2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Vonn wins Maribor giant slalom

Lindsey Vonn upstaged Tina Maze in front of her home fans to win a women's Alpine ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, though the Slovenian had the compensation of securing the season's title in the discipline.
American Vonn, back to her best, beat the overall World Cup runaway leader by 0.08 seconds with a combined time of two minutes 22.20 seconds to snatch only the third giant slalom win of her career.
It was Vonn's 59th World Cup victory and a boost to her confidence ahead of the world championships in Schladming next month, when Maze will defend her crown in the discipline.
Maze's second place was enough for her to secure the giant slalom World Cup.
"It's my first crystal cup so I'm really happy,", said Maze, who had looked miserable when she crossed the finish line.
"I really wanted to thank the spectators with a big victory," added Maze who had set the fastest first-leg time. "I'm sure they must be happy with my second place. I fought as hard as I could."
Maze still has hopes of winning Sunday's slalom here and has increased her overall World Cup lead, leaving Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch 748 points adrift.
Austria's Anna Feninger continued her fine recent form to finish third, 0.57 off the pace.
Vonn, who took three weeks off over New Year to deal with health and personal problems, was delighted with her day's work.
"I had not skied a giant slalom for a month," the four-times World Cup winner said. "I was hoping for a good result but not to win but this course perfectly suits my style.
"The timing for the world championships could not be more perfect. This is a highlight after a tough moment. It also convinced me I could do well in giant slalom and I will race in four events at the worlds," she added.
With one title sewn up, Maze said she had plenty of other objectives.
"I was going for two wins here and I really hope I can do well in the slalom tomorrow. Then this was my 16th podium of the season and I heard that the record was 18," she told reporters.
"There's also the 2,000 points mark (in the overall World Cup standings) that Lindsey wanted so bad last season. There's a good chance to break it."
Maze is on 1,554 points with 13 races left until the end of the season, with each win being worth 100 points.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Paris soars to Kitzbuehel downhill glory

Dominik Paris became only the second Italian to win the most prestigious downhill on the World Cup circuit, on Kitzbuehel's Hahnenkamm mountain.
Joint winner of the Bormio classic earlier this season, the 23-year-old Paris outshone the favourites in one minute 57.56 seconds to emulate compatriot Kristian Ghedina, crowned in 1998.
"Who wouldn't dream of winning Kitzbuehel? " said the skier from Merano, in the South Tyrol.
"To win Kitzbuehel is a career high, something very special for a downhiller, I didn't feel so good up there but I nailed the final part really well. It's the kind of course I like the most, you have to fight from top to bottom, like at Bormio."
Paris fended off questions about his chances at the world championships in Schladming which start on Feb. 5.
"I don't want to think about Schladming. Kitzbuehel is Kitzbuehel. Nothing else matters for now," he said.
The victory underlined the strength of the Italian speed team, who have bagged four of the six downhills held this season, with Christof Innerhofer winning in Beaver Creek and in Wengen a week ago.
Innerhofer was the focus of attention for the 50,000 spectators lining the Streif on Saturday, as he started in 46th position after being sanctioned for ignoring an order to slow down in practice.
Threatened with losing his racing licence after criticising the International Ski Federation (FIS) on Austrian television, Innerhofer was allowed to race with a fine and a high start number after he apologised.
As visibility worsened, the super-G world champion finished 21st, 1.92 off the pace.
Erik Guay was second, 0.13 seconds adrift, the best result for a Canadian on the Streif piste in 30 years.
"A podium finish in Kitzbuehel is amazing, something I have been aiming for for a long time," Guay said. "It is for sure a special place for the Canadians and it means a lot to do so well in the last speed race before the worlds."
Hannes Reichelt, who shared victory with Paris in Bormio, salvaged Austrian pride by finishing third, 0.36 behind the winner.
Aksel Lund Svindal, the fastest in practice and winner of Friday's super-G, looked a clear favourite at the start but could manage only 10th place, 1.16 back.
Perhaps unsettled by the crash of Frenchman Johan Clarey, who started ahead of him, the Norwegian surrendered the downhill World Cup lead to Paris by six points while losing vital ground in the race for the overall title to Austria's Marcel Hirscher.
Hirscher will be the favourite at home in Sunday's slalom.
The demanding course claimed its usual share of victims, most spectacularly Peter Fill, who somehow walked away after clipping a barrier and being flung through the air.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Pop star violinist to ski in Olympics

