2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup

Clark and Hiraoka win halfpipe golds in Sochi

Kelly Clark proved herself to be one of the early favourites for snowboard halfpipe gold at next year's Olympics after winning the World Cup event in Sochi to extend her overall lead.
Clark, who won Olympic gold at Salt Lake City 2002 before taking bronze at Vancouver 2010, claimed her second victory of the season at the Olympic test event in Sochi.
The 29-year-old won the season opener in Cardrona and was the clear best in the Russian Olympic venue to take another victory ahead of Holly Crawford and Sophie Rodriguez.
Clark, who has won the past three Winter X Games superpipe titles, did enough on her first run for victory in Sochi producing a score of 88.25 with her second effort just 44.75.
That saw Clark win by over ten points from Australian Crawford, who scored 78.00 on her first run, while France's Rodriguez was third, again with a first outing of 73.00.
Clark now has a healthy lead at the top of halfpipe World Cup standings with her total of 32000points 1340 better than that of China's Liu Jiayu who was sixth in Sochi.
And Clark believes the experience of competing in Russia less than a year out from the Games will prove beneficial, she said: "I'm definitely leaving encouraged due to the win.
"I'm happy with how I rode and looking forward to building my riding up. I was just happy to come here and get some experience in this pipe and at this venue."

Meanwhile in the men's event Taku Hiraoka claimed his first win of the season and first win of his career to lay down his own marker for a return trip to Sochi for the Olympics next year.
Continuing the trend of the women's event, the top three all produced their best run first time out with Hiraoka scoring 90.25 before a lower effort of 70.25 from run two.
World champion Iouri Podladtchikov couldn't respond to Hiraoka as he scored a best of 84.50 while American Scotty Lago was just behind in third with an effort of 83.25 first time out.
That finish was significant for Lago as it saw him take the overall lead in the halfpipe World Cup standings, Zhang Yiwei, fourth in Sochi, second 420points behind the American.
And Hiraoka, who finished as the runner-up behind Podladtchikov at the World Championships, couldn't hide his delight at the win.
He said: "It have been tough conditions with the warm weather but I'm very happy about my first win."

 

[Smallville22]

Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom World Cup

Prommegger and Kreiner take victories in Sochi

Andreas Prommegger and Marion Kreiner ensured a sweep of victories for Austria on the Olympic slopes in Sochi as both took the lead in the snowboard parallel giant slalom World Cup.
Prommegger defeated Austrian teammate Ingemar Walder in the men's big final while in the women's at the Olympic test event Kreiner got the better of German Amelie Kober.
In the men's competition, Prommegger recovered from a stumble against Lukas Mathies in the quarter-finals to see off Walder who was almost defeated by Jasey-Jay Anderson in the heats.
Walder was disqualified from the first run of the big final and failed to finish the second handing Prommegger victory and with it the lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings.
With Roland Fischnaller, the winner last time out in Rogla, losing in the heats to parallel slalom world champion Rok Marguc to place ninth overall, Prommegger's win gives him a lead of 610 points over the Italian.
Meanwhile Olympic bronze medallist Kreiner didn't drop a run on the way to the women's big final before defeating Kober over both with Prommegger then completing Austria's success.
Kreiner got the better of Kober by 0.33 seconds in the first run and then just 0.04 on the second to likewise move into the top of the World Cup standings.
Her jump up was also added by the previous leader's failings with Caroline Calve ranking down in 14th with Kreiner leading second-placed Ekaterina Tudegesheva by 190 points.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Brit Ryding aiming for top-20 in Schladming

