2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Skeleton - Yarnold where she wants to be ahead of Sochi 2014 Olympics

Lizzy Yarnold already has something in common with Olympic skeleton champion Amy Williams but they could have even more to share if she gets her way this time next year.
Yarnold currently rents a flat owned by Williams, who became Team GB's first individual Winter Olympic champion for 30 years at Vancouver 2010 before retiring last May, in Bath and has enjoyed a fine start among the sports elite.
The 24-year-old only made her World Cup debut last year in January but can already boast four podium finishes, two of which are wins, junior world gold and senior world bronze.
Yarnold's two wins and global medals came just a month after she made her World Cup debut while in this season's series she is the top Brit in fourth ahead of the final round in the Olympic venue in Sochi.
She narrowly missed out on a second successive World Championship medal last weekend as she finished fourth with fellow Brit and Olympic silver medallist from 2006 Shelley Rudman taking gold in St Moritz.
Rudman's win crowned her Britain's first female skeleton world champion and only the nation's second ever following on from partner Kristan Bromley's gold medal in Altenberg in 2008.
And, with the tantalising prospect of two Brits on the Olympic podium when the women's skeleton finishes on February 14 next year in Sochi, Yarnold isn't getting carried away but is content with her progress.
"It's exciting and I've spoken to Amy a lot about what to expect as it will be my first Games, if I qualify," said Yarnold. "And I can't believe people are interested in that [renting a house off Williams].
"We've been friends for years and it was quite upsetting when she quit the sport. Shelley winning was amazing. Whenever we compete, we are part of a team and we shake hands but we are competitors first and foremost.
"It was my dream to be full-time in any sport and I had thought of modern pentathlon but in hindsight I was an avid skier. My sister was spotted for handball and I wondered what I could be good at.
"Within three years of being selected for skeleton, I was winning World Cups, so it just shows that these schemes really work. I have to remember it would be a massive achievement even to be at the Olympics.
"But I'm exactly where I'd hoped to be right now. Fourth in St Moritz was hard to take but it is still progress."

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Championships

Svindal joins ski greats with second downhill win

Aksel Lund Svindal joined an illustrious group on Saturday when he became world downhill champion for the second time after finishing third in Wednesday's super-G in Schladming, Austria.
The Norwegian clocked two minutes 01.32 seconds on the Planai piste to emulate Toni Sailer, Jean-Claude Killy and Bernhard Russi with a second victory in an event no skier has won three times.
"It's a huge achievement for me to clinch another gold medal today in such a difficult race. I was so tired in my mind and body crossing the finish line after fighting so hard all the way down," Svindal told reporters.
"The course was very hard and even icy in some parts and the visibility was very poor too.
"I'm really proud to have been able to produce such an effort at the given moment. I was convinced I had given my best and achieved a pretty strong run."
It was the fifth world title for Svindal, who won the downhill in Are six years ago.
The 30-year-old Olympic super-G Olympic champion has now collected gold medals in the last four editions of the world championships, clinching the combined titles in 2009 and in 2011.
The twice overall World Cup winner is also the first Alpine skiing champion to win gold in five consecutive major events including the 2010 Olympics at Vancouver where he won the super-G along with silver in the downhill and bronze in the giant slalom.
Power and strength were the keys on the treacherous and wearing Planai course as the two other men on the podium were also among the most physical athletes on the circuit.
Italy's Dominik Paris, winner of the Kitzbuehel classic two weeks ago, finished second.
"I felt pretty relaxed at the start after having done so well this winter, and I didn't take great risks at the top to save some energy for the tricky bottom section," he said.
"This silver medal is a perfect way to crown that incredible season. I'm very pleased and looking forward for a fun party tonight."
France's David Poisson was the unexpected bronze medallist, although only injuries have prevented him medalling earlier.
Poisson's performance was all the more praiseworthy as he nearly lost his pole in the final section.
"Since the start of the season, I have had fun, I managed to take risks, I have confidence in my skiing. In a one-day race, you have to take your chance and that's what I did."
Hosts Austria were again denied a medal as downhill World Cup holder Klaus Kroell had to be content with fourth place.
The demands of the course were especially evident when defending champion Erik Guay of Canada, exhausted by the succession of turns and bumps, decided to call it quits before the finish line.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Championships

