2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Championships

Lamy Chappuis wins world title after sprint finish

Olympic champion Jason Lamy Chappuis won a four-way sprint finish to claim the 10km individual normal hill title, and his second career gold, at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Italy.
The 26-year-old Frenchman started 73 seconds behind front runner Haavard Klemetsen following the ski jumping phase of the opening Nordic combined event in Val di Fiemme.
However he executed the perfect race around the cross-country ski course, catching the leading pack with 2.5km to go to put himself into contention for a medal.
And, as the pack dropped from eight to six to four, Lamy Chappuis got stronger and stronger making his break on the last downhill and holding to win after a sprint to the finish with three others.
Lamy Chappuis edged out Mario Stecher by just 0.2 seconds with the Austrian taking silver ahead of Bjoern Kircheisen by 0.1 who claimed bronze ahead of defending champion Eric Frenzel by 0.2.
He claimed his maiden world title in the 10km individual large hill event in Oslo in 2011 a year after winning the normal hill Olympic title and admitted his cross-country tactics had gloriously paid off.
"It feels great, it feels awesome. I couldn't believe it as my jumping was disappointing," said Lamy Chappuis. "But on my skis I felt awesome and I felt everything was right into place.
"[At the finish] I just tried to push hard at the top of the hill and gain a lot of speed. I knew I could stay in front with maybe five metres to go.
"A lot of others couldn't catch me because I gave it everything that I had. I knew it was going to be a hard race with a lot of uphills.
"I started slowly, at a good pace but slowly, but I knew after two or three rounds that I could do it because I had caught up a lot of people."
Lamy Chappuis placed 11th after the ski jumping phase with his leap of 94.5m giving him 107.3 points with Klemetsen leading the way with a distance of 103.5m that earned him 125.6.
Stecher, who has struggled with a knee injury, jumped further than Klemetsen with an effort of 106m but was marked down receiving 121.7 points to start 16 seconds off the Norwegian.
He and Austrian team-mate Christoph Bieler, third after the jumping a second behind Stecher, overtook Klemetsen after just 2.5km with Frenzel, starting sixth 41 seconds behind, in fourth.
Frenzel was less than ten seconds behind by the 3.8km mark and then up to second at the halfway stage as Taihei Kato, fifth after the jumping, came from nowhere to surge ahead.
German Frenzel had the lead by 6.3km with Kato down to sixth while with 2.5km to go as many as eight were bunched together with Kircheisen leading and Lamy Chappuis now with them.
The eight-strong pack was soon narrowed to six and then the remaining four with Lamy Chappuis going early before being reeled in, however his second move proved decisive.
He had the momentum on the home straight with the finishing line approaching and was not to be beaten as he took the win ahead of Stecher, Kircheisen and Frenzel respectively.
Klemetsen was the best of the rest finish fifth 16.2seconds behind Lamy Chappuis in total while Kato was sixth over eight seconds further behind the Norwegian.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Championships

Hendrickson takes women's gold, Hilde tops men's qualifying

America's Sarah Hendrickson won the women's HS106 long jump gold at the world championships.
Last year's World Cup champion soared 106m in her first jump then comfortably claimed the title, and pronounced herself "super happy".

In the men's event Tom Hilde produced the biggest leap of the normal hill ski jumping qualifying round at the Nordic World Ski Championships to lead the list of those not automatically qualified in Val di Fiemme.
The 25-year-old, who has a best finish of second on the World Cup circuit this season, jumped 103m for a total of 121.3 to top the qualification round, which saw 40 progress.
Japan's Taku Takeuchi was just behind the Norwegian in second after his leap of 102.5m produced a score of 120.7 while Andreas Stjernen matched that effort but was awarded 119.8 for third.
Hilde's effort was also better than those of the ten pre-qualified jumpers with Simon Ammann recording the best distance however like Takeuchi and Stjernen it was exactly 102.5m.
Meanwhile defending individual normal hill world champion Thomas Morgenstern could only manage 98.5m for a total of 110.6 points that placed him 19th out of the 40 qualifiers.