Dave Ryding is adamant he can compete with the globes finest and is targeting a top-20 finish at the Alpine World Ski Championships in Austria after a fine season to date.
The 26-year-old has headed to Schladming in excellent form in the slalom event having finished third and second on his last two outings in the Europa Cup in Kirchberg and Arber.
Those performances, along with a fourth in Pozza and a third at a city event in San Vigilio, helped to move Ryding up to second in the Europa Cup standings for the slalom.
He credits such results to a change in attitude following the aftermath of his maiden Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 where he was 27th in the slalom and 47th in the giant slalom.
And, with the Sochi 2014 Olympics now less than a year away and his outing at the World Championships fast approaching, Ryding is determined to further improve his performances.
"I went to Vancouver not in great shape and not in great form so I didn't do as well as I had hoped," said Ryding. "It was a very eye-opening experience.
"A light kind of switched on in my head and I realised it's now or never if I want to improve and match it with these top guys.
"It really made me step up my training. So far I'm doing that so hopefully I can do much better next time.
"I did a lot of training in the summer to get ready for this season. I've focused a lot on my strength and fitness because I wasn't strong enough to even compete.
"I thought that was an area where I can make myself better than these guys, if I work really hard. Ideally I want to be ranked around 40, that's the aim.
"And the World Championships is the biggest race of the year and all the best guys will be there. Ideally I can finish in the top 20."
Ryding has competed at two World Championships in his career finishing a best of 41st in Val d'Isere in 2009 and 39th in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2011 both in the giant slalom.
However he will take to the slopes at the World Championships in Schladming just for the slalom on Sunday, an event in which he is solely focussing on at present.
"Right now it'll just be the slalom," he added. "With slalom being so competitive at the moment and it being quite a different technique to giant slalom I just thought I'll concentrate on the slalom and really push that forward and right now that's working.
"I can ski as well as a lot of guys. It all depends how you ski on the day. You could have your best day but a few other people can also have their best day."

 

[Smallville22]

Bobsleigh - Jackson feels Olympics fast approaching ahead of test event

John Jackson is adamant next year's Winter Olympics will be upon him faster than he knows it ahead of the final bobsleigh World Cup round of the season at the Games venue in Sochi.
Britain's No.1 pilot is currently enjoying his finest season to date and arrived in Russia days after finishing an impressive fifth in the four-man at the World Championships in St Moritz.
Had Jackson medalled it would have been Britain's first in the four-man at the World Championships for 74 years, Frederick McEvoy, the 1937 and 1938 champion, the last person to do so with silver in 1939.
As it was Jackson, who alongside Stuart Benson, Bruce Tasker and Joel Fearon sat third heading into the final run, were just seven hundredths of a second off a bronze medal in fifth.
Now they are in Sochi for the Olympic test event and ninth and final World Cup round of the season and Jackson, who has best finish of fifth from Whistler in November, feels the Games are approaching at pace.
"It certainly comes around a lot quicker than you think," said Jackson, who represented Britain at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and will compete in the four-man and two-man in Sochi.
"We are three years into the Olympic cycle and soon it will be summer and then we'll have the selection races and be back into the World Cups.
"Next year the focus will be the same as everyone else's and being in the best shape you can be. We will have a similar plan for summer training and will work with our strength and conditioning coaches.
"We know where we want to improve coming into the next one and we need to because it is Olympic year. It isn't the time to try this and try that, we want to be hitting the World Cups hard.
"I think this Olympic cycle compared to the last has been massively different certainly for myself as I was self-funded before.
"The differences now that I have got funding means I have become a better athlete and as a whole we are starting to see the benefits from that, we are better athletes and more consistent."

 

[Smallville22]

