2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Magnus Jonsson Takes IBU Cup Sprint

J. Boe and Mesotitsch Follow
A Swedish name popped up at the top of the result list today at the IBU Cup, surprising everyone. Magnus Jonsson, already fast during the 20K, shot clean and nobody could match his speed on the tracks during the men’s 10K sprint today in Otepää. Norway’s talented junior Johannes Boe matched Jonsson at the shooting range but was 10.2 seconds slower in the tracks. Third place went to Daniel Mesotitsch from Austria who matched the others at the range but was 24.5 seconds slower.

Good Shooting

The strong wind had died down noticeably by the time the men started into the sprint today so the results improved significantly over those during the individual competition yesterday. Only one of the top six athletes, Sergey Klyachin of Russia, had one mistake. His teammate Victor Vasilyev in fourth place and Estonia’s Roland Lessing both also shot clean. While Vasilyev was 31.3 seconds back, Klyachin was 35.5 seconds back with Lessing 38.7 seconds behind the winner.

Lucky

A podium without a Russian on it was a surprise, especially after the strong performances yesterday. Even the winner seemed a bit surprised. He commented, “My shooting was good today and I think I was lucky. I did not expect this; of course I hoped to be good because I know I am fast right now.” He already was sure that he would go to the World Cup in Ruhpolding during his interviews in the finish.

Scary Good

Johannes Boe will head home from Otepää to train for the YJWCH in Obertilliach at the end of January. He suffered from a virus and competed in his first two competitions at this IBU Cup. He commented, “I am really happy that I did so well in these competitions. My shooting is good but I am not in top shape on the tracks yet. I need a few more competitions and training. If the recovery is very speedy, I will be in top shape in Obertilliach but I think I will be best a bit later than that.” Due to his illness, he had to change his goals and while he hoped to compete in the World Cup this season, he now hopes for Gold in the relay at the YJWCH and an individual medal. Asked if the others should be scared if he is already in second place without being at his best, he grinned, “That scares me as well!”

Wet Skis

Daniel Mesotitsch does not have to fear Boe for a little while, though. The Austrian will stay at the IBU Cup for another week and go on the trip into Russia tomorrow. He was content with his result and explained, “It was ok today. I was not the fastest at the shooting range but I was insecure there lately so I took my time today and it paid off. It was also not easy to pick skis, in our team we were on everything, from really cold to really wet. I took the wet skis and they worked well.” This choice is especially noticeable since the temperatures dropped during the last few days and stayed below freezing- but it obviously was the right ski. After the trip to Russia during the next week, Mesotitsch hopes to be back on the World Cup team for Antholz.

Ostrov up Next

The IBU Cup in Otepää ended with this sprint. Most of the teams and athletes will enter a set of buses tomorrow morning and cross the border into Russia where the next IBU Cup will start with the Mixed Relay on Wednesday. Please notice that the start times for this IBU Cup on our website are local times. Ostrov is 3 hours ahead of Central Europe (CET+3).

 

[Smallville22]

IBU Cup 5: Norway Passes Germany in Final Meters

Russia in Third in Mixed Relay
The Norwegian team of Jori Moerkve, Ane Skrove Nossum, Jan Olav Gjermundshaug, and Martin Eng won the mixed relay at the IBU Cup 5 in Ostrov, Russia. Martin Eng passed Daniel Böhm in the final meters to claim the win. The Russian team finished third after first leg Larisa Kuznetsova picked up a penalty.
Fourth place went to France ahead of Sweden and Czech Republic. France needed 9 spare rounds, Sweden 11 but both steered clear of the penalty loop. Czech Republic had one penalty and 13 spare rounds.

Nervous and Afraid

The mixed relay competition started off on the wrong foot for the many Russian fans in the stadium. Larisa Kuznetsova only hit one target with her first five shots. Her spare rounds reduced the damage done but she had to circle the penalty loop once and was more than 1 minute behind the leading team from Germany. She explained, “It is my fault that we did not win today. I was nervous and afraid.” In addition, she was sick over Christmas and that still affected her performance. Carolin Hennecke of Germany shot clean and led the field ahead of Norway and USA.

Germany in the Lead, Russia Catches Up

Hennecke needed all three spare rounds for her standing stage and dropped back to fourth position. Thus, Norway handed over first, only slightly ahead of France, Czech Republic and then Germany.
Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle was the second leg for the German team; her speed on the track helped her to quickly catch up to Ane Skrove Nossum from Norway. In prone, the German was flawless while Nossum needed two spare rounds and was passed by Jacquemine Baud from France. However, the French needed all three spare rounds during the standing stage. Sachenbacher-Stehle got back out on the course after two spares in standing while Nossum only needed one and both were faster than the French. They were followed by Russia’s Ekaterina Iourieva who brought her team back in podium contention but still almost one minute behind Germany and Norway and only slightly ahead of France.

Chance for Eng

This did not change much for a while; Tobias Hermann from Germany was ahead of Jan-Olav Gjermundshaug with Russia’s Victor Vasilyev following in a distance. The fourth leg Daniel Böhm also stayed in the lead but offered a chance for Eng in the standing stage to pass him. Böhm needed two spare rounds but Eng had to use one himself. Behind these two, Timofey Lapshin got the crowd worried once again. His last target only turned white when he used his third spare.

Exploded

In the meantime, Böhm left the stadium 4.9 seconds ahead of Eng and it seemed like he could defend his lead. At the finish, he explained, “For about three quarters of the last lap I was sure that my lead would be enough but on the last kilometer I completely exploded and I already was afraid that if he catches up, I would not be able to put up a fight. The lap here is tricky, it is relatively flat but you have to work the entire time. So once you die, you’re done.”

