2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Schlierenzauer steals Stoch's limelight and seals World Cup title

Polish ski-jumper Kamil Stoch finally recorded his first World Cup victory of the season in Kuopio, Finland, but Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer was the one celebrating as he did enough to wrap up the overall title.
Stoch, 25, claimed the large hill world title last month, but headed to Poland still searching for his maiden World Cup win of the campaign.
But Stoch will have to wait no more as he finally climbed the top step of the podium, finishing with 268.1 points to do so.
And all that waiting clearly meant that Stoch wanted to make sure of his first World Cup victory in 2013, with the rest of the field finishing some way behind. Daiki Ito of Japan was second, 10.9 points back, with German Severin Freund finishing third on 255.2.
But the day still belonged to Austrian Schlierenzauer as his fifth-place finish was enough to hand him his second overall World Cup crown, his last coming in 2009, as he holds an unassailable lead with four events remaining.
The other World Cup medals are yet to be decided. Stoch's maiden victory moves the Pole onto 747 World Cup points as he sits fifth in the overall standings, 45 behind Norway's Anders Jacobsen who finished down in 35th in Kuopio.
Freund's third place moves him into the same place in the overall standings on 819 points, with Anders Bardal of Norway second on 912 after finishing fourth in Finland.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Soukalova claims World Cup biathlon victory in Russia

Gabriela Soukalova of the Czech Republic was perfect with the rifle to collect her second World Cup victory of the season in the women's sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
Heading to Russia Soukalova could only boast one World Cup victory in her entire career, this coming backing round six.
But the 23-year-old now has two World Cup victories to her name after crossing the finish line in Russia in first place in a time of 21:25.6 minutes thanks to some clean shooting – all in minus 15 degrees Celsius.
Completing the podium were two Germans, Andrea Henkel finishing second and Miriam Gossner third, 17.2 seconds and 23.6 seconds further back respectively.
Soukalova said: "I did not expect it; this is wonderful. I do not sleep very well; my body is on Czech Republic time.
"In the morning I went for a short walk to breakfast and told one of my teammates that it was so cold that I did not want to race. She said, 'you are going to win,' and I told her she was crazy!
"My shooting was not so good after Christmas. I felt much stronger after relay in Sochi and had good training this week, so I had a feeling that would be more successful here."

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Fourcade wins final sprint of year in Khanty-Mansiysk

Martin Fourcade demonstrated exactly why he is a multiple Crystal Globe holder this season with victory in the 10th and final sprint race of the biathlon World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk.
The 24-year-old has been nigh-on unstoppable on the World Cup circuit this season with the overall as well as sprint, pursuit and individual titles to his named ahead of the final round in Russia.
And the Frenchman continued his dominance in the first of three men's event in Khanty-Mansiysk as he won the last 10km sprint of the year and his second in a row by almost 40 seconds.
He shot clear to clock 24:22.6minutes for the win and, despite Lukas Hofer following suit in the range himself, he was 39.6seconds behind in second with Andreas Birnbacher another four back in third.
Fourcade built up a 7.3-second lead by the 1.8km mark, doubling it to 14.8 by 2.9km before shooting clear first time in the range and then extending it to 17.4 by 5.1km.
He continued to get stronger as the race wore on with his lead by 6.2km 24.8 seconds and then up to 28.3 by the time he shot clear in the range for the second time.
Fourcade added another 11 seconds to his advantage by the finish while Hofer fell to third briefly before and after the first shoot but was to finish 4.2secodns ahead of Birnbacher.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Second straight win for Soukalova