Pop violinist Vanessa-Mae has put music on hold for a year and is rehearsing for a new role - skiing for Thailand at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in February 2014.
Vanessa-Mae, 34, is in training with the aim of competing in at least five internationally recognised events to qualify for the giant slalom and possibly the slalom at the Sochi Olympics.
"People are surprised when they see me skiing - a classical violinist, Oriental, who has lived in the city all her life," Vanessa-Mae told Reuters.
"But it has been my dream to be a ski bum since I was 14. This is something I am determined to do."
The violinist is a British citizen but she also holds a Thai passport. She was born in Singapore to a Chinese mother and a Thai father but she was brought up in England when her mother remarried a Briton.
Vanessa-Mae, whose full name is Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, would be only the second Thai to compete at a Winter Olympics if she qualified. Academic Prawat Nagvajara represented Thailand in cross-country skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics.
"I wanted to compete for Thailand because there is a part of me which I have never celebrated - being Thai," said Vanessa-Mae. "My father, like most Thais, has never skied but he's really excited about me doing this as is the Thai Olympic Committee."
Vanessa-Mae started skiing at the age of 4 but music has always been her priority. She made her international professional debut aged 10 and made her mark on the world stage when she broke from tradition and became known for her sexy, glamorous style and for mixing classical music with pop.
Her first techno pop-style album, "The Violin Player", was released in 1995 and reached No.11 in the UK albums chart and she has not stop touring since, although she has not released a new album since 2004.
Vanessa-Mae said she had always wanted to spend more time on her other passion, skiing, so moved to the Swiss alpine resort of Zermatt in 2009 where she is now in training for the Olympics. She hopes to compete in her first event by April.
International Ski Federation spokeswoman Riikka Rakic said Vanessa-Mae was one of five actively registered Thai athletes so she has a license to compete for Thailand but she needs a minimum of five starts in FIS competitions and certain points to qualify for the Olympics.
"She has a full year to quality and there are many events so there are plenty of options still," said Rakic.
A National Olympic Committee of Thailand spokesman said Vanessa-Mae would be welcome to race for Thailand if she qualified. So far no Thai athlete has qualified for Sochi.
Vanessa-Mae said she knew it would be tough to make the Olympics but she had given herself a year sabbatical from music to do this - and always worked better with a deadline.
"When it comes to music I am a perfectionist but when it is skiing, I have no delusions about a podium or even being in the top 100 in the world," she said.
"Of course there is a risk that I could break something but life is short and you have to go for it. Just to qualify for the Olympics in my hobby would be a dream come true for me."
Once Sochi is over, she intends to return to music.
"It's time for a new album but doing this will give me a new perspective. Living my dream of being a ski bum is great but the best job in the world is being on stage, making music," she said.

 

[Smallville22]

