2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Beat surrender: downhill star Feuz out for year

Switzerland's Beat Feuz will miss the entire season with an infected knee.
Feuz, second in the World Cup last season, is currently in a stable condition in hospital in Bern.
The 25-year-old, who won four races in the 2011/12 season, became aware of the problem at the opening giant slalom of the season in Soelden where he did not compete.
The situation took a turn for the worse last weekend and Feuz was transported to the Insel Hospital in Bern.
With the help of specialists, Feuz was diagnosed with an infection in the knee and bleeding in the joint.
He has been treated with various therapy and medical measures and efforts are underway to get to the core of the infection.


Nordic Combined - Injury blow for Edelmann

Tino Edelmann will miss the World Cup opener in Lillehammer this weekend after suffering torn ligaments in his right ankle.
The German, who won silver at the 2009 World Championships, sustained the injury in a fall during training camp in Oberstdorf.
"Tino was injured two weeks ago and for the first time since has jumped from the hill but he is still in pain," said head coach Hermann Weinbuch.
Edelmann, who has finished in the top 10 in the World Cup in each of the past four seasons, is expected to return in Kuusamo on December 1.


Alpine Skiing - Austrians top timesheets in Lake Louise

Max Franz and Klaus Kroell made it an Austrian one-two on the timesheets after the first downhill training run in Lake Louise.
Franz was the only man to crack 1:51 as he produced a time of 1:50.65 with Kroell +0.37 back with a time of 1:51.02.
France's Adrien Theaux was third fastest +0.87 behind Franz.
After heavy snowfall, however, the course was very soft and the times not very meaningful.
"It's very, very soft. So it all went quite well," said Franz. "And I did not fall, because it is dangerous in the soft snow. It was a great run, I am very happy today. "
Downhill discipline champion Kroell was less pleased with the super soft slopes.
"That was pretty much the worst track I've ever skied. The training is not at all conclusive," he said.

Top 10 times

1. FRANZ Max (AUT) 1:50.65

2. KROELL Klaus (AUT) 1:51.02

3. THEAUX Adrien (FRA) 1:51.52

4. GUAY Erik (CAN) 1:51.81

5. SCHEIBER Florian (AUT) 1:52.04

6. ANSRUD Kjetil (NOR) 1:52.08

7. SVINDAL Aksel Lund (NOR) 1:52.14

8. STREITBERGER Georg (AUT) 1:52.23

9. CLAREY Johan (FRA) 1:52.29

10. KOSTELIC Ivica (CRO) 1:52.32

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Svindal fastest in Lake Louise as Albrecht crashes

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal led the way from three Austrians in perfect conditions at the second men's downhill training run in Lake Louise.
Swiss Daniel Albrecht crashed into the nets and was airlifted to hospital in Calgary with a seriously injured left knee.
Despite the better conditions the pace was almost a second slower than on Wednesday, when Max Franz and Klaus Kroell led an Austrian one-two in soft snow.
Svindal's time of a minute 51.43 seconds was 0.13s faster than Georg Streitberger with Kroell (+0.38) and Joachim Puchner (+0.49) following.
There were five inches of overnight snow but cold temperatures hardened the base, preserving the course.
Franz was almost a second and a half slower than his Wednesday time, finishing down in ninth.
"Today it was a completely different story on the slope, the snow is more compact and it was fun to ski," said Puchner.
"I must admit that I was a little surprised with the times at first – but it actually makes sense if you think of it, the new snow is the 'squeaky' one and it’s slower."
Svindal, the reigning super-G champion, won the downhill at Lake Louise last year.