Svendsen sweeps to sprint win at Worlds

Emil Hegle Svendsen returned to individual winning ways at the Biathlon World Championships as he exacted revenge on defending champion Martin Fourcade in the 10km sprint in Nove Mesto.
Svendsen may have claimed two relay titles at last year's World Championships in Ruhpolding however he had to settle for silver behind Frenchman Fourcade in the sprint.
He got this year's campaign off to a winning start as Norway's mixed relay team defended their title with Fourcade's France second before getting one over him for the sprint defeat 12 months ago.
Both missed one target, that coming in the standing shoot, however Svendsen was quicker around the course to win his first sprint world title by 8.1seconds over Fourcade in second.
Svendsen faced a nervous wait for confirmation though as Dmitry Malyshko and Jakov Fak shot clear while Ole Einar Bjoerndalen made a charge to add to his massive World Championship medal haul.
None could better his time though as Svendsen took his all-time World Championship medal tally to 14, nine of which are wins, with Fourcade claiming silver and Fak bronze.
Fourcade, who himself has won nine world medals, including four gold, started two minutes ahead of Svendsen and posted the quickest time of 23:33.2minutes to temporarily sit in first place.
However Svendsen was quicker than him over almost every split to clock 23:25.1 before watching on as the Malyshko, Fak and Bjoerndalen attempted to overthrow him.
Neither of the three could though, nor could they get the better of Fourcade, with Fak occupying the final step of the podium 11.2 behind Svendsen and 3.1 behind Fourcade.
Bjoerndalen was a further 8.7 adrift for fourth, a missed target on the standing shoot costing him dear, while Malyshko came in 23.2 behind in total for fifth in the Czech Republic.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating - Reynolds claims shock Four Continents victory

Canadian Kevin Reynolds claimed the best result of his career to date as he won the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships thanks to a new personal best free skate in Osaka, Japan.
The 22-year-old clearly enjoys the Four Continents competition, having claimed a bronze medal three years ago.
But Reynolds blew that out of the water on Saturday as he claimed a shock victory after heading into the free skate in sixth position.
He did it by smashing his personal best in the free skate by more than 26 points to take the title with an overall score of 250.55.
Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu was sitting in first place heading into the free skate but had to settle for second with 246.38 points, with China's Han Yan taking third.

Meanwhile, in the women's competition it is two-time world champion Mao Asada who leads the way from her compatriots as three Japanese skaters currently occupy the top three positions after the short program.
The home crowd were left delighted as they saw the home skaters set the competition on fire – none more so than Asada.
Asada pulled out her trademark triple axel to take a comfortable lead on 74.49 points, with Akiko Suzuki second on 65.65 and Kanako Murakami 1.61 points further behind in third.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Slovenia win another team event in Willingen

Slovenia are proving to be the team to beat ahead of this month's World Championships in Italy after taking their second ski jumping World Cup win in a row in Willingen.
The quartet of Robert Kranjec, Jurij Tepes, Jaka Hvala and Peter Prevc finished third in the opening team event of the season in Kuusamo in November before taking the win in Zakopane last month.
And, with the third of six events scheduled for Willingen, the exact same Slovenian team led from start to finish to lay down a marker ahead of the World Championships at the end of the month.
There is still one more team event to come before then however, with Val di Fiemme the host city of the World Championships not too far from Slovenia, they will fancy their chances.
The Slovenian quartet produced a score of 507.0 for the lead at the halfway stage, well clear of Norway in second and Germany, who won the season opener in Kuusamo, in third.
And, despite producing just the fourth best score of the second round 483.4 for 990.4 overall, it was more than enough for a second successive Slovenian win as the top three remained the same.
Norway were once again second best for second with 972.5 overall while Germany were once again third best for third with 963.7 with Austria finishing just off the podium in fourth.
Ranking fourth after a score of 456.0 after round one, Austria were the best team during round two scoring 502.6 however it didn't move them up the rankings as their overall total was 958.6.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Championships

Pidhrushna wins maiden world title

Olena Pidhrushna became only the second Ukrainian biathlete ever to win World Championship gold after a near-perfect display in the women’s 7.5km sprint in Nove Mesto.
The 26-year-old shot clear in both the prone and the standing in the Czech Republic for a winning time of 21:02.1minutes and winning margin over second-placed Tora Berger of 6.4 seconds.
Olena Zubrilova is the only other Ukrainian biathlete to achieve similar success to Pidhrushna, who won triple gold at last year’s Europeans, having won four world titles between 1999 and 2002.
Zubrilova won three in 1999 alone however none of her victories came in the sprint with Pidhrushna ending a run of six straight wins for Germany in Nove Mesto.
Silver for Berger takes her tally so far in the Czech Republic to two having won the mixed team relay with Norway on Friday while there was another Ukrainian on the podium in Vita Semerenko in third.
Pidhrushna took a while to get going in Nove Mesto and, despite shooting clear in her first trip to the range, was outside the podium positions in fifth at the 3.5km mark.
Olga Zaitseva was leading by 7.7 over Berger but it was at the second shoot that Pidhrushna was to effectively take a lead that she would not relinquish for her maiden world title.
Had Berger done the same she could have been in better contention for her sixth World Championship title but as it was she missed a target and had to make do with second.
A missed target in the second shoot also cost Zaitseva as she fell to fourth with Semerenko, who shot clear, taking bronze 22.8 behind her teammate Pidhrushna in total.