Victory in his First Competition

Eng had also noticed that the German was out of power. “I saw on the last 500 meters that Daniel was tired. The team cheered me on and I gave everything. I could only pass him on the last meters before the finish.” For Eng, this was the first international competition of the season since he was injured two days before the Norwegian qualification races in November. He could only watch the others compete in December. Now he is happy, “It feels really good now and this is great for my self confidence. I now hope to show some other strong competitions on the weekend.”
In the end, Norway was 0.6 seconds ahead of Germany with 7 spare rounds while Germany needed 8 spares. Russia secured third place, 1:14.1 behind with one mistake and 11 spare rounds.

After one training day, the IBU Cup 5 will continue with sprints and pursuits on Friday and Saturday.

 

[Smallville22]

Alexey Slepov Takes Ostrov Sprint

Home Victory for Russia
Russia's Alexey Slepov won the men's 10K sprint at IBU Cup 5 in Ostrov. Despite light snowfall but cheered on by the home crowd he needed 27:17.8 to be the fastest today, despite one penalty. Second place went to Sven Grossegger of Austria ahead of Germany's Daniel Böhm. Both shot clean and were 1.3 and 9.1 seconds back, respectively.
The next two spots also went to Russians. Sergey Korastylev was 9.7 seconds back with flawless shooting while Sergey Klyachin had one penalty to finish fifth, 10.6 seconds back. Norway's Martin Eng finished sixth with one penalty, 16.3 seconds back.


Like in Training

The winner smiled broadly at the finish and commented, "I wanted to run and shoot just as well as I can in training and I finally managed to do it...I am very happy. It was important to me to win in my mother country." The Russian made the podium for the second time this season as well as in his career. He already had promised in Beitostolen, Norway, to get onto the podium more often in the future. Now he grinned, "After I had promised this, I had to win now!"


Ambitious Team

Grossegger also was visibly happy to continue the success of the Austrian athletes this winter. He commented, "It was very difficult today but I had great skis and that made it ok. I really want to say thank you to our wax technicians for this." About the strong team he said, "Everyone worked on themselves during the summer. The bad last season showed us that you have to work hard when you want to stay successful. Everyone got more and more ambitious with every training session and now things are ok again."


Finally!

For the German team this season was not at all what they had hoped for. No German man had made it to the podium so far, until today when Böhm finished third. "Finally!" he commented right at the finish. "Finally, I cleaned. On the tracks it is not really great yet but I hope that this podium now helps get rid of a roadblock for the team. It's not like we start and think 'I must be good' every time, but the podium now is really good mentally."
Today's competition promises an exciting pursuit tomorrow with 16 athletes starting within the first minute.

 

[Smallville22]

Triple for Iourieva

Nazarova, Nossum on Podium
Russia’s Ekaterina Iourieva won her third women’s competition in a row today. After two victories at the IBU Cup 4 she also won the women’s 7.5K sprint at IBU Cup 5. All three women on the podium shot clean but Iourieva was the fastest with a time of 23:58.9. She was 6.8 seconds faster than her teammate Valentina Nazarova. Ane Skrove Nossum from Norway finished third, 10.8 seconds back.

Podium “Slipped Out”

Germany’s Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle in fourth place probably lost a podium spot today and maybe even her first victory when the last shot during her prone stage “slipped out” without her properly aiming. With a total of two penalties, she was 23.8 seconds back at the finish. Fifth place went to her teammate Carolin Hennecke with one penalty, 42.8 seconds back. Elise Ringen of Norway rounded out the top six with one penalty, 49.5 seconds back.

Hard track

Iourieva dominated the IBU Cups ever since her first start at Otepää and she won the third competition in her third start. She explained, “The tracks here are hard, that is good for me, I don’t like it if the tracks are too soft. There was a little bit of wind during the shooting but that was no problem.”

Fans

The fans cheered her on, as well as her teammate Nazarova who was happy but tired at the finish. The fans helped, her, though. “I like to compete everywhere but here it is something special, I like it here. The fans along the track of course help me a lot.”

Pursuit

Nossum in third place was happy to be on the podium again and again with flawless shooting. She was tired as well and commented, “I can feel that I have done many races now.” Her plan for the pursuit was the same as that of Iourieva. “Run fast and shoot zero” but Nossum is convinced, “I was already faster than the two Russian women in Otepää, I know that I can beat them.”

 

[Smallville22]

Sweep for Russia in Ostrov Pursuit

Slepov, Pechenkin, Klyachin
Russia swept the podium in the men’s 12.5K pursuit at IBU Cup 5.. Alexey Slepov won the pursuit after claiming the sprint title yesterday. He was followed by Aleksandr Pechenkin and Sergey Klyachin. Directly next to the podium was a fourth Russian athlete with Ivan Tcherezov in fourth, ahead of Austria’s Daniel Mesotitsch and Norway’s Martin Eng.

Slepov Dominant

Slepov only shortly gave up his lead, right before the final standing stage. He arrived there just behind Pechenkin but dominated the rest of the competition. After cleaning the first three stages, he then had a penalty but left the stadium with a lead, after Pechenkin had 3 penalties in this final stage. Despite this, the fast Russian held on to second place. In the end, he was 32.8 seconds behind Slepov with a four penalties.