Gabriela Soukalova picked up her second straight victory at the final biathlon World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk as Tora Berger equalled the record for the number of podium finishes in a single season.
Soukalova, from the Czech Republic, stormed to her second World Cup victory of the season in the 7.5km sprint in Russia on Thursday and she made it three wins in the 10km pursuit 48 hours later.
The 23-year-old battled back from losing the lead at the second shoot to retake it at the fourth and hold on to win by seven seconds ahead of Russian home hope Olga Vilukhina in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Overall World Cup champion Berger placed an important third to pull level with Magdalena Forsberg on 19 podiums for the season with just one more race left to surpass that number in Russia.
Berger, who also won the World Cup title for the pursuit, was out of the picture for much of the race but ****** herself into contention at the fourth shoot to take third 14.8seconds behind Soukalova.
The Norwegian now has just the mass start, another discipline where she is the World Cup champion elect, left to better Forsberg's mark that she set on the way to the overall title in 2001.
Soukalova shot clear first time in the range to lead Vilukhina by less than five seconds however the two had swapped places by their next trip with the Russian ahead of the Czech by 6.5seconds.
Both missed one target in the range second time however by the third shoot Vilukhina fell to sixth after two more failures with Vita Semerenko going clear for the third time to take the lead.
Soukalova was clear this time to trail by 6.9seconds however Semerenko missed three targets on her last shoot to drop out of contention with one failure by the Czech giving her the lead.
Vilukhina found her form again to go clear and move into second with Berger now up to third and that was how the top three would stay in the penultimate women's event of the World Cup season.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Sumann wins in Khanty-Mansiysk

Christoph Sumann upset overall World Cup champion Martin Fourcade to win his first biathlon World Cup race of the season in the men's 12.5km pursuit in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Courtesy of his victory in the sprint on Friday, Fourcade had a 40-second head start in the pursuit however as he faltered Sumann was perfect to win the penultimate men's race of the season.
Sumann shot clear during all four trips to the range to clock a winning time of 34:47.9minutes making up a 53-second deficit on Fourcade and then adding 49 seconds to it.
And Fourcade didn't finish second behind Sumann but third with his older ******* Simon the runner-up after shooting clear himself to come home 35.7 seconds behind the Austrian winner.
Martin Fourcade's woes began from the very first shoot as he missed one target with the Frenchman suffering a similar fate on his second trip with his lead now down to 1.8seconds.
He was finally surpassed by the third shoot, where he missed two more targets, with Sumann taking the lead and Italian Lukas Hofer also above him in second 26.6seconds behind.
Martin Fourcade maintained third place despite another miss in the fourth and final shoot while Hofer fell to fourth after a failure himself with Sumann now leading ahead of Simon Fourcade.
That was how it stayed at the finish with second place Simon Fourcade’s first podium of the season while Martin Fourcade already had the World Cup title for the pursuit wrapped up.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Soukalova completes hat-trick at World Cup finale

Gabriela Soukalova brought the curtain down on the women's biathlon World Cup in style in Khanty-Mansiysk, completing a hat-trick of wins with victory in the 12.5km mass start.
The 23-year-old has been unstoppable at the final round of the season in Russia, first winning the 7.5km sprint and then repeating the trick in the 10km pursuit.
And the season closing 12.5km mass start in Khanty-Mansiysk was no different as Soukalova shot clear once again to win ahead of Marie Dorin Habert and Kaisa Makarainen.
The Czech biathlete recorded a winning time of 38:22.4minutes while a 13th-place finish from Tora Berger ensured she completed a clean sweep of World Cup titles this season.
Berger had already wrapped up the overall, sprint, pursuit, individual and, relay with her Norwegian teammates, World Cup titles and duly added the mass start to her collection.
Soukalova started slow lying down in ninth after the first shoot as Olga Vilukhina led Russian teammate Olga Zaitseva by 13.4seconds while she was only up to fifth by the second.
The lead had changed with Vita Semerenko in front of twin ****** Valj with the former still the woman to beat after shooting clear once again on her third trip to the range.
Soukalova this time was second 16 seconds adrift and finally led after the fourth shoot which she shot clear to maintain a perfect record while Vita Semerenko missed one target.
The Czech held a 14.8-second lead over Dorin Habert and cruised home, slowing to celebrate her hat-trick, with the French biathlete coming home 11.2 seconds behind in total.
Makarainen held onto third, 22.9seconds behind in total, with Vilukhina fourth and Vita Semerenko fifth while Berger was 13th nearly two minutes back on Soukalova.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Fourcade closes season with dominant victory

