Para Alpine World Cup in Saalbach: Guimond bounces back, Aigner siblings capitalize on home snow

After a well-deserved Christmas break, the Para Alpine World Cup resumed this week in Saalbach, Austria. Between 13-17 January, skiers in the speed disciplines took center-stage in thrilling races across all categories as preparations for the Winter Paralympics continue.  

GUIMOND BOUNCES BACK

Canada’s Alexis Guimond bounced back from third in his first race to top the podium on his second one in what was a nail-biting battle in the men’s Standing category. A time of 54.91 at the second time of asking earned him top honors, with his closest competitors Arthur Bauchet of France (+0.04) and Robin Cuche of Switzerland (+0.36) earning silver and bronze on day two of competing. 

“After the [first race], I definitely felt I had areas to improve and I was convinced if I made those adjustments I would be able to fight for the top spot,” Guimond said. “That conviction carried through. 

“The snow conditions were quite different, it was quick so you had to just the line and be mindful of that. The key today was to stay very tactical and hold on to the bigger turns. I’ve been chasing this downhill victory for a while now and it feels pretty good to finally be able to get it.”  

Cuche topped the standings after race one to take home a gold, with Bauchet coming in second and Guimond finishing third.

DOUBLE DELIGHT FOR AUSTRIAN SIBLINGS

Johannes Aigner (AUT) clinched gold in the men’s Vision Impaired race at both times of asking, a time of 53.99 in the second Downhill race was enough to top the podium ahead of Italy’s Giacomo Bertagnolli and Britain’s Neil Simpson, respectively. Johannes bettered his efforts from the first outing, where he recorded a time of 54.97, with the order of the podium remaining unchanged in both.  

Aigner’s sister Veronika completed the golden double, guided by sister Elisabeth in the women’s Vision Impaired. She pipped Korea’s Sara Choi and Slovakia’s Alexandra Rexova to the top spot, making for a perfect outing on home slopes. Similarly to the men’s event, the podium was consistent among these three across both races.  

PEDERSEN WINS, KAMPSCHREUER DNF

Another thrilling instalment of the long-standing rivalry between Jesper Pedersen (NOR) and Jeroen Kampschreur (NED) was on the cards in men’s Sitting, the first race falling in the favor of the latter, the Dutchman collecting gold for his efforts. Pedersen finished narrowly behind in second, with USA’s Andrew Kurka clinching third.  

Unfortunately, a DNF for Kampschreur in race two left his Norwegian counterpart to assume the top spot on the 14^th, Kurka moving into second while Australia’s Josh Hanlon made the impressive jump from seventh to third to earn a bronze medal - his first World Cup podium in the discipline.  

RICHARD CLINCHES GOLD 

In control through the first and second races of women’s Standing, France’s Aurélie Richard topped the podium on both occasions in a closely fought contest in Saalbach, reaching the milestone of 10 World Cup victories. Coming in close behind her were Varvara Voronchikhina of Russia and Canadian Mollie Jepsen. The top three standings remained the same after both outings, with each skier improving their times between races.

PASCUAL SECO TOPS PODIUM 

In a race between three in women’s Sitting, Audrey Pascual Seco (ESP) earned yet another two top-of-the-podium finishes in this event, recording the best time in both races. In the former, she was closely followed by Anna-Lena Forster (GER) in second while Dutch competitor Barbara van Bergen came in third. In the latter, Pascual Seco secured gold with Forster collecting silver. For Van Bergen, it was an unfortunate DNF preventing a podium finish on this occasion.  

NEXT STOP

We are remaining in Saalbach for the next stop, this time for Super-G races between 16-17 January.