 

[Smallville22]

Short Track World Cup

Christie storms to 1500m gold in Dresden

Elise Christie proved she has several strings to her bow after taking her second World Cup win this season in her self-called weaker 1500m event at the final round in Dresden.
Christie became Britain's first-ever short track World Cup champion after claiming silver at the test event in Sochi last weekend, that performance wrapping up the overall 1000m title.
But, rather than bid for more success in the 1000m, the 22-year-old Scot has chosen to focus on what she labelled her weaker events in Dresden, the 500m and 1500m.
Christie is the European champion in the 1500m and won silver in Nagoya in December as well as bronze in Sochi last weekend while she is yet to medal in the 500m this season.
And she proved that she has every much a chance of Olympic success in the 1500m as she does in the 1000m by claiming victory in the first of two races over the distance at the World Cup finale.
Christie, who won 1000m gold in Nagoya, beat Korean Kim Min-Jung for victory while Canada's Marie-Eve Drolet beat off China's Kong Xue to finish third in Dresden.
Of the Brits in individual action Kathryn Thompson, fresh from her selection for the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, reached the repechage heats of the 1500m.
Alex Stanley also made the repechage heats of the women's 1000m while Charlotte Gilmartin, who won 1500m bronze at the European Championships, was penalised in the preliminaries.
In the men's 1500m Richard Shoebridge and Joshua Cheetham both reached the semi-finals while Jon Eley made the repechage semi-finals and Paul Stanley the quarter-finals of the 1000m.
Meanwhile neither the men's or women's British relay teams made it out of the heats of the 5000m and 3000m events respectively on Friday in Dresden.

In the women's 1000m Shim Suk Hee made the most of Christie's absence to take her third victory of the season and lead home a Korean one-two-three in an Asian dominated final.
Shim won by over a second ahead of Lee Soyoun, who beat Park Seung-Hi by almost half while China's Wang Meng was penalised and placed fourth.

Meanwhile in the first of two men's 1500m races, World Cup winner Noh Jinkyu might have not been racing but Korea still claimed victory thanks to Sin Da Woon.
He kept JR Celski and Guillaume Bastille at bay in the final while in the men's 1000m Victor An couldn't do enough to deny Kwak Yoon-Gy, who wasn't racing, the World Cup title.
The Russian had to make do with third, as Liang Wenhao took victory ahead of Charle Cournoyer, ending as the runner-up on 3812 points with Kwak winning with 4023.

 

[Smallville22]

Speed Skating World Cup

Kim wins again in ladies' mass start

Kim Bo-Reum moved to the top of the speed skating World Cup standings for the ladies' mass start with her second successive victory in Inzell.
Kim won the last mass start event in Kolomna to pull within ten points of World Cup leader Mariska Huisman with another victory in Germany putting her top.
The 20-year-old was the first to cross the finish line in 8:13.80minutes, 0.30seconds ahead of Francesca Lollobrigida with Huisman third another 0.01 adrift.
Kim goes from trailing by ten points to leading by 20 over Huisman with a total of 260 while Canada's Ivanie Blondin, who was fifth in Inzell, is third with 180.

Meanwhile Marrit Leenstra also moved from second overall to first in Germany, this time in the ladies' 1500m despite finishing down in sixth.
European all-round champion Ireen Wust clocked 1:55.95 for victory, 0.47 ahead of Dutch teammate Diane Valkenburg while Russia's Yekaterina Shikhova was third.
However with previous leader and Olympic 1000m champion Christine Nesbitt not in Inzell, Leenstra's sixth-place finish, 1.78 behind Wust, gives her a 35-point lead at the top of the rankings.

And Sven Kramer, who like Wust won the European all-around title earlier this year, took the win in the men's 5000m and his third from four events this season.
Kramer was the clear victor of a Dutch one-two-three as he clocked 6:11.76 for a winning margin of 2.32 over Bob de Jong with Jorrit Bergsma behind both in third.
Third was enough for Bergsma to maintain the overall World Cup lead in the 5000m with Kramer, who as absent from the third race in Astana, 20 points behind him in second.