Skeleton World Cup

Dukurs wins fourth successive World Cup title in Sochi

Martins Dukurs laid down a formidable marker for Olympic gold after claiming his fourth successive skeleton World Cup title with victory at the final round and test event in Sochi.
The 28-year-old was the champion-elect heading to the Russian Olympic venue having won seven of the eight races so far this season including the last five in a row.
That gave him a 223-point lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings with only 225 on offer in Sochi however he did miss out on World Championship gold two weeks ago.
Despite a remarkable fightback over the last run in St Moritz, Dukurs lost at the World Championships for the first time in three years with Alexander Tretiakov victorious.
But Dukurs exacted revenge on the Russian on his own ice in Sochi to win by 0.17 seconds ahead of him while Germany's Frank Rommel occupied third place at the test event.
Dukurs' win was the 25th of his World Cup career and also sees him claim the inaugural Triple Trophy and €100,000 prize for winning the last three races of the season.
And, having had to settle for silver at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics behind home hope Jon Montgomery, Dukurs will surely head back to Sochi next year the man to beat.
He held a 0.17 lead over Tretiakov after posting 56.90 on his first run with Tomass Dukurs 0.43 further back in third with a 0.10 cushion over fourth-placed American John Daly.
Martins Dukurs and Tretiakov clocked the same time on run two 57.22 to hand the Latvian victory in Sochi and in the overall World Cup, the latter for the fourth successive time.
They stormed clear of the rest of the field with the gap between Tretiakov, who was last the man to win the World Cup title before Martins Dukurs in 2009, and third place 1.23.
Rommel jumped from fifth to third place after posting 57.87 second time out with Daly remaining in fourth and Tomass Dukurs slipping to fifth place overall.
Meanwhile's Britain's three sliders all finished in a line with Ed Smith this time the pick of the bunch in 14th before Kristan Bromley in 15th and Dominic Parsons in 16th.
Smith was the lowest of the three at the World Championships in St Moritz in 15th to Parsons' ninth and Bromley's tenth but he turned the ride at the final World Cup round.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Championships

Ligety seals hat-trick of golds with giant slalom triumph

Ted Ligety became the first male skier for 45 years and only the fifth overall to win three gold medals at a World Championships when he defended his title in the giant slalom in Schladming.
Having already won the super-G and super combined events, a hat-trick was always on the cards for the American in his favourite event, although he had to survive a couple of slips on the second run before winning by 0.81 seconds.
Ligety, who has not failed to complete a giant slalom race for four years and totally dominates the event, led by one-and-a-half seconds after the first run, although his time on the second was only sixth best.
Austrian favourite Marcel Hirscher, who leads the season's overall standings on the World Cup circuit which he won last year, was second after overcoming a back injury to produce a storming second run which brought the home crowd to its feet.
Italy's Manfred Moelgg was third.
"It may have looked easy but I can say I had to fight hard in both runs," Ligety, combined gold medallist at the 2006 Olympics, said at the finishing line.
"The course was incredibly bumpy... it was a struggle from top to bottom."
The 28-year-old said that his previous wins were bonuses but his priority had been to win another gold in his favourite event.
"The main goal was to come here to defend my title," said Ligety, whose 15 wins on the World Cup circuit have all come in the giant slalom.
Hirscher, who has never won an individual gold in the World Championships, said he had a sleepless night after undergoing treatment on his back and suffering with a headache.
"I had only had five hours sleep and needed a lot of therapy on my back and neck, and it was still a bit painful," said Hirscher, who has Saturday's slalom still to look forward to.
"It's superb just to get this silver medal, the crowd was amazing. I heard the roar and this was the most exciting moment in my career."
Ligety joined the illustrious company of Austrian Toni Sailer, Frenchmen Jean-Claude Killy and Emile Allais and Norwegian Stein Eriksen, the only other men to have won three or more golds at the World Championships.
There is some debate about whether the tallies can be fairly compared, however, as the super combined and super-G events have only existed since the 1980s, making it easier to obtain a three-medal haul.
Ligety has won four of the five giant slalom races on the World Cup circuit this season and finished on the podium in the other.

 

[Smallville22]

Ice Hockey - No deal to allow NHL players for Sochi

The National Hockey League and Olympic officials ended two days of talks without an agreement that would free players to take part in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
With the countdown to the Sochi Olympics now less than a year away, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL Players Association chief Donald Fehr, International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel and representatives from the International Olympic Committee met on Thursday and again for nearly three hours on Friday at the league's New York headquarters to try and hammer out a deal.
The NHL and NHLPA had no comment on the progress of negotiations and there was no announcement about plans for future talks, though Fasel warned the clock was ticking.
"Meetings were held in a very constructive and positive atmosphere," said Fasel on the IIHF Twitter account. "All parties put all their concerns and issues on the table.
"Now all parties are going back to work on details in order to put together an agreement.
"There is no deadline but obviously we are under a certain time pressure. Olympics are one year from now."
The NHL is widely expected to return to the Olympic lodge but is seeking some form of compensation from the IOC for shutting down for two weeks in the middle of the season and turning over the players.
Local media have reported the league wants to increase its influence and be treated more like a rights holder or top sponsor such as McDonald's, able to trade on the Olympic brand to help sell and promote their product.
The NHL has also indicated it wants access to video and other media from the Games to use on their websites.
The league has also long complained about the access to players by team owners, doctors and league officials during the Winter Olympics.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Championships