New Shooting Coach

The winner, a biathlete for two years has had problems at the range in the past but explained today, “I changed my shooting coach and now I am shooting much better.” For him, this home victory was important. “It is really nice that there are so many spectators here to cheer us on, the atmosphere is very nice. That’s why we are even happier that we three are on the podium.”

Thought of Nothing

Pechenkin has also struggled with his shooting in the past yet arrived at the range in first position for the final standing stage. He commented, “I thought of nothing in this moment. We trained to not think of anything and to only shoot fast and then work hard on the tracks. On the last lap I tried to be a fast as possible all the way to the end and I could do this today. This was probably my best skiing so far.”

Clean and Fast

Klyachin dropped back to 10th place after the second prone stage after two penalties there. After another penalty in the first standing stage, he was back in 8th place but the key to his podium spot today was his clean shooting in the final standing stage and fast skiing on the last lap. He went out in fourth position, 13 seconds behind Ivan Tcherezov but caught up to his teammate soon. In the last few meters he then was able to get ahead and jump onto the podium. At the finish he was 40.7 seconds slower than the winner. He explained, “Our coach, I.A. Karintsev has his birthday today and this good result is the best birthday present we could give him.”

Tcherezov had two penalties and finished 47 seconds back. l Mesotitsch jumped from 12th to 5th place with only one penalty, 58.7 seconds back. Eng had 3 penalties, 1:07 back. This was the third time he made it to the Flower Ceremony in the third competition of the season, with one victory in the Mixed Relay earlier this week.

 

[Smallville22]

Iourieva Dominates In Ostrov Pursuit

Battle for Second and Third
Russia’s Ekaterina Iourieva started first in today’s IBU Cup pursuit in Ostrov and was unchallenged in winning in 33:28.6, with a single penalty in the final standing stage. Germany’s Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle claimed second after a battle with Russia’s Valentina Nazarova in the final standing stage and the final 2K loop. Sachenbacher-Stehle prevailed for second with her superior speed on the tracks, finishing 40.6 seconds back. Nazarova was 55.3 seconds back with the same shooting results.

Two Norwegians

Fourth and fifth went to Norwegians Ane Skrove Nossum and Elise Ringen, with three and four penalties, respectively, 1:41.5 back and 2:10.5 back respectively. Fifth went to Sweden’s Mona Brorsson, with three penalties, 2:14.2 back.

Queen of the IBU Cups

Iourieva proved to be the Queen of the IBU Cups this past two weeks as she won all four individual completions. Today was no exception as she shot clean on the first three stages, toured the penalty loop once after the final standing and easily cruised home with the victory to the delight of the local fans.

Big Battle

The battle for second and third was another story. Sachenbacher-Stehle started her day with three penalties in the first prone stage, while Nazarova had just one. From that point, it was a matter of the German clawing her way back into contention. She cleaned the next two stages, while Nazarova slipped a bit with her two penalties in the first standing stage. Now the two were close together, which brought the crowd into play. Both cleaned the final standing stage, and then the ex-cross-country star Sachenbacher-Stehle took over, flying around the final loop to claim second.

Catching Up

Sachenbacher-Stehle commented, “I was not too nervous during the last shooting, I had already caught up so much from the first shooting that I was just happy to be in the race at all.”

Tired, Freezing and Fading Skis

Nazarova said, “The race was more difficult than yesterday because I was tired and freezing; that made it hard to breathe, especially on the uphills. It was almost impossible to glide because the skis were getting pretty bad, I almost stepped off. During final meters it was the hardest of all. I gave my best and am happy with the result.”

Today’s pursuit competitions ended this stage of the IBU Cup season.

 

[Smallville22]

Short Track - Horsepool tells British skaters to take in Sochi venue

British short track speed skating performance director Stuart Horsepool wants his team to take in everything on offer as the World Cup circuit moves to the 2014 Winter Olympic host city of Sochi.
Britain will have seven skaters in action at the penultimate World Cup round in the Iceberg Skating Palace fresh from winning four medals at the European Championships in Malmo.
Elise Christie, who won 1000m and 1500m gold for overall silver at the Europeans, will bid to maintain her overall World Cup lead in the former distance in Sochi.
Jon Eley, Paul Stanley and Charlotte Gilmartin, who won European 1500m bronze two weeks ago, will also be looking to build on the top-eight finishes they have secured this season.
And Horsepool insists getting to know the ins and out of the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi will be vital ahead of the Winter Olympics in the same venue in just over a year's time.
He said: "This World Cup is another chance for the skaters to build and develop their race skills and being in at the 2014 Olympic venue is important for them so that they to get to know the ice and venues before the Games next year."
And Richard Shoebridge, who has joint British and Canadian citizenship, admits he cannot wait for the competition to get going in Sochi.
He said: "It's great to be able to check out the Olympic venues, and the ice is getting better every day that we are here, so that's definitely

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Schild back on skis, late decision due on worlds

Slalom world champion Marlies Schild, who tore knee ligaments six weeks ago, is back on skis and plans to make a late decision on whether to defend her crown at next month's Alpine ski world championships in Schladming.
"I made my first steps on snow in the last few days. The result is that the knee holds up well and I feel safe on it," Schild wrote on her Facebook profile.
"As for skiing competitively, I'm still a little bit short of course. Can I be ready to compete? It'll be possible to indicate in the next two weeks, before the world championship slalom," she added.
The world championships open on Tuesday, with the women's slalom taking place on February 16.
Schild tore right knee ligaments in training for the Are World Cup slalom on December 20 and her chances of defending her world title looked slim but the Austrian Ski Team said her recovery had been much quicker than anticipated.
"Treatment took place in perfect conditions and the recovery is much faster than expected," doctor Gernot Sperner said.
"Still the knee cannot yet operate at maximum capacity. Another rehabilitation session will tell us when Marlies's knee can recover completely."
The team statement said a final decision would probably be made just before the slalom race.