Curling - Beijing to host 2014 world men's curling championships

Asia will host the World Men's Curling Championships for the first time in 2014 after Beijing was named as the host city.
The Chinese capital, which hosted the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2008, was announced as the chosen city by the World Curling Federation at its headquarters in Scotland.
The Championships will be held from March 29 to April 6 in Beijing and will come six years after China first competed in the men's event in 2008.
It marks the first time in the history of the World Men's Championships, which began in 1959 in Scotland, that an Asian nation will act as hosts of the event.
Japan held the World Women's Championships in 2007 and South Korea in 2009 and WCF president Kate Caithness is well aware of the importance of hosting the men's event in Asia.
"The award of the 2014 World Men's Championship to Beijing is a major landmark in the development of curling," said Caithness.
"It will be the first time that a World Men's Curling Championship will be staged in the Pacific-Asia zone.
In the last decade we have witnessed a surge in growth of curling in the region.
"Following on from the World Women's Curling Championships in Japan in 2007 and Korea in 2009, China will now host the top twelve men's teams in the world and we look forward to working with our partners and sponsors to stage a first class show for the world to enjoy."
The Chinese Curling Association, only founded in 2001, became a member of the WCF in 2002 and currently there are over 330 registered players in China and four dedicated centres with ice facilities.
In the five years they have competed in the Men's Championships, China's best finish has been fourth back in 2008 while last year they ranked sixth.
And Ni Huizhong, president of the Chinese Curling Association, said: "The Chinese Curling Association would like to thank the World Curling Federation for putting their trust in us and our partners to host the 2014 World Men's Curling Championship.
"Curling is a sport that is growing incredibly fast not only throughout China but also throughout the rest of the Pacific-Asia region.
"We hope that this event, being staged just after the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, will help continue to inspire the next generation of curlers throughout the world.
"We would like to invite everyone to China in 2014 and the city of Beijing to be part of this incredible experience."

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Kuzmina wins Antholz sprint

Anastasiya Kuzmina led from the first shoot to the finishing line to win her first biathlon World Cup of the season in Italy as Tora Berger and Miriam Gossner performed uncharacteristically poorly.
The 28-year-old Slovakian, who won Olympic gold in the 7.5km sprint at Vancouver 2010, dominated the same event as the sixth World Cup of the season got under way in Antholz-Anterselva.
Starting in 32nd, Kuzmina took the lead for the first time after her first trip to the range before shooting clear to take victory by over 16 seconds in a winning time of 20:28.6minutes.
Finland's Kaisa Makarainen finished second, 16.7seconds behind Kuzmina, who also took Olympic pursuit silver at Vancouver 2010, with Darya Domracheva of Belarus taking third.
That is Kuzmina's clear best finish of the season with her previous best an eighth in the 10km pursuit in Oestersund while she was ninth last time out in the 12.5km mass start in Ruhpolding.
In stark contrast World Cup leader Berger finished down in 14th for her second worst finish of the season after missing three targets and coming home 1:08.4 behind Kuzmina.
Gossner fared even worse as she failed with seven shots and crossed the finishing line 2:31.0 adrift of the Slovakian in 62nd place to drop to third in the overall rankings.
Norwegian Berger still leads with 601 points with Domracheva now 120 behind in second with German Gossner 20 further back in third.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Shipulin gets first win of season

Anton Shipulin followed in the footsteps of sister Anastasiya Kuzmina at the sixth biathlon World Cup in Italy winning the men's 10km sprint for his first victory of the season.
Kuzmina led from the first shoot to the finishing line for her first win World Cup win after 13 events in the women's 7.5km sprint on Thursday with Shipulin repeating the trick 24 hours later.
Like his sister, who won the Olympic 7.5km sprint title at Vancouver 2010, Shipulin shot clear before recording a time of 22:45.8minutes to win by 12.8 seconds in Antholz-Anterselva.
It was only the 25-year-old's second top-three finish of the season, having finished third in the 12.5km pursuit in Oestersund, with Emil Hegle Svendsen and Jakov Fak completing the top three.
Shipulin trailed Austria's Friedrich Pinter despite shooting clean in the prone however the Russian was to do the same in the standing to take a lead that he wasn't to relinquish in Italy.
He held a 6.9-second lead over Andreas Birnbacher following the standing but the German was to finish fourth behind Svendsen, who had to tour the penalty loop once after the prone, and Fak.
Svendsen shot clean in the standing and made up a 19-second deficit on Birnbacher with 1.2km to go to take second while Fak, who missed one target overall, was a further 7.6 back in third.
Martin Fourcade was sixth, maintaining his lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings, although Svendsen is now only 59 points away from the Frenchman in second.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Berger dominates Anterselva pursuit