Top 10 times

1. SVINDAL Aksel Lund (NOR) 1:51.43

2. STREITBERGER Georg (AUT) 1:51.56

3. KROELL Klaus (AUT) 1:51.81

4. PUCHNER Joachim (AUT) 1:51.92

5. DEFAGO Didier (SUI) 1:51.94

6. GUAY Erik (CAN) 1:52.01

6. JANSRUD Kjetil (NOR) 1:52.01

8. THEAUX Adrien (FRA) 1:52.03

9. FRANZ Max (AUT) 1:52.13

10. CLAREY Johan (FRA) 1:52.24

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Norway win mixed event in Lillehammer
Reigning ski jumping World Cup champion Anders Bardal got the new season off to the perfect start as he held his nerve to help Norway clinch mixed team gold in Lillehammer.
Bardal, alongside Maren Lundby, Tom Hilde and Anette Sagen, looked good almost throughout the mixed team competition and were not to be denied a deserved victory.
The Norwegian quartet held a slender lead over Japan after a first round that saw Austria fail to qualify following Andreas Kofler's disqualification for an illegal suit.
Austria were well placed in third after round one but it effected Norway little as they then topped the pile after the next four jumps in the second round in Lillehammer.
They increased their lead from five points to over 18 after Lundby's first jump before Hilde helped to extend it to over 31 before Japan fought back.
The lead was just under eight heading into the final round however Taku Takeuchi failed to nail the perfect jump that would have troubled Norway and Bardal.
As it was Bardal landed his attempt perfectly with Norway finishing with an overall total of 983.1 and Japan having to make do with 966 and second.
Italy, despite Sebastian Colloredo falling on his landing in the last round, completed the podium in third with 899 while Germany were fourth with 875.7.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating - Cup of Japan aka NHK Trophy

Hanyu breaks own record, Coomes and Buckland sixth
British ice dance pair Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland are well placed for their best-ever finish at the NHK Trophy as Yuzuru Hanyu broke his own world record on day one in Japan.
Coomes and Buckland, who finished eighth at the NHK Trophy in 2010, were awarded 46.72 for their short dance to rank sixth out of the eight competing pairs.
And they could easily move up after the free dance with Japanese pair Cathy and Chris Reed fifth with 48.33 and Canadian's Nicole Orford and Thomas Williams fourth with 49.76.
Olympic silver medallists Meryl Davis and Charlie White are the clear favourites for the ice dance title and their second Grand Prix victory this season after scoring 69.86 in Japan.
Davis and White won Skate America last month and are well clear of fellow Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani, who were awarded 60.84 for second, while Russians Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov are third.

Meanwhile Hanyu, who won bronze at the World Championships earlier this year, leads the men's event after improving his own world record in the short program.
The 17-year-old hit all of his jumps to score 95.32, bettering his previous mark of 95.07 set at Skate America, while Japanese teammate Daisuke Takahashi ranked second with 87.47.
Spain's Javier Fernandez was third after scoring 86.23 and Hanyu, who was to take silver at Skate America behind Takahiko Kozuka, admitted it is his current consistency that is pleasing him the most,
"I performed very well," said Hanyu. "It's very satisfying to show these kinds of results for two competitions in a row.
"I felt good with all the jumps. I feel much more satisfied than at my last Grand Prix because I could prove that it was not a fluke when I scored so much for the first time.
"I have trained harder still since Skate America where I made no mistakes [in the short program]. I had confidence and I skated cautiously where I needed to."

And there was even more for the Japanese crowd to shout about in the women's event as two-time world champion Mao Asada scored 67.95 from her short program to lead overall.
The 22-year-old has more than a six-point cushion over American Mirai Nagasu in second while the margins from Zijun Li of China in third and Georgia's Elene Gedevanishvili in sixth are much finer.
Li scored 59.62 for her short program while Russian Ksenia Makarova scored 58.93 for fourth ahead of Asada's Japanese teammate Akiko Suzuki in fifth with 58.60 and Gedevanishvili in sixth with 57.50.