 

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Alpine Skiing World Cup

Innerhofer triumphs in Garmisch downhill

Italian Christof Innerhofer secured his third World Cup downhill win of the season when he held off a trio of Austrians on the German Kandahar piste.
Dubbed 'Winnerhofer' when he won the Super-G world title in Garmisch-Partenkirchen two years ago, Innerhofer lived up to his nickname by taking victory in one minute and 37.83 seconds.
On a course he relishes, the Italian followed up wins at Beaver Creek and Wengen by finishing 0.12 ahead of Georg Streitberger.
Klaus Kroell was 0.16 off the pace, followed by Hannes Reichelt and Norway's world champion Aksel Lund Svindal.
Innerhofer, who also won a downhill bronze medal on the same piste in 2011, took advantage of his knowledge of the terrain and improving visibility conditions to bag the sixth World Cup laurels of his career.
"It's like coming back home for me. It's really nice to return to a spot you love so much. It was important to show that two years after my world title, I'm still as good as I was then," he said.
"It was also important to react with a victory straight after the world championships which didn't turn out the way I wanted,".
At the worlds in Schladming, Austria earlier this month, Innerhofer was 14th in the downhill, 7th in the super-G and did not finish the super combined.
The battle for the discipline's crystal globe is extremely tight with two races left.
Svindal is on 359 points, 10 ahead of Italy's Dominik Paris and 15 ahead of Innerhofer, who lost vital points when he was forced to start the Kitzbuehel downhill in 46th position after ignoring a yellow flag in practice.
"I lost a lot of points in Kitzbuehel but I'm not the kind of person who looks back. I'm now setting my sights on Kvitfjell next week," Innerhofer said.
The men's programme continues in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Sunday with a giant slalom.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Ruiz Castillo secures historic downhill win for Spain

Carolina Ruiz Castillo put Spain back on the Alpine skiing map by winning the women's World Cup downhill in Meribel on Saturday, the first victory in the sport's blue riband event by any Spaniard.
At 31, the Chilean-born skier who trains in France outpaced the leading favourites to clinch her first World Cup victory, 13 years after her only podium to date in a giant slalom in Sestriere.
Ruiz Castillo won in one minute 42.56 seconds to bridge a seven-year gap since the last top spot earned by compatriot Maria Jose Rienda Contreras in a giant slalom in Hafjell seven years ago.
It was almost a home win for popular speed specialist Ruiz Castillo as she regularly trains with the French team and had the chance to practise on the Meribel course, which had not been used on the World Cup circuit for 19 years.
"It's a formidable achievement after all the commitment and hard work for so many years in difficult conditions," she said.
"Fortunately, this year I had the opportunity to train well with the French and I knew I had the potential as I'm really strong in practice.
"It's a great day for me as the conditions suited me ideally," the Spaniard added referring to the smooth technical course.
Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch, the super-combined world champion in Schladming, was second, 0.20 seconds adrift for her third downhill podium of the winter after Lake Louise and her bronze medal at the worlds earlier this month.
"I cannot be disappointed to come second behind Carolina. Everybody's happy for her. It has not been a great season for me so second is a good result.
"Since I don't have a crystal globe to fight for, I'm going to go for race wins without pressure, hoping to do well next week at home in Garmisch," she said.
Local favourite Marie Marchand-Arvier missed the runners-up spot by the slimmest margin, finishing 0.01 behind Hoefl-Riesch.
World Cup leader Tina Maze of Slovenia missed the podium by 0.07 seconds but added 50 points to her overall World Cup tally, taking it to 1,744 points ahead of Hoefl-Riesch on 886.
France's world champion Marion Rolland had to be content with 10th place, 0.80 off the pace.
Maze and Hoefl-Riesch will be clear favourites in Sunday's super-combined on the same Roc de Fer piste, home to the women's races at the 1992 Olympics.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Championships