Tora Berger ensured her first outing at the sixth biathlon World Cup round in Antholz-Anterselva was nothing more than a blip as she returned to record a dominant victory in the 10km pursuit.
The 31-year-old Olympic champion, who has won five races this season, claimed her second-lowest finish of the season in the event opener in Italy, placing 14th in the 7.5km sprint.
However the World Cup leader bounced back in style to win the 10km pursuit by almost 19 seconds ahead of Olena Pidhrushina in second and over 25 from Kaisa Makarainen in third.
Berger hit all her targets first time in the range but was well behind early pace setter Makarainen by the time she arrived for her second shoot where she was forced into a penalty loop.
The Norwegian was up to seventh after her third trip to the range, where she again missed a target, yet she made up significant ground to lead at the fourth and final shoot.
Berger led Pidhrushina by 0.2seconds before extending it to 18.9 over the final leg for the win to take her points tally in the overall World Cup standings to 661.
With the second half of the World Cup season now underway Berger leads second-placed Darya Domracheva, who was tenth in the 10km pursuit in Antholz-Anterselva, by 139 points.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Shipulin completes Antholz double

Anton Shipulin made it two from two at the sixth biathlon World Cup of the season in Antholz-Anterselva as he led from start to finish to win the 12.5km pursuit.
Shipulin emulated his sister, Anastasiya Kuzmina, by winning the opening sprint in Italy and, while he was made to work hard to do so, victory in the pursuit was easier to come by.
The 25-year-old missed two targets in the range but it was to matter little as he clocked a winning time of 31:24.2minutes with Slovenian Jakov Fak second and Daniel Mesotitsch third.
Given bib No.1, Shipulin built up a healthy advantage early on and shot clear first time and led by over 42 seconds from defending World Cup champion Martin Fourcade at one stage.
That was halved after Shipulin missed a target on his second shoot and dropped to less than 15 after he repeated the trick on his third visit to the range in Antholz-Anterselva.
Fourcade then clawed even more time back but Shipulin was clear with his last shoot and raced away to victory as Fak came up through the field to deny Mesotitsch second.
Defending World Cup champion Fourcade had to make do with fourth to take his points tally at the top of the overall standings to 645, Emil Hegle Svendsen, who was fifth, second with 583.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Matura's magical moment in Sapporo

Jan Matura claimed the first ski jumping World Cup podium finish and win of his career on his 169th start as the circuit moved to Asia and the Japanese resort of Sapporo.
After a slow start to the season, Matura finished a best of 35th from the opening eight rounds, the 32-year-old's results have picked up over the last five meetings.
He finished a season-best sixth last time out in Zakopane and, despite the absence of World Cup leader Gregor Schlierenzauer, claimed a surprise win over a strong field in Sapporo.
Matura got off to the perfect start in Japan, producing a first round jump of 132m for 128.7 points to rank first ahead of Robert Kranjec and Tom Hilde.
Kranjec, Hilde and defending World Cup champion Anders Bardal all produced bigger leaps of 137m, 136m, and 138m respectively but saw their totals hampered by wind compensation.
Kranjec sat second with 127.1 with Hilde third with 125.7 and Bardal fourth with 125.0 but, try as they might, none could overhaul Matura in the second round either.
The Czech Republic ski jumper fared better leaping 135m and, despite that producing a sixth-best second round score of 120.8, it was enough to see him take a maiden win with 249.5 overall.
Hilde recorded the biggest leap of 139m to swap places with Kranjec just 0.7 points behind Matura with 248.8 with the Slovenian's second effort poor, 130.5 giving him 244.4 overall.
Bardal maintained his position in fourth, jumping 130m second time out for a total of 242.3, which does narrow down Schlierenzauer's lead at the top of the overall rankings.
The two-time Four Hills champion is missing Sapporo because of flu but still has a sizeable lead with Bardal 135 points behind in second while Matura is now 20th overall after his win.
Matura, who finished fourth in Sapporo back in 2011, almost doubled his points tally with the victory going from 108 points to 208 to break into the top 20.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Matura sensationally claims second win in Japan

Jan Matura made it two wins from two in Sapporo as the Czech claimed victory in the second large hill jump of the World Cup event in Japan.
Matura, who before this weekend had not won or even made the podium in 168 previous starts, stunned the rest of the field as he doubled up for a second win.
The 32-year-old's combined total from two jumps was 247m, 1.3m better than Slovenia's Robert Kranjec, who had to settle for second to go with his third-place finish in the first event.
Andreas Wank finished third with efforts of 120m and 121m.