 

[Smallville22]

Skeleton World Cup

Thees wins as Yarnold snatches Whistler bronze
Marion Thees took gold but Lizzy Yarnold staged a remarkable fightback for bronze at the third skeleton World Cup of the season in Whistler, impressively claiming a second successive medal.
Sarah Reid took silver.
Yarnold travelled to Canada and the Olympic track from 2010 having taken silver last time out in Park City to jump up to fourth in the overall World Cup standings.
However a second consecutive medal looked far off after the first run in Whistler with the 24-year-old ranked seventh after clocking a time of 55.70seconds.
She was much better second time though at the track where Amy Williams won Olympic gold, and posted 55.47 to lead until there were only three sliders left.
Reid recovered from a poor start and entrance into corner one to beat Yarnold’s overall time by 0.08 however Cassie Hawrysh couldn’t follow suit.
That secured Yarnold at least a bronze medal and that was what she collected as Thees, leader after run one, comfortably took victory after run two.
Thees, who posted 55.39 in run one, clocked 55.53 second time out to take victory by 0.17 ahead of Canadian Reid and become the third different winner this season.
She now leads the World Cup standings with 609 points with Katie Uhlaender, who was seventh, second with 577, Reid third with 571 and Yarnold fourth with 562.
Bronze does represent Yarnold’s fourth World Cup medal in less than a year competing on the circuit and she was once again comfortably the best Brit.
Olympic silver medallist from 2006 and reigning World Cup champion Shelley Rudman improved from 11th after run one to finish ninth after the second.
However that was her worst finish of the season so far and yet another off the podium while the third Brit in action Donna Creighton went from 18th to 17th.
And making Yarnold’s result and comeback all the more impressive was that her training time in Whistler was severely interrupted by an accident in practice.
“I had quite a tough training week, I suffered a really bad blackout on the second day and that meant I only had half the amount of training runs,” said Yarnold.
“So to come out and get on the podium again, I am over the moon, I am so overwhelmed.”

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Vonn to race just giant slalom in Aspen

Lindsey Vonn will race at this weekend's World Cup event at Aspen but the four-times overall champion will only participate in the giant slalom.
The American has been suffering from an intestinal problem which hospitalised her earlier in the month and will skip Sunday's slalom in a bid to conserve energy.
"I'm not going to lie — it was really bad. It was definitely the most pain I've been in, in my life," said Vonn. "I'm not the kind of person who goes to the hospital."
Vonn missed races due to the illness but having now got it under control with antibiotics, she returned to training last week in Vail and is ready to, at least, race in the giant slalom at her home event.
"I'm not really sure what to expect, but I'm excited to be able to race in my home state in front of the home crowd," she said. "Racing, to me, is the fun part. I'm not exactly expecting much from the results."

 

[Smallville22]

Bobsleigh World Cup

Imperious Holcomb wins again
Unstoppable Steven Holcomb claimed his third victory of the season as he won the two-man bobsleigh event at Whistler, Canada.
The world champion American, pushed by Steven Langton, was too fast for World Championships silver medallist Lyndon Rush, who had to settle for second.
Canadian Rush and his partner Lascelles Brown came in 0.04 seconds behind Holcomb while there was a tie for third.
Germany's junior world champion Francesco Friedrich,with Jannis Baecker, and Russian duo Alexsandr Zubkov and Dmitry Trunenkov both clocked the same time, 0.34 seconds back.
The result means Holcomb extended his overall lead at the top of the World Cup standings, and his three wins from three events - in Park City, Lake Placid and now Whislter - leaves him on 675 points.
Friedrich is second on 600, while Cory Butner, who could only manage a 10th-place finish in Whislter, is third with 564.

Red-hot Humphries stars in Whistler
Kaillie Humphries delighted her home crowd as the Canadian took victory in the two-man bobsleigh World Cup event in Whistler.
Pushed by Chelsea Valois, the Olympic gold medallist saw off stiff challenges from the Swiss and German bobs to take her third win from three so far this season.
Humphries also won at Park City and Lake Placid, meaning she has a maximum 675 points and an 81-point lead over her nearest rival Sandra Kiriasis in the overall standings.
Kiriasis and her partner Berit Wiacker of Germany could only manage third at the Whistler Sliding Center, behind second-placaed Swiss duo Fabienne Meyler and Elisabeth Graf.