 

[Smallville22]

Walker-Snith the new American-Pacific Champions

The Canadian doubles team with Tristan Walker-Justin Snith earned the gold medal at the American-Pacific Championships of the International Luge Federation that were carried out within the World Cup event.
With a fourth-place finish in the World Cup, Walker-Snith won the 2nd edition of the FIL American-Pacific Championships that were simultaneously carried out in a “race-in-race” format. The silver medal went to the U.S. doubles team of Mathew Mortensen-Preston Griffal, their compatriots Jake Hyrns-Andrew Sherk earned bronze.
The final of the World Cup series will be carried out on the future Olympic track in Sochi, Russia on February 23-24, 2013.

 

[Smallville22]

Julia Clukey wins American-Pacific Championships

Icing on the cake to Natalie Geisenberger’s perfect winter

While U.S. luger Julia Clukey posted a second-place finish at the World Cup – the best result of her career – and thus took the title at the American-Pacific Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL), it was the icing on the cake to Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger’s perfect pre-Olympic season. After her first World Championship title and the gold medal at the Europeans in Oberhof, 25-year-old Geisenberger now earned her first Joska crystal award for the overall winner of the Viessmann Luge World Cup. Geisenberger took the podium’s top spot at the 8th stop of the Viessmann Luge World Cup series in Lake Placid in the U.S. state of New York. With a winning margin of 185 points ahead of the World Cup final on the future Olympic track in Sochi (Russia), her overall victory is now a foregone conclusion.
Geisenberger, who earned four second-place finishes (2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012) and one third place in the overall World Cup rankings, thus succeeds Olympic Champion Tatjana Huefner of Germany. Huefner celebrated five successive overall Viessmann Luge World Cup victories (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).
With her second-place finish, Clukey won the 2nd edition of the FIL American-Pacific Championships which were carried out simultaneously in a “race-in-race” format. Canadian Alex Gough, who finished in third place at the World Cup, earned the silver medal. Erin Hamlin (USA), fifth in the World Cup event, took bronze.
The final of the World Cup series will be carried out on the future Olympic track in Sochi, Russia on February 23-24, 2013.


Quotes

Natalie Geisenberger (GER / 2013 World Champion, 2010 Olympic bronze medalist, World silver medalist in 2008, 2009 and 2011; bronze medalist at the 2012 Worlds, 2008 and 2013 European Champion)

“I don’t really know what to say. The training runs were really bad and I would have been happy with a fifth place. I’ve had quite a few icings on the cake this season - the gold medal at the Europeans, the first World Championship title and now winning the overall World Cup rankings. This season has given me a lot of self-confidence and motivation, it was a lot of fun. I will take it all along into the upcoming Olympic winter.”


Julia Clukey (USA / fifth place at the 2009 Worlds, 9th place at the 2013 Worlds)

“I’ve had some difficult years. This is the reward for all the hard work in the summer months. The second place in the World Cup is more important for me than the victory in the American-Pacific Championships because the German women are so competitive. It doesn’t happen very often that other nations make it onto the podium.”


Alex Gough (CAN / 2011 and 2013 World bronze medalist)

“I’m really happy. After all, it’s my third podium finish this season. Actually, three different flags at the victory ceremony, that doesn’t happen very often in luge.”

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

Chris Mazdzer-Sam Edney the new American-Pacific Champions

Armin Zoeggeler celebrates 55th individual victory and his 99th podium finish

After his break due to injury, record World Champion Armin Zoeggeler of Italy managed to make an impressive comeback. The two-time Olympic Champion, who had to cancel his participation at the 44th World Championships of the International Luge Federation (FIL) due to back problems, celebrated his 55th individual career victory at the 8th stop of the Viessmann Luge World Cup series in Lake Placid in the U.S. state of New York. It was the fifth success for the 39-year-old in the two-time Olympic host city. Zoeggeler now has a total of 99 podium finishes at the Viessmann Luge World Cup to his credit.
Italy’s Dominik Fischnaller, junior World Champion as well as U23 World Champion, finished in second position, followed by compatriot David Mair who posted his first podium finish. Norway’s Thor Haug Norbech surprisingly managed to post a fourth-place result. Norbech’s best result so far is a seventh place at the 2012-2013 Viessmann Luge World Cup in Altenberg.
Just one week after having clinched his fourth World Championship title, Germany’s Olympic champion Felix Loch had to cancel his participation in Lake Placid due to a finger injury. But with exactly 600 points to his credit, 23-year-old Loch is still leading the overall Viessmann Luge World Cup rankings. Two weeks ahead of the season final in Sochi, Russia, his compatriots, however, have caught up. Loch’s winning margin to compatriots David Moeller, who posted the best result for Germany in Lake Placid with a 9th place, and Andi Langenhan (14th place) has dwindled down to 63 and 87 points, respectively. Quite remarkable: for the first time since the Viessmann Luge World Cup in Sigulda (Latvia) in February 2011, no German luger managed to make a podium finish.
Thanks to his fifth-place finish in the World Cup, U.S. luger Chris Mazdzer won the gold medal at the 2nd edition of the FIL American-Pacific Championships, which were carried out simultaneously in a “race-in-race” format. The silver and bronze medals went to Canadian Sam Edney and Taylor Morris (USA), respectively.
The final of the World Cup series will be carried out on the future Olympic track in Sochi, Russia on February 23-24, 2013.