Top 10 results

1 CZE Jan Matura 122.4 124.6 247.0

2 SLO Robert Kranjec 119.0 126.7 245.7

3 GER Andreas Wank 120.0 121.0 241.0

4 NOR Tom Hilde 118.8 118.9 237.7

5 POL Kamil Stoch 119.2 109.4 228.6

6 SLO Jurij Tepes 119.4 104.2 223.6

7 JPN Taku Takeuchi 111.2 109.7 220.9

8 AUT Wolfgang Loitzl 116.7 104.0 220.7

9 SLO Peter Prevc 103.0 116.7 219.7

10 GER Martin Schmitt 112.9 102.9 215.8

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Schlierenzauer wins ski flying opener in Vikersund

Four Hills champion Gregor Schlierenzauer came from behind to take victory in the first ski flying World Cup event of the season and equal Matti Nykanen's all-time tally of 46 wins in Vikersund.

Schlierenzauer has been edging ever closer to Nykanen's all-time World Cup tally throughout the season with successes in Lillehammer, Sochi, Engelberg, Innsbruck and Bischofshofen.
However he travelled to Vikersund for the first of four successive ski flying events having not won in four having missed the last round in Sapporo, which saw Jan Matura do the double, with flu.
And, even when the first round was done and dusted in Norway, Schlierenzauer was sitting second behind Simon Ammann despite producing the best leap of 216.5m.
Ammann jumped 215.5m but was awarded a better score by the judges, the Swiss athlete heading into the second round with a total of 200.9 compared to 199.5 for Schlierenzauer.
However the two-time Four Hills champion was not to be denied in the second round as he once again recorded the biggest jump but this time by much more than anyone else.
Schlierenzauer leapt as far as 240m for 418.7 overall and, with Ammann only managing 229.5, the Austrian won by a margin of just 0.5 points in Norway.
That moves Schlierenzauer level with Nykanen at the top of the all-time World Cup wins list with 46 with a second ski flying event scheduled for Sunday in Vikersund.
After missing the two events in Sapporo, Schlierenzauer extends his lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings to 197 points with Anders Bardal, who was 12th, second with a total of 743.
Little separated the top five, with Robert Kranjec, Andreas Stjernen and Kamil Stoch all leaping 232.5m in the second round with just 0.8 points between third and fifth.
Kranjec took third with 417.6 in total with Stjernen 0.4 behind in fourth and then Stoch another 0.4 adrift for fifth while Piotr Zyla was sixth with 394.9.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Bjoergen returns with victory in La Clusaz

Marit Bjoergen marked her comeback from suffering from an irregular heartbeat in perfect style in La Clusaz as she claimed the 58th cross-country skiing World Cup win of her career in the 10km classic mass start.
The 32-year-old was forced to miss the whole of the Tour de Ski and the last World Cup in the Czech Republic having been hospitalised before Christmas with a heart problem.
Bjoergen had been expected to return for the sprint in Liberec but didn't, although any doubts that she would be affected by the situation were put to bed in France.
For the triple Olympic champion was back to her best in the 10km classic mass start, beating World Cup leader Justyna Kowalczyk in particular by 18 seconds on the way to victory.
Bjoergen clocked a winning time of 27:04.6minutes with Therese Johaug, second in the overall World Cup standings, by 2.7seconds before Kowalczyk back in third.
That maintains Bjoergen's unbeaten World Cup record this season, having won the opener in Gaellivare and then all three stages of the Ruka Triple before skipping the four races in Canada.
She now sits seventh in the World Cup rankings with 562 points with four-time Tour de Ski winner and leader Kowalczyk now up to 1372 and Johaug second with 947.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Bessmertnykh's early celebration gives Poltoranin La Clusaz win