 

[Smallville22]

Bobsleigh World Cup

Brits impress as Zubkov wins third straight
John Jackson and Britain's four-man bobsleigh team keep getting better and better on the World Cup circuit as Alexandr Zubkov claimed a third straight win in Whistler.
Jackson was seventh at the first World Cup in Lake Placid then sixth in Park City last weekend while at the Olympic track from 2010 in Whistler he improved one place again to finish fifth.
The quartet of Jackson, Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon were joint-fifth with Manuel Machata's German No.1 sled after the first run after clocking 51.86seconds.
However they were fifth outright after their second outing, despite recording a slower effort of 52.15, as Machata also failed to match his time from the first run, trailing the Brits by 0.04.
However for all they impressed Jackson and the British four-man team are still a long way off Zubkov who eased to a third successive victory from three in the World Cup this season.
Zubkov, alongside Alexey Negodaylo, Dmitry Trunenkov and Maxim Mokrousov, edged out the Russian No.2 sled, driven by Alexander Kasjanov, by 0.24, clocking 51.63 and 51.66 for 1:43.29minutes overall.
Christopher Spring drove the Canadian No.2 sled to third a further 0.3 back to deny American Steven Holcomb, who was fourth, a third top-three finish in a row in the four-man after two seconds previously.
And, to underline the little work needed to be done by Jackson in order to break into the top three on the World Cup circuit, he was 0.18 shy of Spring although 0.72 away from Zubkov.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Teenager Takanashi wins in Lillehammer
Japanese teenager Sara Takanashi produced a stunning second jump to deny reigning women's ski jumping World Cup champion Sarah Hendrickson from beginning the defence of her title with a win in Lillehammer.
Takanashi, 16, was in third place at the end of the first round with a leap of 96m and a total of 132.9 with American Hendrickson leading the way after jumping 98.5m for 134.8 overall.
However it was not to be Hendrickson's day as Takanashi's second effort proved just too good for the World Cup champion, who collected nine wins on route to the first-ever title last season.
Takanashi leaped 98m for an overall total of 265.2 with Hendrickson only managing 95m in reply for 261.4 as the Japanese ski jumper recorded her second World Cup win in Lillehammer.
Home hope Anette Sagen, who was part of the Norway's victorious mixed team on Friday, was second after round one but, thanks to Takanashi, dropped to third with an overall score of 258.9.

Severin Freund wins exciting season opener
Like most of the the time on normal hills it was also a close decision on the Lysgardsbakken and after the first round the big sensation seemed to be possible. In his debut in the World Cup the only 17-year-old German Andreas Wellinger was sensationally in the lead after the first round with the longest jump of the day on 103 m. In the final round he could not defend this position but with the fifth place overall he still achieved an outstanding result.

Freund with yellow leaders' bib
The victory went to Wellinger's teammate Severin Freund, who came up to the top from being third after the first round with 100.5 m in the final. The 24-year-old celebrated his third win in the World Cup and had a perfect start of the season. "This was a great start for me. I'm also looking forward to tomorrow. I was second on the large hill last year and I like the hill. It was very close today, but right now I'm very happy. I don't feel any pain now and so I'm very relaxed."

Norwegians and Austrians strong
Close behind the winner, the second place went to Thomas Morgenstern with 267.2 points. With this performance the athlete of Carinthia was the best of the Austrians. With Manuel Fettner (7th) and Gregor Schlierenzauer (8th) two of his teammates were also placed in the Top 10.
Only 0.2 points behind Morgenstern, overall World Cup winner Anders Bardal achieved a podium result for the hosts of Norway, they could also show a convincing team performance. In his first World Cup competition after his year-long break Anders Jacobsen landed on a great fourth place, Anders Fannemel came in sixth.
"This was a great season opener for me. The conditions were perfect today and the best won", said Bardal who is already looking forward to the event on Sunday. "I think I can do even better on a large hill right now."

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

Wendl and Arlt open up luge World Cup with victory in Austria
Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt look determined to win back their World Cup crown as they opened their season with victory in Austria.
The German pair finished top of the pile in the 2010-2011 season but finished second best last time out as Austrian brothers Andreas and Wolfgang Linger took the title, adding to their Olympic gold medals from 2006 and 2010. But Wendl and Arlt look determined to regain top spot and opened up this campaign by storming to victory in Innsbruck. The pair sat in first after run one and although they were only third-fastest second time around they held on to top spot for the victory with a total time of 1:19.464 minutes. And their was a German one-two as Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken took second, just 0.033 seconds behind. But the home fans were shocked as two-time Olympic champions the Linger brothers were kept off the podium by compatriots Peter Penz and Georg Fischler.