 

[Smallville22]

Skeleton World Championships

Rudman on verge of historic World title

Shelley Rudman has Britain's first ever women's skeleton World Championship title within her grasp as she leads at the halfway stage in St Moritz by exactly a second.
Rudman, who won Olympic silver at Turin 2006, has struggled with illness this season and travelled to Switzerland sitting seventh in the defence of her overall World Cup title.
However the 32-year-old proved she still has it by winning in Winterberg early in December while her last four visits to St Moritz have produced three victories and a second.
And Rudman underlined her dominance of the Switzerland track in emphatic style over the first two runs to build a lead of exactly one second ahead of 2007 champion Noelle Pikus-Pace.
In a sport where hundredths of a second usually separate the top three, Rudman's lead would appear unassailable but she is taking nothing for granted in St Moritz.
"There is always room for improvement," said Rudman. "I am quite picky when it comes to my runs and I will be going back to the drawing board and looking at my curves."
Only one Brit has ever won the skeleton world title, that Rudman's partner Kristan Bromley in Altenberg back in 2008, however that looks set to change.
Britian has never had two sliders on the same World Championship podium either but, that could be changed too, with Lizzy Yarnold lying in third place.
Yarnold took bronze on her world debut last year with Rudman fourth and Olympic champion Amy Williams fifth and is 0.15seconds behind Pikus-Pace.
And Yarnold, who sits fourth in the overall World Cup standings ahead of the season finale at the 2014 Olympic track in Sochi, is too looking for ways to improve.
"There is a lot of work to do and you can always improve," said Yarnold. "St Moritz is still a new track for me and I am learning all the time but it is going to plan."
Rudman clocked 1:09.54minutes for a lead of 0.45 ahead of Pikus-Pace after run one before exploding again on run two to post 1:09.49 for a one-second cushion.
Pikus-Pace went slower second time out while Yarnold improved from 1:10.15 to 1:10.03 to reduce the American's lead over her in second by one hundredth of a second.
Meanwhile the third and final Brit in action in St Moritz Donna Creighton is placed 19th overall with runs of 1:11.65 and 1:11.31 putting her 3.93 behind compatriot Rudman.

 

[Smallville22]

Gold for Russia, Silver for Ukraine

Bronze: Switzerland Wins First-ever Relay Medal
The Russian youth women’s relay team with Svetlana Mironova, Victoria Slivko and Uliana Kaisheva won the 3x6K relay at the IBU YJWCH in Obertilliach. Despite 11 spares they stayed 28.6 seconds ahead of Ukraine with Yuliya Zhuravok, Anastasiya Nychyporenko and Anastasiya Merkushyna. Ukraine used five spare rounds. Third place went to Switzerland with Tanja Bissig, Lena Haecki and Sabine Di Lallo with six spare rounds, 1:42.3 back. This is the first-ever relay medal and the first medal for the Swiss women at IBU YJWCH.
Estonia finished fourth with 8 spare rounds, 2:03.5 back, ahead of France with 1 penalty and 6 spare rounds, 2:06.0 back. Sixth was Norway with 2 penalties, 2:07.8 back.

Penalties

Russia was one of the main favorites today but several other favorite teams soon dropped out of medal contention. Germany’s Julia Pieper had to do two penalty loops after the first prone stage; Norway’s second leg Ingvild Sangesland completed two penalty loops after her prone stage. Only the first four teams managed to avoid the penalty loop today, leading to many position changes. Kazakhstan handed over in first position after the first leg but in the end dropped to 12th with four penalties.

Tough Last Loop

Russia was only 8th at the first handover, more than 50 seconds back but Slivko led her team to the top. She commented, “I was nervous but after the standing shooting I knew that I could lead. The last loop was very hard.” Slivko was next to Nychyporenko from Ukraine during the standing shooting but her two spare rounds found their goal 13 seconds faster than those of the Ukrainian. Nychyporenko said, still shaking, “I was nervous, I think I am still nervous. I knew that I could not make a mistake in order to keep the position.”

Fourth Gold for Kaisheva

For Russia, the top youth athlete of these championships took over for the anchor leg. Kaisheva showed a little bit of weakness during the prone when she needed two spare rounds while Merkushyna shot fast and flawless with her first five bullets. Kaisheva explained, “I was maybe afraid, I knew Anastasiya was in my back, that’s maybe why I had these misses.” Merkushyna knew that she had to be flawless. “It was very hard today. I tried to do my job. I understood that I don’t have time for mistakes…I had to focus on myself for this.”

Switzerland

The Swiss girls could hardly believe their accomplishment at the finish and happy tears were flowing all abound. “We don’t realize yet that we are on the podium,” said a happy Haeckl with the medal already around her neck. Especially Di Lallo showed no nerves when she came to the final standing stage in third position. “The shooting was hard; I thought that I must hit all 5”. At the finish, they cheered together with Coach Markus Segessenmann who “had a good feeling” when he got up this morning. The girls, together with their teammates whose turn to compete it was in the afternoon, the wax technicians and coaches laughed and cried from happiness.

