliant effort! I fear the tactic of putting Laura D in group 4 might not be working out – arguably any increase in ski speed might be offset by shooting under floodlights rather than natural light? Looking at the standings after S4, Öberg fastest (20/20), ahead of Kuzmina (0,1,1,0) and Paulina Fialkova (1,0,0,0) – still only one perfect score that I can see so far. Laura D is clear at S2; meanwhile Franzi P is at S3 – 15/15, which gets her into 2nd behind Öberg! Laura D clear again at S3 – up to 3rd there, +32.0. Doro W is in for S4 – fast shooting but she’s missed 1 (0,1,0,1). Nice to see Urska Poje (SLO) going 20/20 – only the 3rd at present, as Franzi P has just gone 20/20 too!! Sadly Franzi is still 3.5 seconds slower than Kuzmina as she leaves the range. Laura D in for her final shoot – she’s clear (1,0,0,0) but she’s 31.2 behind Öberg’s time and only 3 seconds ahead of Kuzmina. Franzi is losing more time to Kuzmina on the lap; Öberg is very happy and emotional at the finish – she almost certainly has the gold medal! I’m not sure Franzi P will beat Fialkova’s time, and Laura D is also losing time to Kuzmina. Well done Franzi – into 3rd at present, but she’s about to lose that to Laura, who I think is heading for the bronze. That’s it – Hanna Öberg gets the gold medal – excellent result. Kuzmina, who was fastest around the course by a massive 46.5 seconds, in silver with Laura D in bronze. Poor Franzi P in 4th, arguably the worst position in any Olympic race, ahead of Fialkova and Hojnisz. Doro in 7th, Kaisa in 13th, Eckhoff in 23rd (4 penalties!) and Dasha in 26th. Poje best on range time, ahead of Doro and Alexia Runggaldier. Tiril Eckhoff second fastest around the course, ahead of Laura D, Dasha and Kaisa.