Wischnewski claims first World Cup win in eight years
Anke Wischnewski scratched an eight-year itch at the opening round of the new luge World Cup season after claiming her first victory in eight years in Austria.
The 34-year-old, from Germany, last topped the World Cup podium in Altenberg in November 2004 enduring eight years of everything but a win on the circuit since. You could have forgiven Wischnewski for not believing ultimate success would come having finished third in the overall World Cup standings for the past four seasons running. However she was finally toasting victory in Innsbruck although it was by the narrowest of margins over German teammate and Olympic bronze medallist Natalie Geisenberger. Wischnewski laid down a formidable marker for victory with a time of 39.875seconds on her first run with Canadian Alex Gough placing second with 39.983. And, despite Geisenberger, posting the fastest time of the second runs, 39.917, Wischnewski's effort of 39.961 was the second quickest and enough for her to maintain first place. She clocked an overall time of 1:19.836minutes with Geisenberger 0.074 adrift in second while Gough had to settle for third a further 0.078 back on Wischnewski. Meanwhile Tatjana Hufner, who won the overall World Cup title for the fifth successive time last season, finished off the podium although teammate Aileen Frisch ensured there were four Germans in the top five.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Svindal wins Lake Louise men's downhill
Aksel Lund Svindal made the most of his experience and terrain knowledge to clinch his fourth World Cup victory in Lake Louise, this time in a downhill, on Saturday.
"To me, it's like home here. The snow, the cold, the landscape, it's very similar to Norway and I've always had good feelings here," said the Norwegian, who won his maiden World Cup victory on the same piste seven years ago.
The 2007 and 2009 overall World Cup champion, winner of three Super-Gs in past seasons in the Canadian resort, beat the Austrian duo of Max Franz and Klaus Kroell and American Marco Sullivan for the sixth downhill win of his World cup career.
Sullivan, starting after a long break following a crash by Italy's Mattia Casse, was joint third with Kroell.
In one minute and 48.31 seconds, Svindal beat the up and coming Franz by 0.64 seconds while downhill World Cup holder Kroell and Sullivan were 0.02 seconds further off the pace.
It was Svindal's second back-to-back victory in the blue-ribband alpine discipline after his top spot in Schladming at the World Cup finals in March.
In all, the 29-year-old all-rounder has now won 17 World Cup races and will be a leading contender once again this winter, especially in speed events.
"It's very important for me to start a season like this. It shows that the morale is high, that the equipment is good. I feel I'm as strong and possibly stronger than ever in the speed events," he said.
The retirement of Swiss Didier Cuche at the end of last season, the injury of fellow-Swiss Beat Feuz, who ended his season prematurely with a knee injury, and the laidback approach of American Bode Miller, who has not resumed competition yet, left the downhill a much more open discipline this winter.
But the men on the Lake Louise podium were also the in-form specialists, having dominated the practice runs.
"It was a morale-booster to win the training run. Now I'm looking for consistency all winter in downhills and super-G's as it will be impossible to compete with Ted Ligety and Marcel Hirscher in giant slaloms," Svindal said.
Canada's Erik Guay pleased home fans by finishing sixth, 1.17 behind Svindal, while Germany's Tobias Stechert was a surprising fourth.
Franz's first-ever World Cup medal spot, at 23, was a reward for a young and promising skier whose early career has already been hampered by injury.
Kroell also was most surprised to be back on a podium so early as he broke his foot in a motor-cross accident in April and only resumed training recently.
"Only two weeks ago, I was three seconds off the pace of my team-mates' in training. This goes to show I have reserves," he said.
Sullivan's joint third spot, in spite of his number 42 bib, was hardly a shock as the American had finished second in the Lake Louise downhill in 2007.
The race also marked the return to competition of 2009 downhill world champion John Kucera after a three-year hiatus. The Canadian broke his leg in Lake Louise three years ago, missing the Vancouver Olympics because of the fracture.
He finished 36th.
The Lake Louise weekend continues with a Super-G on Sunday.