 

[Smallville22]

Norway Wins Relay Battle with Germany; France Third

Exciting Youth Men’s Relay
Norway’s Aslak Nenseter, Fredrik Roervik and Vemund Gurigard won the youth men’s 3x7.5K relay at the IBU YJWCH in Obertilliach. The team needed six spare rounds and finished 8.3 seconds ahead of Germany with Maximilian Janke, Philip Horn and Niklas Homberg who needed 7 spare rounds. Third place went to France with one penalty and 9 spare rounds, 1:23.5 back. The defending champion French team consisted of Aristide Begue, Emilien Personnaz and Fabien Claude.
Fourth place went to Russia with one penalty and 10 extra rounds. Fifth was Poland with 7 spare rounds. Italy claimed sixth place with 9 spare rounds.

Germany and Norway

At the beginning of the competition, it looked like a few outsiders might surprise. At the first exchange, Austria was in 2nd position and Italy and Poland were in medal contention during the entire second leg. However, it also became clear that Germany and Norway would battle for Gold. Roervik took over for Norway with a plan. “I visualized how to race if I was alone after the first exchange.” He was not alone for long, at the second exchange Philip Horn was only 0.3 seconds behind him. He had closed a 25 second gap after Janke had to exchange a ski after his binding broke. “In my career this has never happened so far,” the young German commented.

Final Lap

However, it got really exciting during the final leg. Homberg came into the shooting range ahead of Gurigard but experienced problems with his rifle. He had to hand-load and lost time. Gurigard shot fast and cleaned with five shots and went out with an almost 30 second lead. At standing, Homberg did the same, even faster than the Norwegian, and followed only 9 seconds behind the Norwegian. He said, “Until the last uphill I thought I could catch him. But then in the uphill he was so fast that I had no chance.” Gurigard took his strength from the cheers along the course. “I was really tired but there were some coaches along the track that screamed and that gave me new energy.”

Penalty without Consequences

France’s Claude was alone at the end, until he had a penalty in his standing stage. He commented, “When I was in the penalty loop I saw that the Italian is there (at the shooting range) and I knew that I had to ski fast.” However, Poland and Russia both passed the Italian at the range and none could catch the French.

For Norway, this is the first victory in a youth men’s relay since 2005 but they did not have a youth team compete last year. Tomorrow, they will try to defend their two junior relay titles on the last day of these championships.

 

[Smallville22]

Snowmobiler dies of injuries sustained in X Games crash

Freestyle snowmobiler Caleb Moore died on Thursday from injuries sustained last week in a dramatic crash while competing at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado, the first fatality in the event's history.
He was 25.
Moore was critically injured last Thursday when he was sent flying over the handlebars while attempting a backflip. He landed face first into the snow before his machine crashed on top of him.
The four-time X Games medallist from Texas was airlifted to a hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for bleeding around his heart, according to a report on ESPN, which founded and organizes the X Games.
"This morning Caleb Moore passed away. He will be truly missed and never forgotten," the Moore family said in a statement on ESPN.
"The family wishes to express their deep gratitude for all the prayers and support they have received from all the fans, friends and family around the world that Caleb has inspired."
Moore is the first fatality in the 18-year history of the X Games, which features athletes competing in a number of extreme sports.
"We are deeply saddened by Caleb Moore's passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to his parents, Wade and Michelle, his brother, Colten, and the entire Moore family," said ESPN in a statement in story posted on their website.
"He will be remembered for his natural passion for life and his deep love for his family and friends, and he will always be an inspiration to everyone he touched in the action sports community.
ESPN added that there will be an investigation to the crash but noted that the trick was one Moore had attempted and landed cleanly many times before.


RIP Caleb Moore

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating - Plushenko has surgery to replace spinal disc

Former Olympic champion Yevgeny Plushenko underwent successful back surgery in Tel Aviv on Thursday to replace a deteriorated disc in his spine.
"Yevgeny had an operation to remove one of his spinal discs with a synthetic one," the Russian's long-time coach Alexei Mishin told Reuters.
"The doctor who performed the operation said it was a success (but) ... it's too early to make any prognosis about his return to the ice."
Last week Plushenko, widely regarded as the most gifted skater of his generation, was forced out of the European championships in Zagreb after aggravating his back problem during the short programme.
The 2006 Olympic champion crashed while attempting a triple axel.
Mishin said Plushenko, who had struggled with back pain for more than a year, should not have competed in Zagreb.
"Looking back we all say he should have done something else but it's too late now," Mishin added. "The disc was in such a bad condition."
Plushenko, 30, was sidelined by the injury for almost a year before making a triumphant comeback by claiming his 10th national title at last month's Russian championships in Sochi.
The flamboyant Russian, who controversially lost the 2010 Olympic title to American Evan Lysacek, underwent knee surgery last February, a month after clinching his seventh European crown in Sheffield, England.
"Now he should get a new lease of life and hopefully will come back stronger than he was last year," Mishin said.
"I know he has his mind set on competing at the (2014) Sochi Olympics and I'm sure he'll do whatever it takes to be there in good shape and in good health."

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Ski Moguls World Cup

Kearney leads US domination in Deer Valley

Hannah Kearney led an American one-two-three in the women's moguls at Deer Valley to crank up the pressure on her World Cup rivals.
Olympic champion Kearney edged out her compatriots Heather McPhie and Elize Outtrim as the trio secured an all-American podium lockout for just the second time in history.
The only other time was in January 2010 at Lake Placid, with Kearney, Shannon Bahrke and McPhie picking up the medals.
Victory for Kearney sees her close the gap on overall leader Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Canada, who could only finish eighth on the day, and McPhie who holds second place in the standings.
Kearney, in third overall, is now just 40 points behind McPhie, who is in turn 27 adrift of Dufour-Lapointe.

