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Sochi 2014 test events continue with ladies, men in Bansko
The turn of the ladies' Audi FIS Ski World Cup in Sochi (RUS) last week unleashed an assortment of weather offerings, all with a coastal character. On the first day of downhill training in quite warm temperatures just a couple of athletes made it down the Rosa Khutor course before the wind kicked in, turning the training into more of a high-speed inspection.
Then, about 20 cm of snow fell overnight, cancelling training No. 2, thus leaving the ladies with just one real training run before the race. On Friday, Lindsey Vonn led the final training by more than a second and a half. While rumors had circulated before arriving in Sochi that the ladies' course for the 2014 Games was "easy," the racers decided differently once they got a taste of the Rosa Khutor course's very unique turns, steeps and flats full of rolls and terrain.
When it was race time, Maria Hoefl-Riesch was the lady to put her marker down, winning her first downhill of the season. The German 2011 FIS Overall World Cup winner said she surprised even herself with her victorious run: "I saw the board far away and the green light. I came close and wanted to be sure it's really me standing at the top of the list and I couldn't believe it," she said.
Elisabeth Goergl (AUT) on the other hand crossed the line and felt she couldn't have skied the course any better. She took second, 0.43 seconds behind Hoefl-Riesch while Vonn rounded out the podium. The third place was enough for the American to again secure the downhill globe for the season. A thick fog set in throughout the event on Saturday and unfortunately the last 10 athletes on the downhill start list did not get to race.
When it came time for the super-combined on Sunday, not only had more snow fallen (some 8 cm) but the fog created such a thicket of moisture that the snow on the course was rendered the consistency of sand. After doing all they could to prepare the slope, officials and Organizers determined the surface was simply not adequate and the final ladies super combined of the season was cancelled and it will not be replaces. This meant that Vonn who won the first super combined and came second to Hoefl-Riesch in the second, will be awarded the globe, which signifies her third straight in the event.
Meanwhile in Bansko (BUL) the men staged a tech weekend that saw only one winner: Austrian Marcel Hirscher claimed a double victory first taking the giant slalom as first-run leader Ted Ligety failed to finish and then also clinching Sunday's slalom. With an additional 200 points, Hirscher overtook Beat Feuz in the overall standings and is closing the gap on Kostelic, currently out of action due to knee injury. For Hirscher, the Bansko wins were numbers 7 & 8 of the year. The surprise of the men's weekend in Bansko however was another Austrian the young Marcel Mathis who scored his first World Cup podium with an impressive second run in Saturday's giant slalom in his only 9th World Cup start!
For more details, visit www.fisalpine.com
Contributed by Shauna Farnell and Vanessa Pierce