Brilliant Berger takes fourth gold in Nove Mesto relay

Tora Berger produced a stunning last leg of the women's 4x6km relay at the Biathlon World Championships to steer Norway to victory for her fourth gold medal from five events.
The 31-year-old has been nigh-on untouchable in Nove Mesto. The only event which she has not won is the 7.5km sprint - and even then she was second behind Olena Pidhrushna.
She headed into the women's relay with pursuit and individual gold medals already garnered as well as the mixed team relay title claimed on the opening day in the Czech Republic.
However, taking over for the fourth and final leg, it looked like Berger would have to make do with a rare place off the podium with Norway almost 14 seconds off third-placed Italy.
Up until that point Berger's team-mates Hilde Fenne, Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland and Synnoeve Solemdal had not fared too well in the range with nine missed targets between them.
However Berger missed just one, in her last shoot, as she made up the time on Italy - and almost 40s on Ukraine and Germany to give Norway an unlikely win.
She even dropped to fifth spot with the deficit 21 seconds after the penultimate shoot; however, by the last shoot it was less than 3s with Italian Karin Oberhofer going clear for the lead.
Ukraine were second, with Berger up to third. The Norwegian came through to claim a famous win.
Berger managed a finishing time of 1:08:11.0 that was seven seconds quicker than that of the Ukrainian quartet while Italy held on for bronze another 4.6 further adrift.
That was Italy's first ever women's podium finish at the World Championships while Russia occupied fourth, 29 seconds behind in total, with Germany another 1.9 back in fifth.
Berger has now won eight World Championship titles having claimed three in Ruhpolding last year and her maiden crown as part of Norway's mixed relay team in Russia in 2011.

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Skiing - Sarsfield insists one result can change Olympic bid

British freestyle skier Emily Sarsfield believes she is only ever one race away from a career-best World Cup finish as she prepares to test the snow of the Olympic venue in Sochi.
The 29-year-old has made seven appearances on the ski-cross World Cup tour this season, placing a best of 26th in Telluride in America less than two weeks before Christmas.
That puts Sarsfield on course to qualify for next year's Olympics while for it to be rubber-stamped she needs three top-24 finishes in the World Cup and including the World Championships.
She isn't short of time with five more World Cup rounds as well as the World Championships left this season while the qualification period doesn't end until January 19 next year.
The first of those last five World Cups come in the shape of the Olympic test event in Sochi, which begins on Monday, and Sarsfield knows how much one outstanding result can change her bid.
"It has been a really promising season. Last year was difficult because the sport of ski-cross is all about confidence," said Sarsfield.
"But step by step my confidence is building every race. I have been getting World Cup points and in that top 30 where I need to be for the Olympics.
"I have had a 26th and a 28th, knocking around the top 25, and that is promising and heading in the right direction.
"I think if you look at where we are I am now, I am aiming for the top 16 and once you get there it is all about ski technique and having a strong start.
"I just need to make the heats. Confidence is such a big thing and one result can have a massive impact.
"The good thing about the sport is that no one massively dominates. It is very skill based but you are not going to get one person winning every single race.
"Everyone's excited about the test event, it's not a regular stop on the tour and it's quite new. Even if it wasn't where the Olympics were, because it's not a regular stop, it would make it quite novel.
At a test event in 2009 Sarsfield suffered multiple injuries in a crash and, despite recovering, failed to earn selection for ski-cross' introduction onto the Olympic programme at Vancouver 2010.
And, while she admits she will never be 100 per-cent injury free, Sarsfield insists she feels at her best and is hell-bent on qualifying for the Sochi 2014 Olympics next year.
"I am as close to 100 per-cent as I can be. I had a really bad injury before Vancouver where I snapped all my ligaments and my tibia and fibula," she added.
"I snapped about every stricture you could but I worked at it and worked with a physio and I am in good shape, touch wood.
"And I am massively determined and desperate to get to Russia, in training I can use that as motivation and I never let it bog me down or to get to me psychologically."