In the men's event, Canada's Mikael Kingsbury continued his domination of the 2013 season with his fourth win of the season so far.
The 20-year-old from Quebec saw off competition from compatriot Alexandre Bilodeau and Patrick Deenen of the US for his 19th podium finish on the bounce.
Kingsbury now leads the overall standings by 125 points with just five events gone. His nearest rival, the Canadian Alexandre Bilodeau, is on 335 while Deenan has 261.

Women's top 10:

1 KEARNEY Hannah USA

2 MCPHIE Heather USA

3 OUTTRIM Eliza USA

4 ITO Miki JPN

5 MURATA Arisa JPN

6 GALYSHEVA Yulia KAZ

7 ROBICHAUD Audrey CAN

8 DUFOUR-LAPOINTE Justine CAN

9 UEMURA Aiko JPN

10 COX Britteny AUS

Men's top 10

1 KINGSBURY Mikael CAN

2 BILODEAU Alex CAN

3 DENEEN Patrick USA

4 ENDO Sho JPN

5 MARQUIS Philippe CAN

6 SMYSHLYAEV Alexandr RUS

7 WALCZYK Dylan USA

8 VOLKOV Andrey RUS

9 POULIOT-CAVANAGH Simon CAN

10 GRAHAM Matt AUS

 

[Smallville22]

SARA TAKANASHI DEFENDS TITLE AT JUNIOR WORLDS

Three days after the official opening ceremony of the Junior World Championships it got serious for the ladies in Liberec for the first time. In an exciting competition, Japanese Sara Takanashi defended her title from last year and crowned herself Junior World Champion. Evelyn Insam from Italy and Katja Pozun from Slovenia took the silver and bronze medal.
With light snowfall, but still under very good and fair conditions the ladies competed for the first time at this year's Junior World Championships. Already on the previous days it became clear that the athletes who are successful in the World Cup would also be among the favorites in Liberec. Sara Takanashi from Japan, who was always jumping on the highest level these days, was unbeatable today. With the longest jumps in both rounds (98.5 m and 102 m) and 269 points it was a clear win for the Japanese who could defend the title she won in Erzurum last year. "It's a great feeling to repeat last year's victory. All my jumps here in Liberec were good and now I'm really very happy about the gold medal", the Junior World Champion said.
It was obvious that also Italian Evelyn Insam was very happy about her second place and the silver medal. "It was a great and exciting competition. I'm absolutely satisfied with my performance and I hope that I can continue jumping on this level", the Italian said who was considered one of the top favorites after her strong performance in the official training. With jumps on 96.5 m and 100 m (259.5 points) she could defend the second position after the first round also in the final.
The good performances of the Slovenian team in the World Cup and also in the days of Liberec were rewarded with a podium finish today. Katja Pozun, with 94.5 m fourth after the first round, moved up to the podium with a strong jump of 99 m in the final round (253.5 points). "I'm totally satisfied and happy right now. This are my last Junior World Championships, so this third place means a lot to me", Pozun said.

Impressive team performance of Slovenia

Besides Pozun also her Slovenian teammates proved their good shape. Ursa Bogataj came in fifth, Spela Rogelj seventh and Ema Klinec ninth, so three more Slovenian jumpers were among the Top 10. The team of coach Primoz Peterka is, not only because of this performance, now among the top contenders for gold in the team competition.

Sarah Hendrickson: Disappointed favorite

The day ended with a disappointment for one of the top favorites for the JWSC title. After great performances in the training rounds, US American Sarah Hendrickson could not achieve a podium result. With only 89 m in the first round she could not keep up with the other competitors and was only sixth. Her 97 m in the second round were a big improvement but she was not able to move up in the results and finished sixth.

The local heroes of the Czech Republic can be happy about a good performance of Michaela Dolezelova, who finished on a good eighth place. French Coline Mattel, who was hoping for a Top 3 result and closely missed the podium as fourth, and her teammate Lea Lemare were also in the Top 10. After Carina Vogt won the bronze medal in Erzurum last year, Katharina Althaus was the best German athlete today and ranked eleventh.

 

[Smallville22]

JAKA HVALA IS THE NEW JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION

The ski jumpers had their first chance to show their skills at the Junior World Championships in Liberec with the individual competition on Thursday. With Jaka Hvala from Slovenia, one of the top favorites celebrated a clear win and captured the Junior World Championship title. Poland's Klemens Muranka was second, followed by Austrian Stefan Kraft as third.
Under similar conditions to the ladies' competition earlier today, but with increasing tailwind, the spectators saw a competition on a high level and a well deserved winner. With the longest jump of the day on 103 m, Slovene Jaka Hvala lived up to his role as one of the favorites and was already in the lead after the first round. Yet another strong jump on 102 m in the final (283.5 points) earned him the gold medal: "My goal was to win this competition. I wanted to see how I can handle the pressure and it seems that I was able to handle it well. Of course I'm extremely happy", the winner said.
Klemens Muranka from Poland, who showed jumps on 101 m and 96 m, came in second and won the silver medal. This result is even more remarkable considering Muranka's recent history of health problems and the eye surgery he had to undergo to avoid going blind. "I'm very happy about my result today. I was able to show two good jumps and I really hoped that I can win a medal. I want to thank my coaches and everyone who supported me", Muranka said.