PyeongChang – Men’s 20 Km Individual: More good PR from Mike in the pre start session with Will Perry – hopefully boosting UK support for (and interest in) biathlon! The mind boggles at the thought of doing over 60 kph on thin skis and with a rifle on your back. Anyway – Freddie Lindström is the first away and his skis should be really good, judging from the women’s race! JoBø away number 9, Svendsen (11) and Martin F will be 23 – not sure there will be as much late interest in this race? Lindström at S1 and clear – good shooting; Lowell Bailey has missed his first 2 shots. Vladimir Iliev also clear and fastest here at present, ahead of Lapshin and Lindström. JoBø in for his first prone – missed his 3rd shot – bit unlucky! EHS is clear – the camera angle on the targets is very odd – unless it’s a miss you can’t see the shot position – ah, that’s better! Simon Desthieux also clear and he’s fastest at present. Rastorgujevs has missed 1, but Erik Lesser is clear and so is Arnd Peiffer. Schempp has missed his first 2 at S1, but Freddie L is clear again at S2. Martin F is clear at S1 and he’s fractionally faster than Desthieux. Iliev has missed 1 at S2, but JoBø has cleared, and quickly too (out just 15.1 behind Freddie L, despite the penalty) – Tarjei clear at S1. Svendsen has missed 2 in his standing shoot; so has Desthieux. Erik Lesser has missed 1 at S2, but Arnd Peiffer is clear – very solid stuff. Currently after S2 it’s Peiffer, Lindström and Moravec – all 10/10. Lindström has cleared again – 15/15; Martin F is 10/10, so is Tarjei and Johannes has got all 5 at S3. Samuelsson clear at S1 and in touch; Peiffer in for S3 – ye gods, he’s missed 3! Back at S1 Jesper Nelin (SWE) is also going well – clear and just +3.2, in 3rd place. Missed Martin F at S3 as Eurosport went to adverts, but we saw it as they came back – clear again, but Lindström has missed 1 at S4 (0,0,0,1). Scott Gow (CAN) has joined the 15/15 group but he’s over a minute back. JoBø has missed 1 more at S4 (1,0,0,1), but brother Tarjei is 15/15 and 29.4 behind Fourcade. Seb Samuelsson started his first prone at a pulse reading of 180, but he’s clear and very much in touch! After S4 the order is Johannes Bø (1,0,0,1), Lindström (0,0,0,1), Moravec (0,0,0,1) and Svendsen (0,2,0,0). Erik Lesser (0,1,0,0) has just gone into 2nd after S4; at S2 Nelin is 10/10 and out ahead of Samuelsson – the Swedes really are going well today! Martin F in for S4 – he’s missed his last 2 shots! That puts him 41.4 behind JoBø who also has 2 misses. Tarjei is at S4 – he’s missed 2 as well; Benny Weger (1,0,0,0) is out in 2nd , ahead of Martin F! Samuelsson is at S3 – he’s missed 1 (unlucky with a little gust). Patrick is again (he did the same in the women’s race) saying he can’t see a German well up among those who’ve finished - the reason is that none of them have finished yet! Now, Lesser has finished – currently 3rd and Arnd P is over the line in 9th. Fourcade over the line, 42.4 behind JoBø – BUT Dominik Landertinger has got a perfect score and he’s out 8.2 faster than JoBø (but Johannes had 2 full minutes of penalty, so Dominik’s ski speed isn’t massive). Back at S3 Nelin is 15/15; Samuelsson is clear at S4 and out just ahead of Weger’s time and a faster set of skis too – so much for my suggestion that this race might not stay interesting! Landertinger into 2nd place; Samuelsson also threatening and the commentators haven’t mentioned Nelin, or the fact that Jakov Fak is now 20/20 and just 3.9 slower than Landertinger as he leaves S4. Attention finally shifts to Nelin, but he’s missed 3 at S4 – they still haven’t clocked Fak though! Ah, finally, they’ve seen it – Fak is behind Bø at 16.6 Km, but Samuelsson is over the line in 3rd; Martin F off the podium! At 18.6 Km Fak is into 2nd place – he’s still there at 19.5, just 6.5 seconds behind Bø! That’s it – Johannes Thingnes Bø takes gold, Jakov Fak in silver, Dominik Landertinger in bronze. Samuelsson in 4th, ahead of Martin Fourcade and Weger; Krcmar into 7th. Erik Lesser best of the Germans in 9th; Arnd Peiffer ended up 21st. Lapshin quickest on range time, ahead of Birkeland and Lesser; JoBø fastest around the course ahead of Fourcade, Eberhard, Desthieux and Kühn. I can only see 3 perfect scores – Landertinger, Fak and Tyshchenko (UKR). There will be a very happy (and relieved) Johannes tonight, and a very annoyed Martin F!

Due to the timings of the live coverage I haven't been watching the races as they actually happen - so a quick update on recent races, with links to the FIS reports:

PyeongChang – Women’s Slalom: Well, there’s a surprise – apparently Mikaela Shiffrin was really unwell between runs – hope it’s nothing too long  lasting! Given that news, I suspect she did well to get 4th place; anyway, great effort by Frida Hansdotter to take gold; silver to Wendy Holdener and a superb effort by Katharina Gallhuber to take bronze – very happy for all 3 of them – superb skiing!  The FIS report is HERE

PyeongChang – Men’s Super G: FIS report says it all - it's HERE. Good news for Mayer, which should make up for his Downhill and proves his medal at Sochi wasn't a one off!

PyeongChang – Women’s Super G: Superb – as a fan of the very talented Ester Ledecka (CZE, and the snowboard parallel World Champion!) I was delighted to see her take what even she must have thought was a rather unexpected gold medal in the Super G! She won by just one one hundredth of a second from the defending champion, Anna Veith (AUT) with Tina Weirather (LEI) in bronze medal position. FIS report HERE

Men's Giant Slalom: Very impressive - Marcel Hirscher claims his second gold medal, winning the event by 1.27 seconds - a massive margin! Kristoffersen got silver, after being only 10th after run 1, with Alexis Pinturault in bronze.  The FIS report is HERE