 

[Smallville22]

Snowboard - Warm temperatures cancel parallel slalom in Sochi

Sochi 2014 organisers have been dealt a fresh blow after spring-like temperatures forced the cancellation of the snowboard parallel slalom World Cup and Olympic test event in the host city.
The snowboarding and freestyle skiing test events have already been hit by the weather in Sochi with the slopestyle competitions in both, scheduled for the start of the week, cancelled due to a lack of snow.
The snowboard halfpipe and parallel giant slalom World Cups were completed on Thursday however tough weather conditions and extremely warm temperatures made proper preparation impossible a day later.
The women's time trials for the parallel slalom did eventually start after repeated postponements and the use of chemicals and water however only ten riders were able to complete their runs before the cancellation.
With a tight schedule planned in Sochi, snowboard cross qualification begins on Saturday and there are also four more freestyle ski events, the parallel slalom events will not be re-run at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park.
And FIS Snowboard Race Director Uwe Beier said: "There is always a balance of risk if you run two events on two consecutive days on the same slope because you don't have that much preparation time.
"But we have proven in the past that this is definitely possible. Here in Sochi, we faced some very warm temperatures right from the beginning which in the end made it impossible to provide a proper World Cup slope."
A decision is still to be made whether the third parallel slalom World Cup of the season will be rearranged for later a later date.

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Skiing Moguls World Cup

Defending World Cup champions win in Sochi

Hannah Kearney claimed her third successive freestyle ski World Cup win while Mikael Kingsbury took his fifth from seven this season at the Olympic test event in Sochi.
After missing the opening two round of the season, Olympic champion Kearney has been in fine form in the moguls winning three of the four World Cup events she has entered.
That included back-to-back victories in Deer Valley two weeks ago and she ensured it was three in a row in the Olympic host city of Sochi edging out fellow American Eliza Outtrim.
However Japan's Aiko Uemura prevented it from being an American one-two-three in the women's moguls event in Russia by beating Heather McPhie into third place.
Reigning World Cup champion Kearney has now caught up enough to lead the overall moguls standings, 17 points ahead of Justine Dufour-Lapointe, who was seventh, in second.
Meanwhile in the men's event Kingsbury is edging ever closer towards retaining his moguls World Cup title as the North American nations once again dominated.
He beat American Patrick Deneen to the win while Canadian teammate Philippe Marquis was third ahead of Japan's Sho Endo at the seventh of 12 World Cup events this season.
Kingsbury now has 605 points to his name at the top of the World Cup standings with Olympic champion and compatriot Alexandre Bilodeau, 14th in Sochi, second with 453.

 

[Smallville22]