Quotes

Armin Zoeggeler (ITA / two-time Olympic and record World Champion with six titles to his credit)

“The two-week-long break was good for me and I managed to recuperate. I like the track in Lake Placid because it’s a true luge track. Here, the start is not the only decisive factor. The driving skills are important.”


Dominik Fischnaller (ITA / 2013 junior World Champion, 2013 U23 World Champion)

“Without Armin’s help I would have never made the second place here. He has shown me how to find the best line in the track, he gives valuable tips and he helps whenever I need it. I’m ever so happy. In my second run I’ve made a small mistake in the third curve – otherwise I might have even been better.”


David Mair (ITA / 8th place at the 2012 World Championships)

“Today, the three of us can really enjoy the national Italian anthem at the Victory Ceremony.”

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

U.S..relay team takes silver ahead of Italy

Germany wins Team Relay event in Lake Placid and overall World Cup

Germany has prematurely won the overall Viessmann Luge World Cup Team Relay presented by HÖRMANN. The protégés of Germany’s head coach Norbert Loch in the line-up with Natalie Geisenberger, Ralf Palik and Tobias-Wendl-Tobias Arlt won the fifth Team Relay event in Lake Placid in the U.S. state of New York. With the highest possible score of 500 points, Germany thus prematurely earned the overall World Cup crown.
The team of host U.S.A. with Julia Clukey, Chris Mazdzer and the doubles Mathew Mortensen-Preston Griffall finished in second position. Italy with Sandra Gasparini, Armin Zoeggeler and Christian Oberstolz-Patrick Gruber earned the third place.
With 335 points to their credit, Italy holds second place in the overall rankings, followed by the U.S.A (296 points) and Canada (276).
The World Cup series concludes with the final at the future Olympic track in Sochi, Russia, on February 23-24, 2013.

 

[Smallville22]

32nd European Junior Championships in Novouralsk (RUS) - Gold for Regensburger/Holzknecht (AUT)

The first title of the 32nd European Junior Championships went to Austria: Christoph Regensburger/Dominik Holzknecht performed according to expectations and raced to the first place with a 1.26 seconds winning margin ahead of Egor Dorofeev/Victor Zakharchenko (RUS). Even though the participating field was a mere four doubles, it was not an easy race for the Austrians: “We were surprisingly slow in the training runs”, said Christoph Regensburger, “but we did not change any of the equipment for the race, we focused on our sliding skills and tried to find a precise line.” Dominik Holzknecht added: “It was also difficult because we have never raced here together, it was our first time here.”
Critical words came from the youngest participants and bronze medallists Andrei Shcheglov/Vadim Korolev (RUS): “It is disappointing that not more nations entered doubles. It would have been more motivation, a better atmosphere and certainly more interesting with more participants”, said the 17-year-old athletes. Indeed, only Russia and Austria took part in the doubles’ race and only Russia could fill the national quota with three sleds.


Results:

Final Results Doubles:

1. Christoph REGENSBURGER/Dominik HOLZKNECHT (AUT), 1:06,10(1), 1:05,71(1), 2:11,81

2. Egor DOROFEEV/Victor ZAKHARCHENKO (RUS), 1:07,03(2), 1:06,04(2), 2:13,07

3. Andrei SHCHEGLOV/Vadim KOROLEV (RUS), 1:07,33(3), 1:08,32(3), 2:15,65

4. Anatolii TALALOV/Evgeniy KALININ (RUS), 1:08,51(4), 1:09.74(4), 2:18,25


Intermediate Ranking after one Run - Women:

1. Sara BACHMANN (ITA), 1:03,71(1)

2. Darija MALEJEVA (RUS), 1:03,79(2)

3. Carmen PLANÖTSCHER (ITA), 1:04,16(3)

4. Lubov STARIKOVA (RUS), 1:04,38(4)

5. Greta PINGGERA (ITA), 1:04,39(5)

6. Petra DRAGICEVIC (SLO), 1:04,49(6)

7. Maria KAMAREVTSEVA (RUS), 1:05,32(7),

8. Margarita NIYAZOVA (RUS), 1:06,24(8),

9. Theresa MAURER (GER), 1:06,32(9),

10. Maria AUER (AUT), 1:06,99(10),


Intermediate Ranking after one Run - Men:

1. Egor DOROFEEV (RUS), 1:01,44(1),

2. Florian GLATZL (AUT), 1:01,56(2),

3. Dominik HOLZKNECHT (AUT), 1:01,99(3),

4. Christoph REGENSBURGER (AUT), 1:02,10(4),

5. Thomas UNTERHOLZNER (ITA), 1:03,13(5),

6. Dominik KIRCHMAIR (AUT), 1:03,23(6),

7. Andrei SHCHEGLOV (RUS), 1:03,28(7),

8. Martin KERSCHBAUMER (ITA), 1:03,38(8)

9. Anatolii TALALOV (RUS), 1:03,42(9)

10. Ruslan SUSANU (RUS), 1:03,46(10)


Schedule for Sunday, 10.02.2013:

10:30am: 2nd Competition Run Women and Men

45 Minutes Break

afterwards : 3rd Competition Run Women and Men

3:30pm: Medal and Closing Ceremony

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Double victory for Sara Takanashi in Zao

During the last days in Zao (JPN) the wind conditions were not easy to handle for athletes and organizers as well. Changing wind conditions with strong gusts not only caused the cancellation of Friday's official training, but also forced the jury to postpone the first individual competition from Saturday to Sunday. For this reason two individual competitions were carried out on one day. The victory at both competitions was claimed by loca hero Sara Takanashi from Japan ahead of Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (AUT) and Carina Vogt (GER) at the first competition and Jacqueline Seifriedsberger and Sarah Hendrickson (USA) at the second competition.
On Saturday the athletes were able to do one training jump as well as one trial jump, before the jury had to cancel the first competition round after 27 jumpers due to the strong wind gusts. Though the athletes had to wait for quite a long time at the hill on Saturday, the decision to postpone the competition to Sunday has proved to be right and ensured the run of two competitions on Sunday.
"I am unbelievably happy about those two victories today, especially because I was able to celebrate them in front of my home crowd. It's great that we were so lucky with the weather today and that we saw two really good competitions", Takanashio said who managed to show jumps of 95.5 and 93.5 m (228 points) as well as 102 and 94 m (240.4 points) in front of her home crowd.

Jacqueline Seifriedsberger ranked second twice

The second place was taken by Jacqueline Seifriedsberger from Austria, who has already been very successful in Sapporo last week. "Of course it was not that easy for us after the official training and the first competition on Saturday had been cancelled. But in situations like that you have to stay focused and that worked out pretty well for me today. I am absolutely satisfied with both of my results", the Austrian said (88 and 92.5 m, 212 points and 96 and 92.5 Meter, 229.4 points).

Vogt and Hendrickson finish third

Carina Vogt from Germany finished third at today's first competition what meant the first podium place for her this season. "I have to admit that the last two weeks have been quite stressful. Actually I did not feel that well today and because of that I am even happier that I managed to achieve this good result", she said after jumps of 89 and 85 m (207.1 points), Since she ranked fourth at the season opening in Lillhehammer, today's third place was the best result for her this winter.
At the second competition US athlete Sarah Hendrickson managed to finish on the podium once again and ranked third. "There have been a lot of delays during the past days and we did not know how the weather would look like today. Nice to see that everything worked out well and that the conditions were so fine. For our team it was not an easy week because our coach had to leave Japan, but right now I am really happy about my result", Hendrickson said (93 and 92 m, 222.6 points), who is now going to travel back to Europa together with her teammates.

Including the national group, 33 athletes were taking part in today's first competition, at the second one there were 30 starters. The teams from France and Italy as well as a few athletes of the Norwegian team did not come to Zao for the World Cup events.
In the World Cup overall ranking Sara Takanashi extended her lead by winning both competitions today (937 points). She is followed by Sarah Hendrickson (707 points) and Jacqueline Seifriedsberger (697 points).