PyeongChang – Women’s 12.5 Km Mass Start: Hmmm – looks like wall to wall curling, with a bit of skeleton and skating on Eurosport; can’t see live biathlon? Wait – there it is, but do we have commentary – sounds like an Aussie (an expert at stating the blindingly obvious), not the Pat & Mike show. There is some wind – seems it’s from a different direction today. I’m already missing the usual commentary team – can’t see why they aren’t doing this one, there doesn’t seem to be anything else they might be covering (cross country relay?)? This bloke is awful – pure drivel at present and staccato drivel at that. Kuzmina is the early leader as they go through 2 Km, followed by someone apparently called Hair Man – luckily the IBU feed shows me it’s Denise Herrmann; Kaisa 3rd. In for the first prone shoot – Kuzmina first to get a shot away – fast shooting and she’s clear and away; Laura D has missed 1, so have Bescond, Vittozzi and Eckhoff, among others. After S1 it’s Kuzmina from Öberg, Doro W, Olsbu, Dasha and Brorsson. I’ve had to turn the commentary down – he can’t pronounce names and seems to feel that reading out the IBU graphics is enough. OK – coming in for S2, the second prone – the wind is very light – Kuzmina clear again! She leads out; Dasha is 2nd (+7.9), then Öberg, Wierer, Vitková and Hair Man, who is 10/10! Franzi P is in 8th, also 10/10 but Laura D has missed another – I wonder if she’s not entirely well? Kuzmina is pulling away – she seems significantly faster than anyone else here, and some of her competitors aren’t exactly slouches. First standing shoot – Kuzmina clear before Dasha has a shot away, and Dasha has missed 1; sadly Denise H has missed 2. Kuzmina leads out, and she has 28.2 seconds advantage over Doro; Vitková in 3rd ahead of Vittozzi, Dasha and MDH. Laura D clear this time but 1:45 behind. At 9.5 Km Kuzmina is 46 seconds ahead of Doro – probably 2 misses in hand, if she needs them? The last shoot – conditions look pretty much ideal – a very long pause by Kuzmina before her final shot, and after that she’s missed it! Even so, she has enough in hand, especially as Doro has also missed 1. Kuzmina (0,0,0,1) is still away in the lead; Dasha (0,0,1,0) clear that time and in 2nd (+ 24.7); Tiril Eckhoff (1,0,1,0) is up to 3rd, ahead of Öberg (0,0,1,0), Vittozzi (1,0,0,1) and Olsbu (0,1,0,0). By the next split, at 10.9 Km, Dasha has pulled back 7.7 seconds but surely she can’t catch up enough? I can’t see Tiril being caught either. At 12 Km it’s stabilised – Kuzmina leads and Dasha is 17.9 behind; Tiril +30.6 with almost 18 seconds to Vittozzi, who is just ahead of Doro and Hanna Öberg. That’s it – Kuzmina wins, Dasha in silver, Tiril gets bronze; Lisa Vittozzi in 4th, Öberg has passed Doro for 5th/6th. Denise Herrmann (0,0,2,0) the best German in 11th, just ahead of Franzi P (0,0,1,0); Laura D (1,1,0,0) eventually in 16th. No surprise that Kuzmina was quickest around the course, although she did ease back a lot on the last stretch, ahead of Eckhoff and Dasha. Kaisa 4th fastest (she ended in 10th, with 2 penalties), just ahead of Herrmann. Cadurisch fastest on the range, ahead of Vittozzi and Wierer. I also watched the race when it eventually appeared in the main schedule; Pat & Mike on form this time – for all the occasional errors they really do add value and insights!

Bit off topic, but really well done Lizzy Yarnold – she’s retained her Olympic title! Laura Deas in bronze medal place too – excellent day on the skeleton track for GB! Also I’m amazed to hear that, according to the BBC, Ester Ledecka didn’t even own the skis she used to win the Super G gold; she borrowed them from Mikaela Shiffrin!