Bobsleigh World Cup

Kiriasis wins but Humphries crowned champion

Sandra Kiriasis won the final two-woman bobsleigh World Cup round of the season in Sochi but it was not enough to prevent Kaillie Humphries from being crowned overall champion for the first time.
Humphries, who won Olympic gold at Vancouver 2010, headed into the ninth and final round in Russia, also acting at the test event for next year's Games, with a 187-point lead over Kiriasis at the top of the standings.
With 225 points on offer for the win it would have taken a miracle for Kiriasis to overthrow the Canadian in Sochi and so it proved with Humphries' third place enough to wrap up the World Cup title.
Kiriasis took victory for the second successive race having won in Igls last time out to maintain her overall standing of second while Elana Meyers did enough for third in the Russian Olympic host city.
Humphries' World Cup triumph ends a run of 11 straight German victories, eight of which have come from Kiriasis while she is also the first Canadian to achieve such a feat.
It was Kiriasis who set the early pace in Sochi as she clocked 58.16 seconds for the lead after the first run with compatriot and defending champion Cathleen Martini in second with 58.20 and Humphries third with 58.24.
Meyers was fourth after posting 58.33 before producing the quickest time of the second run, 58.99, to jump up into second overall just 0.13 behind Kiriasis, who was second fastest for the win.
Humphries again went third quickest to remain in the same place overall and with it secure her first World Cup title to go with the Olympic gold she won in 2010 and the World Championship title she retained two weeks ago.
Martini slipped to fourth overall after posting the seventh fastest time while British No.1 Paula Walker finished down in 16th for her worst finish of the season at the ninth and final round.
She once again had company in fellow British pilot Victoria Olaoye, who ranked 19th after the two runs at the Olympic venue 2.56 behind winner Kiriasis.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Kowalczyk and Poltoranin cruise to Davos sprint wins

Justyna Kowalczyk and Alexey Poltoranin both cruised to easy victories as the final cross-country skiing World Cup before the Nordic World Ski Championships got underway in Davos.
Kowalczyk and Poltoranin were victorious in the sprint classic events with the women's and men's 10km and 15km freestyles respectively next up before attentions turn to Val di Fiemme.

World Cup leader Kowalczyk responded to an early break from France's Aurore Jean after 200m to take a lead she would not relinquish, crossing home first with a comfortable 2.8-second advantage.
She built ground on the rest of the field after the first climb and, despite it looking like Marit Bjoergen was cutting it down in the second lap, Kowalczyk cruised to a time of 3:56.0minutes.
Bjoergen broke away herself on the second lap for second place with Anne Kylloenen of Finland taking third after a tight battle with Jean and Katerina Smutna 3.2 away from the Norwegian.

Meanwhile Poltoranin was an even easier winner in the men's classic sprint breaking away early to win by 5.4 ahead of home hope and World Cup leader Dario Cologna.
Cologna was made to work hard for second place by Federico Pellegrino but beat the Italian 0.6 for it while American Andrew Newell was three seconds back in fourth.

 

[Smallville22]

Bobsleigh World Cup

Rush takes World Cup title as Hefti wins again in Sochi

Lyndon Rush became the first Canadian for seven years to win the two-man bobsleigh World Cup title after an equal fourth place and a Beat Hefti win helped him get there in Sochi.
The 32-year-old headed into the ninth and final round of the season, which acted as the Olympic test event, leading the overall standings by 62 points ahead of Latvian Oskars Melbardis.
Rush was far from in the form that saw him win in La Plagne and Koenigssee earlier in the season but a finish of equal fourth, just 0.65seconds off first, was enough for him to hold onto first place overall.
Hefti took his third victory of the season and second in a row on just his fifth appearance with his late start on the World Cup circuit and following successes aiding Rush’s course.
He beat Germany's Thomas Florschuetz into second by 0.30 while all Melbardis could manage was third a further 0.10 adrift as he ultimately fell 54 points shy of overthrowing Rush.
Rush finished with 1656 points to become the first Canadian since Pierre Lueders in 2006 to win the two-man title and the second this season after Kaillie Humphries' two-woman success on Friday.
Hefti was untouchable in the Olympic host city in Sochi as he clocked the fastest time of both runs, 56.73 and 57.03 with Florschuetz the man behind him on both to place second.
Melbardis clocked the same first-run time as Florschuetz, 56.89, but was slower than him and Hefti with his second run and had to make do with third and second in the overall World Cup standings.
Rush was fourth quickest first time out and then sixth second time out to tie for fourth with Alexander Zubkov while Britain's John Jackson was 16th for his best finish in three rounds.
Pushed by Bruce Tasker in Sochi, Jackson was once again joined by fellow Brit Lamin Deen in the two-man event, who with the help of his previous brakeman Craig Pickering, placed 28th.