Martin Fourcade brought the biathlon World Cup season to a fitting end with victory in the 15km mass start in Russia to complete a clean sweep of every individual title on offer.
The 24-year-old had the overall, sprint, pursuit and individual World Cup titles wrapped up and effectively the mass start crown too ahead of the curtain closer in Khanty-Mansiysk.
And Fourcade completed a remarkable season in style by taking victory number ten for the mass start title, missing one target in the range to clock a winning time of 41:51.4minutes.
The Frenchman lapped up the applause on the home straight taking his national flag and delaying his cross of the finish line as seven biathletes battled for second place behind him.
Dominik Landertinger took the runners-up spot 13.9seconds adrift of Fourcade in total with overall World Cup runner-up Emil Hegle Svendsen completing the top three another 3.4 behind.
American Tim Burke placed fourth another 0.3 adrift with Simon Eder fifth by 0.8, Simon Fourcade sixth by 0.2 and Tarjei Boe seventh 20.5 behind in total in Khanty-Mansiysk.
Martin Fourcade led after a clear shoot first time into the range however a miss on his second trip pushed him down to seventh with Russian Anton Shipulin leading the way.
Shipulin still led after a third clear shoot however Martin Fourcade was back to his best to move up to second 2.3seconds behind before retaking first place shortly after.
His margin over Shipulin became 32.4seconds by the final shoot, which saw the Frenchman go clear and the Russian miss once and fall away to eighth place overall at the finish.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Stoch claims back-to-back World Cup wins

World champion Kamil Stoch jumped within a metre of the Trondheim hill record as he became the sixth ski jumper to record back-to-back World Cup wins this season.
Stoch took victory at the last round in Kuopio on Tuesday where a fifth-place finish for Gregor Schlierenzauer saw claim his second overall World Cup title.
With the World Cup wrapped up Schlierenzauer can afford to relax for the remainder of the season however Stoch isn't prepared to as proved in Norway.
He placed third after the first round as Robert Kranjec led ahead of Richard Freitag however the Polish ski jumper came back strongly in the second round with a leap of 140m.
That was just a metre shy of the hill record set by Daiki Ito and enough to give him a winning total of 280.4 with Freitag staying second with 278.7 while Kranjec dropped to fifth with 269.8 overall.
Ito went from joint seventh to third and Stoch, who won the large hill title at the World Championships in Val di Fiemme last month, revelled in the victory in Trondheim.
"It was a very good competition for me, of course I am happy," said Stoch, who will now move onto Oslo for the next World Cup before the last two in Planica, Slovenia.
"The first jump was pretty good but I was a little bit late on the take off and that is why I didn't fly so far but the second was really, really good and I enjoyed it.
"I am looking forward to the next round. What can I say? I will do my best and see what that will bring in the future."
Kranjec jumped 133.5m for 136.2 points and the lead during round one with Freitag just 0.1 point behind after leaping within 1.5m of the Slovenian.
Then came Stoch just another 0.5 points behind after an effort of 131m with Peter Prevc fourth, Michael Neumayer fifth, Anders Jacobsen sixth and Ito level seventh with Jurij Tepes.
Stoch's leap of 140m proved unbeatable during round two while a jump of 136m from Freitag kept him in second place and 135.5m from Ito promoted him to third.
Neumayer also moved up, this time to fourth with 136m, with Kranjec and Prevc down in fifth and sixth respectively, Tepes remaining seventh and Jacobsen placing eighth.
World Cup champion Schlierenzauer ended 16th in the first event since taking the title with Stoch up to third overall and Anders Bardal, who was 13th, still second.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping Worl Cup

World champion Hendrickson wins in Trondheim

Sarah Hendrickson claimed victory in the first ski jumping World Cup event since she was crowned world champion, ending rival Sara Takanashi's run of four straight wins on the circuit in the process.
The 18-year-old took her first World Championship title ahead of Takanashi in Val di Fiemme last month, the Japanese teenager being crowned World Cup champion shortly beforehand.
And, with the World Cup returning for the final two rounds of the season first in Trondheim and then Oslo, Hendrickson picked up where she left off to end Takanashi's four-event unbeaten run on the circuit.
Hendrickson placed first after round one despite Takanashi jumping a hill record of 105m with the American earning more style points to collect 140.4 points to her rival's 139.8.
She then bettered Takanashi second time out and again was awarded more style points with her leap of 101m giving her 142.6 points for an overall winning total of 283.0.
Takanashi leapt 100m but was awarded just 135.1 for 274.9 overall and second place with Austrian Jacqueline Seifriedsberger moving up to third with 271.2 in total.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Johaug's absence hands Kowalczyk fourth World Cup crown