PyeongChang – Men’s 15 Km Mass Start: That’s a relief – the usual commentary team are on today, with “proper” Eurosport coverage. So, the final individual (as in person, not the biathlon discipline!!) event of the games – after this, just the relays to come. There is some suggestion that Martin Fourcade isn’t well, but he’s racing. All very close as they come in for S1 – flags are hanging, ideal shooting conditions. Desthieux and Fak first to strike; Fourcade, Svendsen, Tarjei Bø and Peiffer among those who have missed 1. It’s Timofei Lapshin who leads out, then Fak, Doll, Windisch, Nelin and Lindström. Fourcade has stumbled as he exits the range area; worst shooting this time by QFM, who missed 3. Still a lot of athletes in touch with the leading group as they come in for S2; JoBø has missed 3! Benedikt Doll is 10/10 and he leads out, ahead of Erik Lesser, Lindström, Bjøntegaard, Schempp and Eder – all clear at this stage. Martin F clear this time and out 8th, +9.4; poor QFM has missed 2 more. On the lap, Martin is up to 3rd already, and he’s closing on the leading Germans. As they head for the range, Martin has dropped back to 4th, but the leading group of 8 are all close. First standing shoot – probably a little more wind; Fourcade first to shoot and he’s cleared all 5. Martin F leads out – Schempp and Lesser both 15/15 and close behind; Eder in 4th ahead of Moravec and Eberhard (who has missed 2!). Doll missed 1 here and is 7th, just ahead of Peiffer, EHS and Fak. The leading 3 are pulling away, but are they pushing too hard – we’ll see at S4! Final standing shoot – some very anxious faces among the coaches; Fourcade and Schempp have missed 1 each, Lesser 2! Martin (1,0,0,1) is still leading by just 0.4 from Schempp (0,0,0,1); Benedikt Doll (0,0,1,0) cleared and is up to 3rd (+19.2). Svendsen also clear this time and he’s 4th, ahead of Lesser and Fak. At 12.6 Km Fourcade and Schempp are almost together; Doll, EHS and Lesser in a group just over 25 seconds back. The fight for the bronze is really intense; Lesser and EHS fractionally ahead of Doll, about 15 seconds back from the tactical duel at the front – what a race! Sprint for the line – a photo finish for the gold, and EHS has taken bronze. Erik Lesser gets 4th, ahead of Doll and Eberhard. Now, who has been given the gold? Yes, Martin has longer toenails and he gets the gold; Simon Schempp silver. Fantastic racing! I can’t see any perfect scores; Martin missed 2, Schempp 1, EHS 2 and Lesser 2. Tarjei Bø top of those missing 3, in 10th; Johannes also missed 3 but ended up 16th. Lapshin fastest on the range, ahead of Eder and Lesser; Martin F fastest around the course, ahead of Svendsen, Peiffer and Eberhard.

PyeongChang – Women’s Downhill: Well done Sofia Goggia! Gold medal for her, after a great run, especially the lower sections where she gained time – she is apparently the first Italian woman to win downhill Olympic gold! Ragnhild Mowinckel, who started 19th, had never finished better than 6th in the tour and wasn’t really supposed to trouble the leaders but she really attacked the course and skied into silver medal position – dropping Lindsey Vonn into the bronze medal slot, and knocking her friend Tina Weirather off the podium! Mowinckel is the first Norwegian woman to win an Olympic medal in the downhill! I liked Vonn’s comment, as she waited to see if she would be knocked off the podium by a late starter “I’m optimistic that I could get on the podium, but anything can happen as you could see from the super-G, but there's no snowboarders in the race this time.” All 3 medallists set a record; in Lindsey Vonn’s case it was as the oldest woman to win an alpine ski medal. FIS report

PyeongChang – Men’s Slalom: Yet more surprises – Marcel Hirscher a DNF on run 1 after missing a gate, and Kristoffersen not capitalising on that, and failing to win a medal. Congratulations to Andre Myhrer, who took gold, and to Ramon Zenhaeusern (silver) and Michael Matt (bronze). Dave Ryding finished 9th, after being 13th after run 1. FIS report

PyeongChang – Women’s Alpine Combined: Now this really is good news – Michelle Gisin (SUI) has taken the gold in the women’s combined! Lindsey Vonn was fastest after the downhill run, but failed to complete her slalom run, and Sofia Goggia didn’t start. So, Gisin in gold medal position, ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin (silver) and Wendy Holdener (bronze) – Ragnhild Mowinckel in 4th. FIS report