Maze takes giant slalom in Aspen
Tina Maze broke clear in the women's alpine skiing World Cup with her second giant slalom victory of the fledgling season in Aspen on Saturday.
The discipline's world champion outclassed her rivals in a combined time of one minute and 59.39 seconds to take a commanding lead in the World Cup overall standings with 250 points from three races.
As in Soelden, the Slovenian again beat Austria's Kathrin Zettel, this time by 0.90 seconds while Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg was third, 1.54 adrift.
All eyes at the finish were on local favourite Lindsey Vonn, who had left her fans guessing whether she would be competing after being hospitalised last week with a stomach bug.
Vonn, who was yet to score points this season, finished a lowly 21st but at least crossed the line.
"Wow that was tough! Had a really hard time at the bottom of the course...just didn't have the energy I needed," the overall World Cup holder tweeted between the runs.
She is not entering Sunday's slalom on the same piste.
Vonn had been hoping to enter the men's downhill held in the same time in Lake Louise, Alberta, a plea rejected by the International Ski Federation.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Moan delights home crowd by winning first World Cup race
Olympic silver medallist Magnus Moan made up over a minute deficit to win the opening Nordic combined World Cup race of the season and the 19th of his career in Lillehammer.
The 29-year-old Norwegian, who claimed 7.5km sprint silver as well as 15km individual bronze at Turin 2006, was ranked eighth with a total of 132 after the ski jumping phase on home soil. That meant he was 68seconds shy of teammate Haavard Klemetsen for the start of the cross country phase however he was formidable on his skis to win by exactly a second. Moan clocked a winning time of 24:46.2minutes to edge out the World Cup champion of the past three seasons Jason Lamy-Chappuis, who was third after the ski jumping and had 38 seconds to make up. Austrian Bernhard Gruber completed the top three, also coming from behind after ranking fifth following the ski jumping, a further 2.3 seconds back on Lamy-Chappuis. And cruelly Klemetsen, who recorded a total of 149 during the ski jumping for the lead, had to settle for fourth less than a second behind Gruber.

 

[Smallville22]

Skeleton World Cup

Rommel upsets Dukurs to win in Whistler
German Frank Rommel overcame the seemingly unbeatable Martins Dukurs of Latvia by a margin of 0.21seconds to win the World Cup men’s skeleton race in Whistler.
Rommel finished with a combined two-run time of 1:47.19minutes at the Whistler Sliding Centre, while Latvia’s Tomass Dukurs came home in third in 1:47.64minutes.
“I was really happy today, good runs,” said Rommel, who finished the second run in 53.49seconds. “Only one mistake in the second run on Corner 13, but I think I’m not the only one to hit there. It just feels really good to stand on the podium, on top, two years after the Olympics.”
Dukurs was seen as an unstoppable force, having already won the first two races of the season at Lake Placid and Park City, along with wrapping up eight of nine World Cup events last season.
Rommel won the only race Dukurs failed to win last season when the Latvian crashed.
It was he who led after the first run Saturday, but the 28-year-old couldn’t maintain the momentum and finished the second run in 53.78seconds – the third-best time behind Rommel and Russian Alexander Tretjyaov, who finished in fourth place overall.
Britain’s Kristan Bromley took a solid sixth place behind Eric Neilson of Canada, though he dropped from fifth place in the first run to ninth in the second, with a time of 54.30seconds.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Russia claim maiden biathlon mixed relay victory
Russia kicked off the new biathlon mixed relay World Cup season in style as they claimed an opening victory in Oesterund, Sweden.
The quartet of Olga Zaitseva, Olga Vilukhina, Alexey Volkov and Evgeny Ustyugov posted a total time of 1:12.41.3 for the win, 21.2 seconds ahead of Norway, with Czech Republic finishing third.
Almost from the outset this event looked to be a three-horse race between Russia, France and Norway, with the latter holding a 10.5 seconds lead at the first change over thanks to some perfect shooting from Tora Berger.
But by the second change over Russia had the lead and this was only stretched further by Volkov before Ustyugov brought the team home.
France could not withstand the pace and finished fifth, one place behind Germany, as Norway and the Czechs completed the podium in Sweden.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Norway complete cross-country clean sweep
The good times continued to roll for Norway as their men and women's relay teams completed a clean sweep at the first World Cup of the new season in Gaellivare, Sweden.
Marit Bjoergen had already claimed victory in the women's opener, with compatriot Therese Johaug close behind in second, while Martin Johnsrud Sundby won the men's event.
And all three once again tasted success as both Norwegian teams picked up comfortable wins to round off the first World Cup event of the new campaign.