Alexey Poltoranin won by the narrowest of margins in the 15km classic mass start in La Clusaz after Alexander Bessmertnykh celebrated too early to throw victory away.
It was Poltoranin's second cross-country skiing World Cup win of his career.
The 25-year-old claimed his one and only win in a 15km classic in Davos in December of 2010, while he was second in this season's opener in Gaellivare.
Poltoranin was also third overall in the Ruka Triple and those good performances came to fruition in La Clusaz as the Kazakhstan skier won a tight 15km classic mass start.
However it was a triumph that should have never been. Russia's Bessmertnykh, leading on the final sprint, held his arms aloft in celebration before realising how close Poltoranin was and lunging for the line.
He was a fraction too late, losing out by just 0.01 seconds as Poltoranin clocked a time of 37 minutes 11.6 seconds.
Just 1.8s separated the top six with defending World Cup champion Dario Cologna crossing the finishing line just 0.4s shy of the top two for third while Didrik Toenseth was fourth, a further 0.6s back.
Alexander Legkov, who won this season's Tour de Ski, came home 0.4s behind for fifth with German Hannes Dotzler sixth by the same margin from the Russian.
Cologna narrowed the lead on Legkov at the top of the overall World Cup standings to 41 points with third with Petter Northug still third despite choosing to skip the race.

 

[Smallville22]

Skeleton World Cup

Nikitina wins Igls skeleton

Russia's Elena Nikitina grabbed a historic win for both herself and her country at the penultimate skeleton World Cup in Igls, which also act as the European Championships.


Dukurs all but crowned skeleton champion again

Martins Dukurs was unstoppable in Igls as he twice lowered his own track record to claim his fourth successive European gold and all but his fourth successive overall skeleton World Cup title.
Dukurs took to the penultimate World Cup round, which doubled as the European Championships, with a 198-point lead at the top of the standings following another stunning season so far.
From the seven races before Igls the 28-year-old, who won Olympic silver at Vancouver 2010, has won six of them and he took a seventh, and yet another European title, in style in Austria.
Dukurs lowered his own track record by 0.01seconds with his first run, clocking 52.68, before completely blowing it out of the water on his second after posting 52.45.
In a sport where hundredths of a second separate the top three, Dukurs efforts saw him beat Alexander Tretiakov, the last man to win the World Cup title before the Latvian, by 0.75.
And, with 225 points available for victory, Dukurs heads in the final round in Sochi next month with a lead over 223 over elder brother Tomass and only a miracle preventing him taking the title.
Before then are the World Championships, where Dukurs is bidding for a third successive title, in St Moritz while in Sochi he has the chance to claim the newly established Triple Trophy.
Incorporating the last three rounds of the season, the Triple Trophy rewards those that win all three with Dukurs on course to do so having now claimed four successive victories.
Dukurs aside, Tretiakov was himself a clear second, 0.60 ahead of Tomass, for European silver after runs of 53.06 and 52.82 gave him an overall time of 1:45.88minutes.
Likewise Tomass Dukurs was third by 0.48 ahead of fourth-placed Russian Sergei Chudinov for European bronze while Briton Kristan Bromley was tenth overall and the eighth best European.
British teammate Dominic Parsons was once place behind in both while Ed Smith was 14th overall for 11th in the European rankings in Igls.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Frenzel's consistency rewarded in Seefeld

Germany's Eric Frenzel saw his consistency finally rewarded with a first Nordic combined World Cup win of the season in the first of two events in Seefeld.
The 24-year-old had five top-five finishes to his name from this season prior to taking to the hill and slopes in Austria with a best of third in race two in Lillehammer.
And Frenzel finally claimed victory in Seefeld, making up a thirty-second time difference after ranking sixth in the ski jumping to win by over 20 seconds.
Frenzel clocked an overall winning time of 25:59.1minutes with Magnus Moan, who has recorded three wins this season, second and another German Tino Edelmann third.
Bernhard Gruber produced the best score of the ski jumping, 132.7, while Frenzel was sixth with 125.3, Edelmann eight with 123.6 and Moan as low as 19th with 114.1.
And, as Gruber fell away in the cross-country ski, Frenzel produced the fifth quickest time to come home first while Moan made up over a minute for second.
He finished 20.4seconds behind Frenzel with Edelmann just 0.4 adrift for third and Mikko Kokslien, 22nd after the ski jump, another 0.3 back to take an impressive fourth.
Moan was rewarded for his efforts by reducing the overall World Cup lead of Jason Lamy Chappuis, who was 15th, to 43 points with nine of 19 rounds remaining.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Frenzel wins again in Seefeld