 

[Smallville22]

Skeleton World Cup

Thees edges Huber to World Cup title in Sochi

Marion Thees wrapped up her first women's skeleton World Cup title for four years by the narrowest of margins with a fourth in Sochi as Noelle Pikus-Pace took the last win of the season.
The 28-year-old headed into the ninth and final round in Sochi, the season finale also acting as the official Olympic test event, with just a 12-point lead over fellow German Anja Huber in second. And it would be between these two that the battle for the overall World Cup would finish so close with just 0.19seconds separating them in the Olympic host city. Pikus-Pace ran away with the win, her second of the season and two weeks after having to settle for World Championship silver behind Brit Shelley Rudman, 0.11 ahead of fellow American Katie Uhlaender. Huber did her best to thwart Thees' bid as she placed third in both runs for third 0.76 back on 2012 world champion Uhlaender however Thees kept her within reach to finish fourth. That saw Thees' overall lead at the top of the World Cup standings cut but not by enough points as she claimed her first title since 2009 by just four ahead of 2011 winner Huber. Thees, runner-up in last year's World Cup to Briton Rudman, placed fourth in both her runs for an overall time 1:59.97minutes and just 0.19 behind compatriot Huber. It was Uhlaender who set the early pace taking the lead after posting 58.98 on run one with Pikus-Pace 0.17 behind in second however she couldn't match it during run two. Uhlaender failed to duck under a minute clocking 1:00.04 as Pikus-Pace recorded 59.76 for the win and her fifth top-three finish in the six World Cup events she has entered this season. Meanwhile Lizzy Yarnold was the best Brit in Sochi finishing in ninth, 1.76 behind Pikus-Pace and four places ahead of newly crowned world champion Rudman. Rudman insisted that results didn't matter at the test event in the Olympic host city and was 0.44 back on Yarnold in 13th with the third Brit in the field Donna Creighton 19th.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Raposo confident despite unknown step at European Youth Olympic Winter Festival

Alpine skier Charlie Raposo admits he is stepping into the unknown at the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Brasov but he insists he does so with high expectations.
The 17-year-old, who is currently based in Vermont in America, has been competing non-stop since November with almost 30 races completed in downhill, super G, slalom and giant slalom.
He is in his second season as a FIS competitor and picked up his first win in a slalom race in Sugarbush before Christmas before repeating the trick in Ontario at the start of the month.
Raposo therefore heads to Romania for the European Youth Olympic Winter Festival with high hopes even if he reveals that he doesn't know who he will be up against or how good they will be.
"I have been competing pretty heavily since November when the season started," said Raposo, who grew up skiing in Verbier in Switzerland.
"I haven't stopped yet, I haven't stopped for classes, I haven't stopped for anything and things are feeling good right now.
"I am not 100 per-cent sure who is going to be out there and the oldest guys are going to be a year older than me but I am not going to use that as an excuse.
"I expect a lot out of myself and I am going to ski the best I can, if I ski the best I can and know that I couldn't have done any better that will be good enough.
"There are always tenths to get so you just have to fight for all of that and hope that it holds up. We'll see, it's hard to say right now but expectations are high I know that much."

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Championships

Teenager Shiffrin stuns field to win women's slalom

17-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin announced herself with a startling victory in the World Championships slalom in Schladming.
Shiffrin, who has already won three slalom races on this season's World Cup circuit, was third fastest in the first run but then produced a typically aggressive performance in the second to take gold.
One month short of her 18th birthday, Shiffrin pipped Austria's Michaela Kirchgasser by 0.22 of a second to become the third youngest slalom world champion. Sweden's Frida Hansdotter, who led after the first run, was third.
"I can't believe what is happening to me here," Shiffrin reporters at the finish line.
"It has been quite a tough experience for me, especially this morning as I felt pretty tired prior to the race.
"I needed some time to find back my best concentration and ski the way I was hoping," added a tearful Shiffrin.
"I guess I'll need some time to really understand the meaning of today's performance. Ask me again next year please."