Adam Malysz sees strong Polish team

The third place went to Austrian Stefan Kraft who was also one of the favorites. "It was a bit more difficult today because of the tailwind. My trial jump was very good and fortunately I was also able to jump on the same level in the competition. Maybe more would have been possible, but I'm totally satisfied with the bronze medal", Kraft told after his jumps on 99 m and 95.5 m (258.5 points).
With Bartlomiej Klusek and Aleksander Zniszczol two more Polish jumpers were among the Top 10 as fourth and ninth. Adam Malysz, who arrived today in Liberec, was probably happy to see that.

The favorite athlete of the German team, Andreas Wellinger, could not keep up with the top jumpers today and with distances of 100 m and 95 m he finished fifth. He was followed by Japanese Reruhi Shimizu, his teammate Karl Geiger, Mats Soehagen Berggaard from Norway and Ronan Lamy Chappuis, cousin of nordic combined skier Jason Lamy Chappuis, who achieved Top 10 results as well.

 

[Smallville22]

SARA TAKANASHI: "SARAH HENDRICKSON REMAINS MY ROLE MODEL"

Despite her young age, Sara Takanashi has celebrated many successes her older rivals might envy her. This young Japanese hope with a main sporting career still ahead of her is a twice junior world champion, winner of the Youth Olympic Games 2012 and currently the leading athlete in the Ladies' World Cup.
Takanashi confirmed her role as a favourite in Liberec and defended her junior world champion title. "I was really pleased with the first round, in which I jumped 98.5 m" the Japanese competitor says who managed to transform her leading position into a gold medal. "My second jump was even 3.5 m longer, but I did not manage to set the telemark very well. I think that was probably also due to the length of the jump." In the subsequent medal ceremony, tears of happiness were flowing down her cheeks during the Japanese national anthem.

High expectations at an early age

Sara Takanashi has already experienced the feeling of being a junior champion. "Last year was a great surprise for me", the Japanese admits, who won a gold medal at the Junior World Championship in Erzurum 2012.
"Here in Liberec, it was considerably more difficult for me. I think defeating a title is more difficult than getting it for the first time", the 16-year old told, who is aware of the pressure that is on her as a leading woman at the World Championship competitions. "When I came to a competition in 2011, nobody expected any great results from me. Now it is different. With an increasing number of good results many people expect only the best from me, which can be rather binding."
As is quite traditional in Japan, she started her ski jumping career at a very early age. "I started training systematically when I was eight", she remembers. "But before that, which means when I was about four, I did various sports and exercises as a preparation for the future specialized ski jumping training."

Increasing popularity of women's ski jumping in Japan

"Ski jumping was a clear choice for me and I decided it by myself. I come from a ski jumping family where just about everyone has done ski jumping", Takanashi laughs who is now setting an example to her younger brother. "My brother is four now and he is also starting to eye the jumping skis."
In Japan ski jumping is a very popular sport. Until now, however, the interest was focused primarily on the men. "It is true that Japanese men love ski jumping, mainly due to the famous names like Noriaki Kasai and Daiki Ito. I do think though, that maybe even because of my success, the popularity of women’s ski jumping is increasing and slowly nearing the men’s."

Biggest rival as role model

Every young competitor has its role model. It is no different with the young Japanese. However, many people might find her words surprising. "My hero is definitely the American Sarah Hendrickson", she says without hesitation. "She is the woman who made women’s ski jumping an acclaimed sport and from whom I have already learnt a lot during my short career. But I will not lie. It feels really strange competing with her and even managing to beat her sometimes."

World Championships in Predazzo and Olympics in Sochi as huge dream

This season does not end with the Nordic Junior & U23 World Ski Championships 2013 in Liberec for Sara Takanashi. "This year I want to do the maximum to remain among the best competitors in the World Cup and I would also like to get a good result at the World Championship in Val di Fiemme."
The Winter Olympics are not that far either. "The Olympics in Sochi are my big goal. To fulfil my dream of a gold medal would be a huge success, but I will be glad about any position near the forefront of the result list", the modest champion says, who will undoubtedly be among the hottest candidates for the Olympic title next year.

 

[Smallville22]

JWSC LIBEREC: CLEAR WIN FOR SLOVENIAN LADIES TEAM

The final decisions at the Junior World Championships in Liberec are going to be in place after this Saturday's competitions. Up first, the ladies have already made their attempts to make JWSC history, and the effect was a clear win by the favored Slovenian representation, which finished ahead of their rivals from France and Germany.

After the premiere team competition for women in Erzurum last year, when the Japanese secured the first-ever team title, this time it was a Slovenian quartet at the top of the podium (1009 points). After strong performances in recent World Cup events, the Slovenian team was considered a contender for the junior world title and confirmed its role of a clear favorite impressively. Ursa Bogataj (97.5 and 95.5 meters), Ema Klinec (92 and 91.5 meters), Spela Rogelj (100 and 103 meters) and Katja Pozun (94.5 and 99.5 m) all presented remarkably strong jumps and thus left their opponents with no chance to interfere with their crushing lead of 222 points ahead of the second-best team, proving to be extremely worthy champions.
Already after the first round, the team from Slovenia had worked up a 120.5 point advantage over the second-placed team from France. And there was no room for false moves for them in the final round, either - the longest jump also belonged to Slovenian Katja Pozun, putting the cherry on top of an impressive team performance. "I'm so happy that our team's jumping is on such a high level this year. Although I was not completely satisfied with my first jump today, it was a great achievement for all of our girls, and I am very proud of them. Our coaches told us that if we stay calm and do what we can, the right results will also come,"was what Katja Pozun had to say about her feelings directly after the competition.
The runners-up and silver medal winners from France gathered a total of 787 points and were able to defend their second rank from the the first round. The French girls rejoiced muchly over this major success: "Winning the silver medal was a great feeling, of course the whole team is absolutely delighted with this result. We knew that we had a small chance of finishing on the podium. The fact that this has now become a reality is simply indescribable," said Julia Claire, who started along with her teammates Lea Lemare, Oceane Avocat Gros and Coline Mattel.