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Bieler wins first World Cup race for five years in Almaty

Christoph Bieler finally followed up on an impressive jump with a good enough cross-country time to take his first Nordic combined World Cup win in five years in Almaty.
The 35-year-old ranked third in the ski jumping phase in the first of two competitions in Kazakhstan on Saturday however he was to end third overall after the cross-country.
However he ensured the same thing didn't happen again in Almaty as he forced Akito Watabe of Japan to settle for the runners-up spot for the second successive time.
Bieler, whose last win was in a sprint race on home soil in Seefeld in Austria back in January 2008, beat Watabe by 4.4seconds while Miroslav Dvorak of the Czech Republic was third.
The top five prior to events in Almaty were all absent, seemingly opening the field up with Austrian Bieler consistently up there in the ski jumping phase.
After settling for third behind Mario Seidl and Taihei Kato on Saturday with a total of 121.3 points, Bieler turned the tide recording 136.4 for a lead he wouldn't relinquish.
His cross-country time was far from the best, 25:31.0minutes equal 21st quickest, but with Seidl and Kato not doing enough and Watabe's ski jumping not enough either, Bieler took the win.
Watabe scored 121.6 for his jump with the 59-second deficit between him and Bieler too much to overhaul as he finished just 4.4 behind the Austrian.
Dvorak placed eighth in the ski jump but battled to third 17.5 behind overall while Seidl and Kato were sixth and seventh respectively in Kazakhstan.
Once again World Cup leader Eric Frenzel isn't affected by the results nor is second-placed Jason Lamy Chappuis however Watabe did move up into the top five ahead of Tino Edelmann.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating - Asada wins third Four Continents title in Osaka

Mao Asada claimed her third Four Continents Figure Skating Championship title and sixth successive medal as Japan swept the ladies' podium on their own ice in Osaka.
Asada, the 2008 and 2010 champion both of which came in Korea, has had to settle for silver for the past two years running first behind Miki Ando and then Ashley Wagner.
However she ensured it wasn't third time unlucky as she followed up her impressive short program, in which she reintroduced her trademark triple axel, with another fine performance in the free skate.
Akiko Suzuki and Kanako Murakami, both second and third respectively after the short program, maintained their positions for a Japanese clean sweep but neither were near Asada.
Asada, the favourite with rivals Kim Yuna and Wagner opting not to compete in Osaka, led Suzuki by almost ten points following the short program and went on to extend it to win by more than 15.
She was downgraded on her triple axel in the free skate but her other elements were solid as she finished on 205.45 points in total with Suzuki second with 190.8 and Murakami third with 181.03.

Meanwhile in the pairs Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford ended a run of six straight Chinese victories to become the first Canadians since Jamie Sale and David Pelletier to win the title.
Duhamel and Radford won bronze in 2010 and silver in 2011 but led Canadian teammates Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch after the short program after scoring 70.44 points.
Moore-Towers and Moscovitch turned the tide in the free skate scoring 130.45 to Duhamel and Radford's 128.74 but it wasn't enough to overthrow them and take the gold.
Duhamel and Radford won by just over a point while American's Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir took home bronze with an overall combined total of 170.10.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Championships

Svendsen beats Fourcade again in photo finish

Emil Hegle Svendsen made it three golds from three at the Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto stripping Martin Fourcade of another title in a photo finish in a thrilling pursuit race.
Everything Svendsen has touched so far in the Czech Republic has turned to gold with the Norwegian winning the mixed team relay and the sprint both ahead of Frenchman Fourcade.
However he was made to work his hardest yet to claim a third successive gold in a dramatic pursuit race that saw four bidding for gold at the death for the first time ever in the event at the worlds.
Svendsen and Fourcade were joined by Russian's Anton Shipulin and Dmitry Malyshko, the latter the only one to shoot 20 out of 20 in the range in the 12.5km pursuit.
Fourcade made his move with 500m to go and, while the Russian's couldn't catch him, Svendsen followed with both neck and neck at the line and lunging to claim the win.
The Frenchman reached his leg for the line first before collapsing with Svendsen staying up right and celebrating after the crossing the line with a photo finish called.
As it turned out Fourcade's early lung cost him as his foot crossed the line first, but not his transponder. Instead Svendsen's did to make it three out of three for him in Nove Mesto.
Svendsen was credited with a winning time of 32:35.5minutes, missing just one target, that on his last trip to the range, with defending champion Fourcade second after failing with two.
Shipulin beat Russian teammate Malyshko onto the podium in third 3.6seconds behind Svendsen before 15 seconds separated fourth from Dominik Landertinger in fifth.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Championships