In the men's 4x7.5km race Sundby was joined by Eldar Roenning, Sjur Roethe and Petter Northug, the latter taking them over the line in 1:01.59.3 hours for victory, with Sweden and Russia in second and third respectively.

And in the women's 4x5km race Bjoergen and Johaug were joined by Vibeke Skofterud and Martine Hagen as they claimed a third-straight victory.
The quartet eased across the line in 45:32.2 minutes, 19.4 seconds ahead of Sweden in second while Jessica Diggins of America put in a great final leg to prevent a second Norwegian team from climbing the podium as she pipped Marthe Kristoffersen to the line to take third place.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Schlierenzauer closes on record with Lillehammer victory
Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer is now just five World Cup wins short from tying Matti Nykanen's all-time record after claiming the large hill victory in Lillehammer, Norway.
Schlierenzauer's two jumps of 141m and 137m earned him 276.5 points to secure his 41st World Cup event.
And at just 22 years of age, he is expected to soon overtake Nykanen and set a new-all time record.
Norwegian Anders Fannemel had the home crowd smiling from ear to ear as he held the lead after the first round of jumps.
And although he could not hold on to top spot there was plenty to cheer about as he finished second for his first World Cup podium.
Completing the podium in Norway was Schlierenzauer's compatriot Thomas Morgenstern, the two having 138 podium finishes between them in contrast ton Fannemel's maiden placing.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Moan wins penalty race in Lillehammer
Magnus Moan made it two wins from two to open up his Nordic combined World Cup campaign after winning the penalty race in Lillehammer.
The 29-year-old had already delighted the home Norwegian crowd just 24 hours earlier as he claimed victory in this season's World Cup opener.
And Moan was at it again on Sunday as he repeated the trick to extend his lead atop of the World Cup standings.
Moan was ranked sixth after the ski jump but stormed the cross-country section in 26:44.4 minutes to move up the rankings and take the victory.
And there was more for the home fans to cheer as fellow Norwegian Haavard Klemetsen took second, five seconds behind Moan, while German Eric Frenzel was third.
Moan has a maximum 200 points from the first two World Cup rounds, with France's Jason Lamy Chappuis 70 behind in second after finishing fourth in Norway, level on points with Klemetsen.

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

Loch leads German domination at luge opener
Germany's men ruled in the luge World Cup season opener in Austria, but there was no doubt as to who the star of the show was as Felix Loch demonstrated he is once again the man to beat.
The 23-year-old headed to Innsbruck as the Olympic and reigning World Cup champion, as well as having three World Championship titles to his name.
And Loch is in no mood to let anyone steal his spotlight as he claimed victory to open up this campaign.
The German recorded a new track record of 50.098 seconds in his first run and although he couldn't improve that in his second, his total time of 1:40.229 minutes was enough for victory.
And it was certainly a day for Germany to savour as they occupied the top five spots.
David Moeller was 0.307 seconds behind Loch to finish second, with compatriot Johannes Ludwig taking third.
Andi Langenhan and Ralf Palik were close behind in fourth and fifth to give the German fans plenty to celebrate.