Justyna Kowalczyk won the overall World Cup cross-county skiing title once again after claiming sprint victory in Drammen, Norway.
The Pole recorded three consecutive World Cup titles between 2009 and 2011, but could only watch as Marit Bjoergen finished top of the pile last time around.
But the 30km classical Olympic champion is once again the woman to beat as she stormed to her tenth World Cup win of the season ahead of Norwegian pair Heidi Wang and Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, who were second and third respectively.
However Kowalczyk's fourth World Cup crown was handed to her before racing even got underway on Wednesday with Norway's Therese Johaug absent in front of her own fans, as she was the only one who could catch her.
With five rounds remaining Kowalczyk cannot be caught at the top of the leaderboard, with the battle for second and third still very much alive.
Despite not competing in Drammen Johaug is still second on 1097 points, with American World Cup sprint champion Kikkan Randall 43 behind in third after finishing fifth.
While the women's overall World Cup title race is now over the same cannot be said for the men after Petter Northug showed blistering speed to record his second-straight victory.
The Norwegian is now just 23 points behind overall World Cup leader Dario Cologna from Switzerland, with five rounds remaining.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Legkov takes World Cup lead with 50km victory

Alexander Legkov put himself into contention for the overall cross-country skiing World Cup title after an impressive victory in the 50km freestyle mass start in Oslo.
The 29-year-old Russian was a contender for honours throughout the 50km in Norway and was part of a seven-strong leading pack with ten kilometres to go.
Seven became five with six kilometres remaining with Petter Northug one of the two to drop off with Roland Clara leading ahead of Legkov.
Clara, Legkov, Petter Eliassen, Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Ilia Chernousov remained together until the final metres when a decisive move split the field.
Legkov made the telling break and was not to be caught as he led into the home straight and took victory by 1.2seconds ahead of Sundby with Chernousov third another 0.7 adrift.
Eliassen and Clara couldn't keep up with those three and came home in fourth and fifth respectively while Northug battled to finish sixth 42 seconds behind Legkov in total.
World Cup leader prior to the 50km Dario Cologna trailed home over three minutes behind Legkov in 19th with the order of the overall standings changing as a result.
Legkov, who trailed Cologna by 107 and Northug by 84, now leads by 12 points ahead of the latter and three further ahead of the former with a total of 1233 points.
The Russian also holds the upper hand in the World Cup distance standings with a lead of 151 points ahead of defending champion Cologna.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Johaug takes dominant victory in 30km

Therese Johaug led from start to finish to take victory in the cross-country skiing World Cup 30km freestyle mass start in Oslo, racing alone at the front for more than two thirds of race.
The 24-year-old Norwegian claimed the World Championship title in the 10km freestyle in Val di Fiemme last month and dominated over triple the distance on home snow.
Johaug increased her lead at the front from 0.4seconds after 1.8km to 15.1 by the 8km mark, a gap that was not to be breached as the Norwegian powered her way to victory.
Her lead was up to over a minute and a half as the 25km mark approached however she relaxed with the win assured over the final kilometres, even taking a Norwegian flag with 500 metres to go.
Johaug clocked a winning time of 1:21:17.7hours with her eventual margin over World Cup champion Justyna Kowalczyk 46.6seconds with Yulia Tchekaleva third 5.3seconds back.
Kowalczyk took the overall World Cup title with victory in the classic sprint in Drammen on Wednesday, aided by the fact that Johaug, the only one who could catch her, opted out.
The race for the distance World Cup title could go the same way with Kowalczyk still with a healthy lead at the top although Johaug's victory in the 30km freestyle mass start did cut it to 146 points.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Frenzel sprints to win, secures world title