Rolland is surprise downhill gold medallist

France's Marion Rolland used her knowledge of the course to snatch a surprise downhill gold medal at the world Alpine ski championships in Schladming on Sunday.
Rolland, remembered for a freak crash at the 2010 Vancouver Games when her knee snapped seconds into the Olympic downhill, won by 0.16 seconds from Italy's Nadia Fanchini with a time of one minute 50.00. German Maria Hoefl-Riesch took bronze.
Rolland can claim to be the first Frenchwoman to win the most prestigious world title, though her compatriot Marielle Goitschel is widely considered as the winner of the 1966 downhill world crown after a gender test the following year showed that the champion on the day, Erika Schinegger, was actually a man. The Austrian was never officially disqualified.
"I wanted a medal here at all costs," Rolland, 30, said. "I gave it my all because I believed in my chances.
"I had good feelings on this piste, which I liked very much since last season," she said.
Rolland has never won a World Cup event but earned her first two podiums last season on Schladming's Streicher piste, finishing second in the downhill behind Lindsey Vonn.
In the absence of the American Olympic champion, who was injured in the opening event of these championships, the downhill race was wide open.
"To win gold is obviously incredible, I dreamt about it like every young athlete. You have to believe in your dreams and your goals and fight hard to reach them," added Rolland, whose grandfather Antonin won two stages of cycling's Tour de France in the 1950s.
Fanchini, who like Rolland has had a career hampered by serious crashes and injuries, took advantage of her early start number to get on to the podium.
"I tried to ski the way I did before my serious crash in St Moritz in 2010," said the Italian, whose sister Elena was also downhill silver medallist at the Bormio worlds in 2005.
The course, unusually icy for a women's race, was too hard to handle for most skiers and several spectacular crashes caused long delays.
As a result, snow and visibility conditions changed in the middle section, making the course slower for the later starters and Rolland's performance, with bib number 22, all the more impressive.
Hoefl-Riesch was the only favourite to live up to her reputation, adding a bronze medal to her super-combined gold from two days ago.
"I'm glad to be on the podium of a very tricky race because of the changing light from one section of the course to the other," the German said.
"It's a podium for the war-wounded as we have all had serious knee injuries in our careers."
Pre-race favourite Tina Maze of Slovenia, who had been bidding to win medals in all five events in Schladming, had to settle for seventh place, 1.21 adrift.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping - Strong winds cancel individual event in Willingen

Strong and gusty winds forced the cancellation of the second ski jumping World Cup event in Willingen with event organisers deeming it not safe enough to compete.
Qualifying on Friday, which saw Richard Freitag produce the best score of those not automatically through to Sunday's individual final, went off fine as the did the team event a day later.
Slovenia took their second successive win of the season however, as the team competition made way for the individual, strong and gusty winds made jumping unsafe.
Despite the sunshine, the wind was too strong on the hill with the jury opting to cancel after a series of delays to the scheduled competition in Willingen.
"The decision was not difficult to make, we had absolutely no chance to let anyone jump," said FIS race director Walter Hofer.

 

[Smallville22]

Ice Hockey - Britain lose third and final clash at final Olympic qualifier

Head coach Tony Hand is adamant Great Britain's ice hockey team will learn from their outing at the final Olympic qualifying tournament after they lost their third and final game to Kazakhstan.
Hand's troops were bidding to reach the Winter Games for the first time since St Moritz 1948 in Riga after winning the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Japan back in November.
However, as the lowest ranked side in a four-team group with hosts Latvia, France and Kazakhstan and only the winner reaching Sochi 2014, Hand new the size of the task to do so.
They battled valiantly in their opening 6-2 defeat by Lativa and almost produced a stunning fightback against France before losing 4-2 while against Kazakhstan they fell 6-0.
However Hand has no doubt that the British team will see the benefits of competing in the tournament when it comes to the Division I Group A World Championships in Hungary in April.
"This has been a big learning curve for the players. We probably took too many penalties and that hurt us," said Hand. "We kept it at a 0-0 final period and we can take heart from that ahead of the World Championship.
"I want to say how much the team appreciated the support. Even though we were down they [the fans] supported us throughout."
Roman Starchenko gave Kazakhstan the lead after 30 seconds, cutting inside from the right before firing low past Ben Bowns, who was making his senior international debut.
Konstantin Romanov made it 2-0 in the third minute when found space in the slot however Britain responded with Robert Farmer and Jonathan Phillips both going close in quick succession.
Five minutes into the second period Talgat Zhailauov finished a precise passing move for Kazakhstan's third with Britain down to three after Phillips and Rod Sarich were penalised.
Alexei Litvinenko added a fourth moments later before Ilya Solarev broke after a Craig Peacock chance to complete a free-flowing move and make it 5-0.
Viktor Alexandrov scored a shorthanded goal with less than three minutes of the second period remaining for Kazakhstan's sixth with Britain denying them in the third and final 20 minutes.