Reigning World Cup champions Germany then opened up the defence of their luge team relay title in superb fashion by claiming victory.
The event will make its Olympic bow in Sochi at the 2014 Winter Games and it will be hard to bet against a German victory, the team also the reigning world champions.
Last year it was Canada who opened up the season with a win with Germany in second.
But this time the quartet of Anke Wischnewski, David Moller, Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt turned the tables as they claimed the win, with Canada 0.287 seconds behind in second.
Completing the first podium of the season was Italy in third.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating - Cup of Japan aka NHK Trophy

Coomes and Buckland break own record in Japan
They might not have ended up with a medal by Great Britain's ice dance pair Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland had plenty to be pleased about in Japan as they finished sixth, their best-ever NHK Trophy finish.
The duo headed to Miyagi with their best NHK Trophy finish being eight back in 2010 but look well placed to beat that after the short program as they sat sixth. And they returned to the ice 24 hours later to finish in the same place in the short program to finish sixth overall on 122.80 points. The victory went to American duo Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who blew away their competition to finish on 178.48 points. Their nearest challengers, Russia's Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, finished second with a score of 156.62, while American's Maia and Alex Shibutani took third.

Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu picked up where he left off 24 hours earlier as he finished top of the pile to claim victory on his home ice. In the short program Hanyu broke his own record to sit top of the pile, and that was the spot he once again maintained after the free skate to pick up the win. The World Championships bronze medallist pipped compatriot Daisuke Takahashi in the free skate for a total score of 261.03, nearly ten points more than Takahashi who finished second, the podium being completed by American Ross Miner.

And there was more for the home crowd to cheer as they was also a Japanese one-two in the ladies event. Mao Asada could only manage the second best score in the free skate but it was enough to see her finish top of the pile with a total of 185.27. The best score of the free skate went to compatriot Akiko Suzuki and it did her wonders, propelling her from fifth to finish second with 185.22. And the third and final podium step was once again taken by an American, with Mirai Nagasu finishing with a score of 176.68.

Saturday also saw the pairs get underway and Russians Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov have taken an early lead. They sit on 65.61 after the short program, with Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch just behind on 65.14 points, third place currently occupied by Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir from America.


Bazarova and Larionov claim maiden Grand Prix victory
Russian Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov brought the curtain down in Japan as they stormed to the pairs title at the NHK Trophy.
The European Championship runners-up sat in first place after the short program 24 hours earlier and that was the same place they occupied after Sunday's free skate.
This meant the duo ended with a score of 192.02 to collect their first Grand Prix title in style, finishing almost 12 points ahead of their nearest rivals.
Bazarova and Larionov have finished second on four occasion in senior Grand Prix events since 2010 but finally broke their duck, much to Bazarova's delight.
"We are full of emotions because this is the first time that we won a Grand Prix," said 19-year-old Bazarova, who qualified for the Grand Prix Final to be held at the 2014 Olympic venue in Sochi.
"We made a few minor errors on the jumps and that's something we will work on."
Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch of Canada finished second with 180.63 points to also qualify for the final in Russia, while Americans Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir were third with 174.51.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Svindal wins Lake Louise Super-G
Aksel Lund Svindal joined a closed club when he scored only the third double in Lake Louise World Cup weekend history, adding Sunday's Super-G to the downhill he won on Saturday.
In one minute and 34.96 seconds, the Norwegian bagged his fourth Super-G victory at the Canadian resort, leaving all his rivals nearly a second adrift.
Frenchman Adrien Theaux was second, 0.85 behind, while Austria's Joachim Puchner was third, 0.90 off the pace.
Only Austria's Stefan Eberharter and American Bode Miller have previously won both races on the Lake Louise programme and they went on to win the overall World Cup at the end of the season.
Svindal is chasing his third big globe after clinching titles in 2007 and 2009.
His 18th World cup win was excellent news for the 29-year-old Super-G Olympic champion ahead of the Beaver Creek trip next week-end.
The victory sent Svindal on top of the World Cup overall standings with 200 points, ahead of American Ted Ligety, who showed great progress in the discipline by finishing fourth, missing the podium by the slimmest margin.

Zettel wins Aspen slalom
Austria's Kathrin Zettel won a women's World Cup slalom on Sunday.
Austria's Marlies Schild was second and Slovenia's Tina Maze was third.