Bjoergen defends another title in Val di Fiemme

Marit Bjoergen made it two cross-country skiing wins in as many days at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme impressively defending a second title in the process.
The 32-year-old, who missed the Tour de Ski after suffering an irregular heartbeat, took the ladies' sprint title as the first cross country medals were awarded on Friday.
And the Norwegian triple Olympic champion produced yet another stunning race at a World Championships to win the 7.5km classic, 7.5km freestyle pursuit skiathlon for her ninth global title.
Part of a five strong pack, Bjoergen and Therese Johaug broke away however the former had too much to contend with over the final metres as she clocked a winning time of 39:04.4minutes.
Johaug held on for silver while Heidi Weng completed a Norwegian clean sweep of the medals by taking third ahead of teammate Kristin Stoermer Steira in Val di Fiemme.
Bjoergen won the sprint and skiathlon titles at the last World Championships on home soil in Oslo in 2011 as well as the 10km classic and 4x5km women's relay crowns and 30km freestyle silver.
Justyna Kowalczyk, Bjoergen, Johaug, Weng and Steira were the five that broke away as the freestyle phase wore on however the only non-Norwegian skier was to drop off with ten minutes to go.
Johaug and Bjoergen soon escaped the remaining two as the field started to string out with Kowalczyk desperately trying to hold on in a bid to claim a medal.
Bjoergen upped the pace over the final few metres and would not be stopped by Johaug, who came home 3.4 seconds behind while Weng got the better of Steira at the line.
Weng was 14.9 behind Bjoergen in total and 1.4 ahead of Steira with Kowalczyk a distant fifth over ten second behind the fourth of the Norwegians in the top four.

 

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Luge World Cup

Hufner wins women's luge finale in Sochi

Tatjana Hufner saved her best until last as the women's luge World Cup came to a close in the Olympic venue of Sochi, the German claiming her first victory of the season.
Hufner, the winner of the past five World Cup titles heading into the season, has played second fiddle to German team-mates Natalie Geisenberger and Anke Wischnewski this campaign.
Geisenberger stripped Hufner of her World Cup title with a sixth victory from eight last time out at Lake Placid while Wischnewski and Tatiana Ivanova have claimed the other two wins.
However Hufner showed why she should not be forgotten at the season finale and at the perfect venue with Sochi set to host next year’s Winter Olympic Games.
Hufner beat Geisenberger by the narrowest of margins in Russia, 0.038 seconds, before Wischnewski in third a further 0.268 behind and then Ivanova in fourth.
It appeared as if it would be a similar story after the first run with World Cup champion Geisenberger leading Hufner and Wischnewski following a track record of 50.984.
However Hufner, who was just 0.001 behind after run one, had other ideas and was to produce the quickest time second time out, 51.027 to take the win.
Geisenberger was the second fastest in 51.066 for second overall while Wischnewski, despite being fifth after a third first time out, stayed in third place.
Hufner's victory kept her in third place in the overall women's World Cup standings with 561 points with Wischnewski closing the season on 655 and Geisenberger 855.
That ensured that the top three positions in the overall women's World Cup were dominated by Germany for the 12th season running, dating back to 2002.

 

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Freestyle Skiing Moguls World Cup

Kingsbury edges closer to World Cup title with Inawashiro win

Mikael Kingsbury moved one step closer to retaining his freestyle ski moguls World Cup crown with a second successive victory and sixth for the season in Inawashiro.
The 20-year-old has been in fine form this season with victories in Ruka, Lake Placid, Calgary, Deer Valley and Sochi and he picked up another one in the first event as the tour moved to Japan.
Kingsbury, who claimed eight wins on the way to the moguls and overall freestyle ski World Cup titles last year, beat off fierce competition from three others in final two for victory.
Four of the final six were Canadian however it was Bradley Wilson in second place ahead of Olympic moguls champion Alexandre Bilodeau while Marc-Antoine Gagnon was fourth.
Kingsbury now has 705 points to his name at the top of the overall moguls World Cup standings, 192 ahead of second-placed Bilodeau with four rounds left this season.

It was a Canadian double in Inawashiro with Audrey Robichaud claiming her first victory of the season in the women's moguls event that took place before the men's.
Three Canadian's were in final two this time however again only one more was on the podium as Nikola Sudova of the Czech Republic beat Chloe Dufour-Lapointe into second.
Justine Dufour-Lapointe placed fourth and still leads the overall moguls World Cup standings with second placed Hannah Kearney not making it out of qualifying to rank 23rd.

