Thrills and hundredths: Para Alpine Downhill drama in Santa Caterina

The FIS Para Alpine Skiing World Cup in Santa Caterina opened with the first two downhills of the season, delivering speed, snow, and nail-biting finishes. After Monday’s official training, athletes raced on a fast track under falling snow, setting the stage for some of the tightest margins we’ve seen this year.

The tightest margins

In the Women’s VI category, Veronika Aigner (AUT), guided by her sister Elisabeth, claimed the first downhill victory by just 0.19 seconds over Chiara Mazzel (ITA) and guide Fabrizio Casal. The next morning, Mazzel—this time guided by Nicola Cotti Cottini—took revenge, edging out the Austrian duo by 0.11 seconds.

The Men’s Sitting category was equally intense. Jesper Pedersen (NOR) continued his winning streak with a fourth consecutive victory, beating Paralympic champion Corey Peters (NZL) by 0.05 seconds. Jeroen Kampschreur (NED), Taiki Morii (JPN), and Andrew Kurka (USA)—back after a season away—finished within a second of the winner. The second downhill was even tighter: Peters topped the podium, just 0.03 seconds ahead of Kampschreur, while Kurka returned to the podium in third. Pedersen and Morii, however, struggled with mistakes.

In Women’s Sitting, Anna-Lena Forster (GER) dominated both races. She won the first downhill by more than a second ahead of Wenjing Zhang (CHN) and Sitong Liu (CHN). On day two, Audrey Pascual Seco (ESP) pushed hard, finishing only 0.04 seconds behind Forster, with Zhang again in third.

Double victories

Johannes Aigner (AUT) and guide Nico Haberl claimed two wins in Men’s VI. Giacomo Bertagnolli (ITA) and Andrea Ravelli started their season strong with two podiums, while Kalle Ericsson (CAN) and Sierra Smith improved from third to second on day two—Ericsson’s best downhill result yet.

Aurélie Richard (FRA) and Robin Cuche (SUI) dominated the Standing category with back-to-back wins. Mollie Jepsen (CAN) impressed with two second places, ahead of Kelsey O’Driscoll (USA) in race one and Michaela Gosselin (CAN) in race two, confident on the same track that saw her celebrating her two World Cup victories last season. On the men’s side, the podium remained unchanged: Cuche first, Alexis Guimond (CAN) second, Markus Salcher (AUT) third. Cuche confirmed his excellent season debut and proved his strategy to “eat as much pizza as possible to gain some weight for the Downhills” to be efficient.

Next stop

After this thrilling start to the speed season, the Para Alpine World Cup heads to St. Moritz (SUI) (19-21 December) for two Giant Slaloms and one Slalom.