Eric Frenzel ensured he didn't have to wait long to build on his first Nordic combined World Cup win of the season in Seefeld as took his second victory in as many days.
After a solid if unspectacular season so far, the 24-year-old German took victory for the first time with a consistent performance in the opening event in Austria.
Frenzel's winning margin was 20.4seconds but, despite being made to work harder to claim the double in Seefeld, he stood up the challenge to boost his overall World Cup title hopes.
He clocked a winning effort of 25:19.9minutes with Mikko Kokslien second just 2.9 behind while American Taylor Fletcher recorded the same time but had to make do with third.
Once again it was consistency that proved the winner in Seefeld with Frenzel seventh overall in the ski jump with a score of 118.7 and then 12th quickest in the cross-country for the win.
In contrast Haavard Klemetsen led after the jumping but was only 38th fastest during the cross-country as he ranked 24th with Taihei Kato, second after the jumping, ending 16th overall.
Kokslien made up over a minute to finish second with the second-best cross-country time after ranking 14th in the jumping while Fletcher was the quickest to move up from 21st to second.
Jason Lamy Chappuis, who was 15th again, still leads the overall World Cup standings but Magnus Moan, who was sixth, is just 19 points behind with Frenzel 34 shy of the Norwegian in third.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Frenzel wins third in a row, goes top

Eric Frenzel won his third Nordic combined World Cup event in a row, the first in five years for a German in Klingenthal, to send him top of the overall standings.
The 24-year-old did the double at the last round in Seefeld last time out, his first wins of the season, and he picked up where he left off on home soil.
Frenzel's victory was a dominant one as he ranked first after the ski jumping and then did enough in the cross-country ski to win by just over 10 seconds ahead of team-mate Tino Edelmann.
Ronny Ackermann was the last German to win a World Cup race in Klingenthal and, now leading the World Cup standings by two points, Frenzel admitted the day couldn’t have gone better.
"My tactic was to work together with Tino," said Frenzel. "We went a bit slow on the first round of the cross country and the tactic for the last round was to go out really hard.
"I built up a little bit of a gap which was enough for the win. I am completely happy with the performance and it is my first time in the yellow bib.
"I am really happy to do it in Klingenthal, my home race, and that is really nice for me."
Frenzel recorded a score of 127.5 for first place in the ski jumping with Edelmann second with an effort of 124.5 and Tomas Slavik third with a score of 124.0.
And Frenzel nor Edelmann were to be catched in the cross country ski, the Germans working together to ensure that wasn't the case with the latter coming home in 23:03.4minutes.
Frenzel's time was only the 10th quickest but beat Edelmann by 10.4seconds while Austria's Wilhelm Denifl was sixth across both elements to place third a further 6.2 behind.
A third successive win for Frenzel sees him knock Jason Lamy Chappuis off the top of the World Cup standings with the German's total 574 to the Frenchman's 572.
Lamy Chappuis was fifth, meaning he now hasn't finished in the top three for the past four races while Magnus Moan drops to third overall with a total of 530 after finishing down in 12th.