 

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Cross-Country Skiing World Championships

Cologna wins pursuit gold at world championships

Dario Cologna timed his move to perfection to win his maiden Nordic World Ski Championship title in Val di Fiemme as he took pursuit gold, ending Petter Northug's run of successive victories in the event.
Cologna, who claimed Olympic cross country 15km freestyle gold at Vancouver 2010, was making his tenth start at a World Championships in the pursuit with a best finish of fourth in the sprint in 2009.
However, having won the past three World Cup pursuit races he has entered, Cologna seized the initiative in the 15km classic, 15km freestyle to break his World Championship medal drought.
Cologna, from Switzerland, made a break with less than four kilometres to go in Val di Fiemme and was not to be caught as he stormed away at the death to record a winning time of 1:13:09.3hours.
With a Norway one-two-three-four in the women's pursuit, Cologna prevented another clean sweep for the nation with Martin Johnsrud Sundby winning a sprint finish for second with Sjur Roethe.
The third Norwegian was none other than Northug, the defending pursuit champion having taken gold in Liberec in 2009 and in Oslo in 2011, who was 3.2seconds off claiming a medal in fourth.
It was Sundby who made the first telling break in the pursuit from a sizeable leading pack at the 22.5km mark however he was all alone and was soon swallowed back up.
Roethe was the next in front with 3.75km to go before his Norwegian teammate Tord Asle Gjerdalen threatened to go himself but the main protagonists in the race were not to be caught out.
Cologna and Maxim Vylegzhanin were too aware however the former took the opportunity from thereon in to break away himself for a lead that he would not relinquish.
He made another breakaway from the two chasing him after the final climb to win by 1.8 seconds ahead of Sundby who got the better of Roethe at the line.

 

[Smallville22]

Skeleton - Laughton excited by Britain's sliders

Performance director Nigel Laughton insists Britain's skeleton sliders are exactly where he wants them to be as they take a break before beginning in earnest their preparations for Sochi 2014.
Britain finished the season with three sliders in the top ten of the FIBT world rankings with Lizzy Yarnold and Shelley Rudman placing sixth and seventh respectively in the women's standings.
Rudman's partner Kristan Bromley also ranked seventh in the men's with Britain once again qualifying three quota places for sliders in both genders for next year's World Cup season.
Laughton states Rudman's win at the World Championships in St Moritz as his highlight but has been equally impressed with the performances of the other members of the British team.
Rudman claimed Britain's only gold medal during the World Cup season in Winterberg in December but Yarnold did collect silver and bronze medals before finishing fourth at the World Championships.
Dominic Parsons ended ninth on his World Championship debut in St Moritz while earlier in the season he won four medals including one gold on the Intercontinental Cup circuit.
Britain's sliders also got a taste of the Olympic venue in Sochi during the final World Cup round of the season last weekend and will return to Russia for a training week in November.
They are currently enjoying a break before getting back together in mid-March with Laughton wholly satisfied with where Britain's athletes are less than a year out from the Sochi 2014 Olympics.
"The last few weeks in Sochi has been a great learning experience for the entire squad and being in the Olympic environment will prove invaluable to both the athletes and staff," said Laughton.
"The Sochi 2014 staff worked hard to give us a successful test event and we look forward to returning for more training at the beginning of next season, when we will have had time to review this experience.
"Throughout the season, results from both the World Cup and Intercontinental Cup have been good and we are pleased to reach our target of retaining the full quota of athletes on the World Cup squad for next year.
"Naturally, the highlight of the season has been Shelley's recent World Championship win in St Moritz and I offer my congratulations to her.
"As a squad, we are in a great place and I'd like to thank the athletes, coaches and support staff at British Skeleton for their commitment this season.
"After a deserved, albeit short, break, summer training will commence in earnest and their collective professionalism and passion will drive them in pursuit of their personal and our collective goals in 2013/14."

 

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Ski Jumping World Championships