Germany with a podium finish despite disqualification

Having been able to ultimately reach third place was initially hard to grasp for Ramona Straub, Pauline Hessler, Svenja W¸rth and Katharina Althaus. Pauline Hessler was disqualified in the first round due to the fact that her suit was too loose in the crotch area, so the points for that jump were deducted from the German team's total. "After the first round, at first I didn't know what was happening until I was told about Pauline's disqualification. By then, I was sure that this would be a real challenge for us in the final round. It's absolutely incredible that we managed to make it to the podium even without getting any points for one whole jump. I am incredibly happy," said Katharina Althaus.

Hendrickson and Takanashi with strong individual efforts

In comparison to the previous days, Liberec showed its windy side again today. The strong wind gusts interfered with the trial round at first, however the race started on time and the wind even managed to calm down considerably at this time. In addition to the top 3 teams, five other teams were at the start on this day. Norway finished fourth and just barely missed the podium, losing but 2.5 points to Germany. Teams from Japan, Russia, the Czech Republic and the USA followed. The Japanese ladies also suffered a loss of points due to disqualification, as Yuka Kobayashi's skis proved to be too long in the first round. Sara Takanashi showed a strong performance as usual with leaps to 101.5 and 97.5 meters. Sarah Hendrickson got the chance to overcome her disappointment after the individual event and impressed with solid efforts: 96.5 meters and the longest jump of the day - 106 meters.

 

[Smallville22]

TITLE AT THE JUNIOR WORLDS ALSO FOR SLOVENIAN MEN'S TEAM

After the victory of their female colleagues a few hours earlier, the Slovenian men's representation also took the team event in Liberec by storm and can now proudly call themselves the new junior world champions. Anze Semenic, Ernest Prislic, Cene Prevc and final jumper Jaka Hvala secured the gold medal in a thrilling competition ahead of Poland and Germany.

Due to forecasts of increasing wind towards the evening hours, the jury decided to begin the competition one hour earlier. This decision definitely paid off, as both rounds were luckily carried out without any problems. The Slovenian team was able to put themselves at the head of the field already at halftime, beating Poland and Germany by a margin of 10.5 points. The spectators got the chance to experience an event with stellar jumps on a high level performed by Semenic (97.5 and 98.5 meters), Prislic (95.5 and 100.5 meters), Prevc (101.5 and 102.5 meters) and Hvala (101 and 107 meters), who were of course rewarded with a much-deserved gold (1086.5 points). "This was a really exciting competition and we were ultimately the lucky ones. Every one of us did his job today, which is a great success for our team. Now is the time to celebrate accordingly," enthused Jaka Hvala, who can now leave Liberec with the maximum yield of two gold medals.
Second place went to the Polish team, which also showed high-quality jumps and secured their silver medal practically from the very beginning of the competition. Bartlomiej Klusek, Krzysztof Biegun, Aleksander Zniszczol and Klemens Muranka represented Poland today and ended up just behind the winners from Slovenia with a total of 1062 points. "I am so happy and want to thank my entire team. Everybody did a great job, it has really been a great weekend," said Muranka happily, also having achieved quite a bit in Liberec, taking two silver medals home with him.

Exciting fight for third place

The battle for third place between Germany and Austria made today's competition especially exciting. After the first round, the German team was in the lead, just 5.5 points ahead of their colleagues from Austria. In the second round, the difference between the two teams melted down to merely one point before the efforts of their final two jumpers. Andreas Wellinger finally won the duel against Stefan Kraft and was thus able to secure a medal for his team. "We knew from the start that it would be difficult today. The fact that it was such a close fight for third place with the Austrians again has of course made it doubly exciting, and we were nervous there for a moment. But I managed to show the best jump and I'm that much happier, "said Andreas Wellinger, describing their rivalry from his perspective. Together with Karl Geiger, Michael Dreher and Tobias Loeffler, he was ultimately able to collect 1038.5 points and can satisfy his medal hopes with this hard-earned bronze.

A total of 13 nations participated in today's team competition. Teams from the USA, Italy, Switzerland, France and Czech Republic were unable to secure themselves spots among the best eight teams to start in the final round. Fourth place went to Austria, who missed the podium by a 4.5 points, and they were followed by Norway, Japan, Russia and Finland.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping - BREAK DUE TO INJURY FOR KASAI

Japanese veteran Noriaki Kasai suffered a ligament injury in his knee and will be sidelined for a few weeks now.
The 40-year-old fell after the landing of the longest jump of the day on 141.5 m in a national competition in Sapporo on Saturday and suffered a stretched ligament.
Kasai will not be able to jump for two weeks now, but he wants to be top fit again for the World Championships in Val di Fiemme late February.
The competition on Saturday was won by Taku Takeuchi ahead of Noriaki Kasai and Daiki Ito. Junshiro Kobayashi was the best in Sunday's event, followed by Takeuchi and Sho Suzuki.
Besides Kasai, also Daiki Ito could not take part in Sunday's competition due to a pain in the knee.