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

Moller wins but Loch extends lead

David Moller claimed his second luge World Cup win of the season in Winterberg to keep defending champion and fellow German Felix Loch on his toes ahead of the final two rounds.
Moller has been part of a German dominance this season, heading to the seventh round and fifth and final one on home soil third in the overall standings behind Loch and Andi Langenhan.
And the 31-year-old, who won Olympic silver at Vancouver 2010, ensured it was his turn to taste victory again in Winterberg, his second from the last three rounds.
He went from third after run one to first after run two with a track record of 52.047seconds with Loch second and ten-time overall World Cup winner Armin Zoeggeler third.
The result actually benefits Loch's cause at the top of the standings though with his lead extending from 80 points to 102 with Langenhan finishing down in sixth in Winterberg.
Moller occupies second place with Langenhan third, 13 points behind, with the final two rounds in Lake Placid and Sochi at the start and end of February respectively.
It was Italian Zoeggeler who led following the first runs after clocking 52.061 with Loch second with an effort of 52.146 and Moller third just 0.014 behind his German teammate.
However Zoeggeler was to swap positions with Moller following the second runs as the German set a track record of 52.047 for an overall winning time of 1:44.207minutes.
Loch clocked 52.070 to finish just 0.009 behind in second with Zoeggeler not too far off himself, 0.053 shy, before three more Germans, Julian von Schleinitz, Johannes Ludwig and Langenhan in fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

Linger brothers triumph in Winterberg

Austrians Andreas and Wolfgang Linger finally brought an end to Germany's dominance in the doubles event on the luge World Cup by taking victory at the last event in the country this season in Winterberg.
The Linger brothers have been powerless to stop Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt and Sascha Benecken and Toni Eggert throughout the first six of nine World Cup rounds in total this season.
Between them the German pairings have won every race, Wendl and Arlt five of them and Benecken and Eggert the other, however all that came to an end at the last round on their ice this season.
For the Linger brothers performed better to take the Winterberg win ahead of Eggert and Benecken with Christian Oberstolz and Patrick Gruber third and Wendl and Arlt down in eighth.
Eggert and Benecken led after run one, posting 43.479, with the Linger's second and Oberstolz and Gruber third while Wendl and Arlt uncharacteristically struggled and were way down in 17th.
They proved that was a mere blip though by recording the fastest time second time out, 43.351, as the Linger's were again second, 0.005 behind, to take their first win of the season.
The Austrians clocked a winning time of 1:26.878 minutes with Eggert and Benecken the third fastest during run two to finish 0.029 adrift in second overall.
Italian duo Oberstolz and Gruber were third 0.221 behind overall with Wendl and Arlt's low finish hardly affecting their lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings.
They lost for the first time last time out in Oberhof but still lead by 75 points from German teammates Eggert and Benecken with two rounds of the season remaining.

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

Quadruple success for Germany in Winterberg
Again victory for Geisenberger at the seventh stop of the World Cup series
Natalie Geisenberger is still setting the standard in the women’s singles of the Viessmann Luge World Cup. At the seventh stop of the World Cup series the 2010 Olympic bronze medalist of Germany claimed her fifth win this season.
Two weeks before 44th World Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) in Whistler (Canada / February 1-2, 2013) the 24-year old thus earned her 15th career World Cup victory, defeating compatriots Anke Wischnewski and Tatjana Huefner to second and third place, respectively. “Local hero” Corinna Martini of the hosting luge club BSC Winterberg posted a fourth-place finish, thus rounding off a great result for Germany’s women lugers.
Geisenberger is still in the top spot of the overall Viessmann Luge World Cup rankings with 670 points, ahead of Wischnewski (525) and Huefner (415).
The eighth of the nine stops of the Viessmann Luge World Cup series will be carried out after the 44th FIL Luge World Championships in Lake Placid in the U.S. state of New York on February 8-9, 2013.

Quotes

Natalie Geisenberger
“In training I took a crash in curve 14 and I just couldn’t get it out of my head. So, in both runs I botched it in the very same spot. Anyway, I’m getting a bit scared myself about my good performances this season. But now I’m really looking forward to the World Championships in Whistler.”

Anke Wischnewski
"With such a bad start you can’t really win. A victory would have been a nice – even though a little late – birthday present.”

Tatjana Huefner
“I’m pleased with the result and my successful ‘re-start’. Well, the track in Whistler is totally different and World Championship races are something else entirely.”