Bardal stuns big names to win ski jump gold

Anders Bardal shocked the biggest names in ski jumping as he won world championhip HS 106 gold at Val di Fiemme.
Bardal, who claimed the men's ski jumping World Cup title last season but had never claimed an individual medal at the World Championships or Olympic Games, finally tasted individual success in Italy as his leading leaps in both rounds gave him victory ahead of favourite Gregor Schlierenzauer.
Bardal jumped 103.5m and 100m for a combined points total of 252.6 with Schlierenzauer, the defending individual large hill champion, settling for silver 4.2 behind.
Peter Prevc was another 4.1 adrift to claim bronze and the final podium place ahead of Severin Freund while the winner from Oslo in 2011 Thomas Morgenstern was fifth.
Morgenstern was the first jumper to cross 100m in round one, jumping right on the mark, with Taku Takeuchi quickly following suit to overtake him for the lead with an effort 102m.
That paved the way for more of the same with Freund leaping 101, Richard Freitag 103.5m, Prevc 102.5m and Kamil Stoch of Poland 102m but none were as good as Bardal.
He leapt 103.5m for 124.1 points and the lead with Schlierenzauer, deciding to jump two gates lower to gain compensation points, recording just 98m but a total of 120 points put him third behind Stoch.
Medium intensity snowfall greeted round two with Andreas Wank the early leader until Morgenstern came along with Freund then overtaking them both.
Schlierenzauer saw another request to jump at a lower starting gate this time pay off as he stormed into the lead with a leap of 97.5m for a then best total of 248.4.
However that was to be just bettered by Bardal as good speed gained on the hill allowed him to reach a good height and he landed exactly 100m for 128.5 points and the win.
The 30-year-old had four World Championship medals, all silver and from the team competitions, prior to the individual normal hill final in Val di Fiemme.

 

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Luge - Hufner wins Sochi test event

Tatjana Hufner won the women's individual title at the Olympic test event in Sochi.
The Olympic champion edged fellow German Natalie Geisenberger - recently-crowned World Cup champion - to win the women's event, which was marred by warm temperatures, light rain and poor quality ice.
Anke Wischnewski was third.
“It is maybe my favourite track,” Hufner said after her win. “It has its character.”

 

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Freestyle Skiing Aerials World Cup

Morris and Cook victorious; Jia takes World Cup title
David Morris and Emily Cook won the final freestyle ski aerials World Cup of the season at a night event in Ukraine with Jia Zongyang claiming the overall men's title without even showing up.

Australian Morris produced the best score of final two to claim his maiden World Cup win with his effort of 112.67 better than those of Dylan Ferguson, Maxim Gustik and Thomas Lambert.
American Ferguson placed second with 105.31 while Gustik and Lambert failed to break the 100-point barrier with the former taking third with an effort of 94.77 to the latter’s 89.59.
Morris' win was only his second career podium finish having finished third in Lake Placid in January and saw him finish second in the overall men's aerials World Cup standings.
Jia claimed the overall title despite not competing in Bukovel as compatriot Qi Guangpu didn't take part either with the latter in truth the champion elect after the last round in Sochi.
He was 93 points ahead of Qi with only 100 on offer at the final round with Morris taking his tally for the season to 332 to split the two Chinese skiers and finish second overall.

Xu Mengtao was also absent from the women's event but had the overall World Cup event comfortably already wrapped up with Cook, like Morris, also winning to move into second.
She denied the home crowd a victory in a tight final two, beating Nadiya Didenko of Ukraine by just 0.73 points after posting a score of 83.89 to her 83.16.
Tanja Schaerer grabbed third ahead of Kiley McKinnon with Mengtao finishing on 560 points and Cook ending the World Cup season with 303.

 

[Smallville22]

Freestyle Skiing Moguls World Cup

Wilson and Ito claim maiden wins in Inawashiro

Bradley Wilson and Miki Ito were both on form to toast their maiden freestyle ski World Cup wins in the second of two events in Inawashiro.
Wilson placed second behind men's World Cup leader Mikael Kingsbury in the first moguls event in Japan, but was not to be denied in the dual moguls.
He got the better of Olympic champion Alexandre Bilodeau in the big final while Joseph Discoe beat Sho Kashima for third in an all-American small final.
Kingsbury placed fifth and still has a healthy 157-point lead over Bilodeau in the overall moguls World Cup standings with three rounds of the season remaining.
Ito gave the home crowd plenty to cheer in Inawashiro as she prevented an American double by beating Mikaela Matthews in the ladies' big final.
Ito was making her 80th World Cup start and was on form to better her previous World Cup best which was a second in Megeve, also in the dual moguls, last year.
There was however another all-American small final with defending World Cup champion Hannah Kearney defeating Eliza Outtrim to claim third place.
Kearney, who didn't even make it out of qualifying in the first moguls event in Japan, overtook Justine Dufour-Lapointe in the overall World Cup standings.
She leads the Canadian, placing eighth in Inawashiro, by just three points.