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Takanashi edges closer to World Cup title in Ljubno

Japanese teenager Sara Takanashi claimed her third successive women's ski jumping World Cup win in the first of two events in Slovenia, the last round before the Nordic World Ski Championships.
The 16-year-old's bid to overthrow American Sarah Hendrickson, who won the inaugural World Cup title last season, has gathered pace this month with Takanashi doing the double in Zao last weekend.
That gave her a 230-point lead at the top of the overalls standings going into another double header in Ljubno and she extended it by beating Hendrickson for her third straight World Cup win.
Takanashi was three points ahead of the American after jumping 88.5m in the first round for a total of 111.5 and she increased the gap between the two over ten after round two.
She leapt 88m for 113.6 points this time for an overall total of 225.1 that Hendrickson simply couldn't compete with as she maintained second with a combined effort of 214.2.
France's Coline Mattel, who has won two World Cups this season, placed third with 212.1 before two home jumpers in Spela Rogelj and Katja Pozun in fourth and fifth respectively.
There are now just three World Cup events left this season, one more in Ljubno and two in Norway after the Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme in less than a week’s time.
And with a maximum of 300 points on offer from those three rounds Takanashi's win in the first event in Slovenia has put her 250 points ahead of second-placed Hendrickson overall.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Championships

Svendsen returns as Norway win men's relay

Emil Hegle Svendsen returned from a sore throat at the Biathlon World Championships to ensure Norway's fine tradition in the men's relay continued with a fourth successive win in Nove Mesto.
The 27-year-old opted out of Thursday's 20km individual after a bought of illness, that preventing him from potentially claiming every gold medal on offer to him in the Czech Republic.
However, with Svendsen returning for the men's 4x7.5km relay, it was back to winning ways as he claimed a fourth goal medal after wins in the mixed relay and the sprint and the pursuit.
It was also Norway and Svendsen's fourth men's relay medal in a row with their quartet dominating the field to once again force Frenchman Martin Fourcade to settle for silver, his fourth.
The Norwegian quartet of Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, Henrik L'Abee-Lund, Tarjei Boe and Svendsen combined to clock a winning time of 1:15:39.0hours in Nove Mesto.
That was well over a minute of Fourcade and France while Germany were less than six seconds behind them to occupy the final spot on the podium in the men's relay.
The lead was shared by several nations over the first 7.5km with Germany leading the host nation, Norway and Russia after the first exchange after shooting clear.
By the second though Norway held a narrow lead over Germany, who once again were perfect in the range, with L'Abee-Lund hitting all of his targets after Bjoerndalen missed three.
From thereon in Norway were not to be challenged as Boe handed over to Svendsen with the lead at over 16 seconds before it ended at well over a minute.

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe World Cup

Yater-Wallace returns to winning ways at Sochi

Torin Yater-Wallace won his second freestyle ski halfpipe World Cup event of the season to head into the fifth and final round next month with the overall title in his grasp.
The 17-year-old won the season opener in Cardrona in August and, after opting out of the next leg in Copper Mountain, returned to finish second at round three in Park City.
And Yater-Wallace was back to winning ways at the penultimate World Cup round of the season in Sochi, the leg also acting as the test event for next year's Olympics in the same venue.
He produced a best score of 93.8 from his second run with American teammate Gus Kenworthy taking second with 90.0 and Mike Riddle third with 88.2 in Russia.
Another American David Wise was fifth with Yater-Wallace now leading the overall halfpipe World Cup standings by 75 points with only 100 more on offer at the final round.
That will come in Sierra Nevada at the end of March with the Freestyle World Ski Championships in Voss at the start of next month next on everyone's agenda.

Switzerland's Virginie Faivre will head into the worlds in high spirits after winning the women's event in Sochi, her first of the season which puts her into the overall lead.
The margin of victory was tight though as she scored 80.8 from her first run to just pip Rosalind Groenewoud of Canada who produced an effort of 79.0 with her opening outing.
Canadian teammate Keltie Hansen completed the top three with a first run score of 76.4 with Faivre leading the overall halfpipe World Cup standings by just eight points.
Winter X Games superpipe champion Maddie Bowman, winner of the last two events, was 11th to surrender the lead while Ayana Onozuka, who was seventh, is only eight points behind her in third.