 

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Alpine Skiing World Cup

Pinturault wins Garmisch giant slalom

Gifted Frenchman Alexis Pinturault confirmed his all-round skills with a first Alpine ski World Cup giant slalom victory.
Probably the most versatile skier produced by France since Jean-Claude Killy, Pinturault clocked two minutes 32.42 seconds on the Kandahar course to beat Austrian World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher and triple world champion Ted Ligety of the United States.
It was Pinturault's fourth World Cup victory, all in different disciplines as the 21-year-old from Courchevel has also won a slalom and a super-combined this winter and a parallel slalom last season.
"It's a very important victory because giant slalom is the discipline in which I had my first podiums," said Pinturault, who was twice junior world champion in the speciality.
"I was not far, I was always close but I finally found my way to the top of the podium," added the Frenchman, who straddled the final gate in Val d'Isere in December as he was comfortably leading a giant slalom.
Below par in the morning run and suffering from influenza, slalom world champion Hirscher fought back in the second leg to finish 0.60 seconds adrift.
The Austrian increased his overall World Cup lead, heading Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who finished sixth in the German resort, by 209 points.
Perhaps a little tired after his three world golds in Schladming this month, Ligety had to be content with third, 0.63 off the pace.
"It's hard to be disappointed by a podium spot but I frankly didn't come to Garmisch to finish third," Ligety said.
"I might have been a little tired after the worlds but I was also surprised by the soft snow and was never able to deliver one of my usual runs," said the American, who admitted that Pinturault was above the rest on the day.
"It's a great honour to receive such plaudits from the man who has been our inspiration since the start of the season, pushing us to give our very best. I'm extremely flattered," the Frenchman responded.
Garmisch-born Felix Neureuther was fastest in the first leg but cracked under pressure in the afternoon and finished 12th.
While the men's circuit moves to Kvitfjell in Norway next weekend for a downhill and a super-G, Ligety will be travelling to Sochi to train on the 2014 Olympic course.

 

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Cross-Country Skiing World Championships

Diggins and Randall make history for USA

Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall wrote their name into the history books as they claimed a first World Championship cross country gold medal for the USA in the women's team sprint.
Heading into the competition at Val di Fiemme America had yet seen one of their athletes climb the top step of the podium at a World Championships or Olympic Games.
Randall had won a sprint silver in the 2009 World Championships - but went one better alongside Diggins in Italy.
The duo crossed the finish line in 20:24.44 for the win, Sweden's Charlotte Kalla and Ida Ingemarsdotter 7.80 seconds further back in second with Finland's Riikka Sarasoja-Lilja and Krista Lahteenmaki taking bronze.

In the men's event it was Russian duo Alexey Petukhov and Nikita Kriukov who claimed the gold.
The pair crossed in 21:30.98 for Russia's first team relay gold medal in a major championship since 1982.
Sweden once again had to settle for silver as Marcus Hellner and Emil Joensson crossed in second, with Kazakhstan's Nikolay Chebotko and Alexey Poltoranin picking up bronze.

 

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Alpine Skiing World Cup

Maze claims overall title with Méribel SC victory

Tina Maze sealed her near-perfect Alpine skiing season with the overall World Cup when she won the women's super-combined event in Méribel.
Fastest in the morning downhill section, the Slovenian secured her position in the afternoon slalom to bag her ninth victory of the season in an aggregate time of one minute 59.54 seconds.
The victory took a while to sink in for Maze, who was suffering from a stomach bug and was not even aware that the World Cup was at stake when she started the second leg.
"I was really in a bad way and I didn't even believe I would make it to the finish. I nearly went out twice and I just tried to get down there as quickly as I could," she said.
While Austrians Nicole Hosp and Michaela Kirchgasser were second and third, 0.82 and 0.90 behind respectively, all eyes were on Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch, the only skier still in a position to delay Maze's official crowning.
When the super-combined world champion straddled a gate and crashed towards the end of her slalom run, the 29-year-old Maze achieved her lifetime goal by winning the trophy.
With nine World Cup races left until the end of the season, Maze leads Hoefl-Riesch by 958 points and can no longer be caught as each victory awards 100 points.
"I was not even aware that Maria was out and I only realised I had won the globe when Niki and Michi congratulated me in the finish area," Maze said.
With 1,844 points, the Slovenian is also widely expected to become the first woman to break the 2,000-points barrier and she could do so as early as next week in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with three races scheduled in the German resort.
Maze, the first Slovenian to win the overall World Cup, won the giant slalom world title in 2011 and the super-G world crown this month in Schladming and has taken the 2013 giant slalom World Cup.
"Last year I didn't win a single race and when I said I wanted to win the World Cup, everybody was laughing.
"Lots of thoughts are going through my mind now, it's a little too much for me. When the national anthem went on the podium, it was hard to hold my tears.
"We're a small country of two million people, it's not always easy to follow a different path there," said Maze, who severed links with her national federation to start her own training outfit five years ago.
While no super-combined crystal globe is being awarded this season, the Slovenian is still in contention to win the three other speciality World Cups.
"My goal is to remain focused and to go all the way, to stretch my limits in the three remaining weeks," she said.
"I can break the 2,000 points, I can win more globes, beat the record of podiums in a season. There's still a lot left to achieve."

 

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Biathlon - Starykh edges out Dzhyma to claim European title

Russian Irina Starykh edged out Juliya Dzhyma to claim the women's 7.5km sprint title at the European Championships in Bansko, Bulgaria.
Both women demonstrated their dead-eye with the rifle, shooting clean throughout the race to make for a tight finish.
But the last laugh belonged to Starykh as she crossed the finish line in 21:28.1 minutes to take the gold, 0.4 seconds ahead of Dzhyma.
The battle for medals quickly became a five-way tussle as the other racers were left behind.
And claiming the final spot on the podium was Poland's Monika Hojnisz as she came home in 21:33.7 minutes.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Championships

Takanashi helps Japan win mixed team gold

Sara Takanashi had to settle for second best as she went it alone at the World Championships but she returned to the Val di Fiemme slope 48 hours later to claim gold as she helped Japan to victory in the mixed team normal hill event.
Friday saw American Sarah Hendrickson pip Takanashi to the top step of the podium in Italy in the women's individual normal hill competition.
But it was a case of safety in numbers for the 16-year-old Takanashi as Japan won gold in the mixed team event.
Takanashi was joined by Taku Takeuchi and Yuki and Daiki Ito as the quartet racked up 1011.0 points to win with ease as they lead from start to finish.
Taking silver were Austria as they finished with 986.7 points, Gregor Schlierenzauer and Jacqueline Seifriedsberger climbing the podium in Italy for the second time this World Championships after winning men’s normal hill silver and women’s bronze respectively.
And taking bronze were the German team, however they will be disappointed having sat second at the midway stage.

 

[Smallville22]

Luge World Cup

Loch defends World Cup title as Langenhan claims Sochi win

German luger Felix Loch looks like the man to beat at next year's Winter Olympics despite compatriot Andi Langenhan winning Sunday's World Cup test event in Sochi, Russia.
With a year to go until the great and the good of the luge world descend on Sochi’s 'Sliding Centre Sanki' for the 2014 Games, the athletes were getting a sneak peak of what to expect as they brought the curtain down on the 2012-13 World Cup.
And world silver medallist Langenhan clearly liked what he saw as he was victorious, with Russian Albert Demchenko and German David Moeller finishing second and third respectively.
But it was Loch who was left celebrating as his finish of sixth was enough to wrap up his second-successive World Cup title, and having claimed European and world gold this campaign too he now holds all major titles in the pre-Olympic season.
Langenhan's victory in Sochin was enough to have him finish second overall behind compatriot Loch while Moeller made it an all German top three.

And there was more for Germany to shout about as the curtain came down on another World Cup season as they remained undefeated in the team relay with another victory in Sochi.
Tatjana Huefner, Langenhan and Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt made it six wins from six in Sochi with Russia finishing second and Canada third.
Germany ended the season with a maximum 600 points, with Italy taking silver and USA winning bronze.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Championships

Lamy-Chappuis claims second gold at World Championships

Jason Lamy-Chappuis made it two gold medals from two World Championship races as he helped France race to the Nordic combined team title in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
The Olympic champion was back on the Italian course looking to add to his medal tally, having already claimed the 10km normal hill gong.
But this time he wasn't alone as he joined forces with compatriots Francois Braud, Maxime Laheurte and Sebastien Lacroix.
And the French team came home in 57:34.0 minutes for victory, 0.4 seconds ahead of a Norway side anchored by Magnus Moan with their silver one place higher than two years ago in Oslo.
Picking up bronze were America as they crossed in 57:38.2 minutes, holding off the challenge from Japan who had to settle for fourth.