Eric Frenzel claimed the overall Nordic combined World Cup title in style in Oslo, outpacing Akito Watabe on the home straight to become the first German for five years to achieve the feat.
The 24-year-old only needed to finish in the top 20 in the penultimate event of the season to be crowned World Cup champion with his lead over title holder Jason Lamy Chappuis 186 points.
However he was clearly in mood to settle for just that as he first placed second after the jumping before winning a head-to-head battle with Watabe as the finish line approached for the win.
Frenzel clocked a winning time of 26:11.5minutes for his second victory in a row and sixth of the season to follow Ronny Ackermann as the first German since 2008 to win the World Cup title.
Watabe was exactly five seconds back for a fourth successive finish of second and fifth of the season with only one race left for the Japanese 24-year-old to claim an elusive victory.
Younger ******* Yoshito emerged from a three-strong chasing pack to finish third another 17.2seconds adrift with Lamy Chappuis taking fourth ahead of American Taylor Fletcher.
Frenzel was sandwiched in between the Watabe brothers after the jumping with his leap of 127.5m giving him 120.5 points for a deficit of eight seconds behind Yoshito who jumped 128.5m for 122.5.
Akito placed third with a total of 116.9 that gave him a 22-second deficit with Lamy Chappuis down in joint eighth 56seconds behind and Fletcher over a minute and a half adrift in 23rd.
The field grouped together during the cross-country ski however Akito and Frenzel were at the front when it mattered most before the German's greater stamina told towards the end.

 

[Smallville22]

Nordic Combined World Cup

Lamy Chappuis wins last race of season

Jason Lamy Chappuis may have finally surrendered the Nordic combined overall World Cup title after three successive wins but he had the final say of the season in Oslo.
The 26-year-old officially handed over the World Cup crown having won it for the past three seasons to Eric Frenzel on Friday with the German winning the first of two events in Norway on Friday.
However it was the Frenchman, a triple gold medallist at the recent World Championships in Val di Fiemme, and not Frenzel who closed the World Cup season with victory in Oslo.
With two jumps and a 15km cross-country ski schedule for the finale, Lamy Chappuis made up a deficit of over a minute to win a three-way sprint finish, which involved Frenzel.
Lamy Chappuis clocked 42:06.5minutes, beating Frenzel by 0.4seconds, with Wilhelm Denifl finishing third in the sprint finish 1.5 behind in total but 3.6 ahead of Akito Watabe in fourth.
Taihei Kato led the way after the two jumps, scoring 246.4 for a margin of 29 seconds ahead of Japanese teammate Yoshito Watabe, who scored 239.2, going into the cross-country ski.
Frenzel placed third with 237.9 for a deficit of 34 seconds while Mario Seidl was fourth, Denifl fifth, Haavard Klemetsen sixth and Akito Watabe seventh before Lamy Chappuis in eighth.
That placed the Frenchman 1:16minutes behind Kato however by the halfway stage of the 15km ski he was part of a seven-strong leading pack that narrowed to five by the 10km mark.
Kato and Akito Watabe fell away as the finishing line beckoned with Lamy Chappuis getting the better of Frenzel and Denifl for just his third win of the World Cup season in Oslo.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Hendrickson ends season with another defeat of Takanashi

World champion Sarah Hendrickson sent a message out to Sara Takanashi as the curtain closed on the women's ski jumping World Cup season with a third successive victory over her Japanese rival.
Since being stripped of the inaugural World Cup title she won last year after a fourth successive victory for Takanashi in Ljubno on February 17, Hendrickson hasn't given her rival a sniff.
The 18-year-old American first won the world title in Val di Fiemme last month and then the first World Cup event since in Trondheim on Friday before repeating the trick in Oslo.
World Cup champion Takanashi was second at the World Championships and second in Trondheim and had to make do with the same finish at the last round of the season in Norway.
Hendrickson achieved more style points than Takanashi to lead after the first round, her jump of 133.5m giving her a total of 132.3 with her rival leaping 134m but scoring just 130.4.
Takanashi again produced a far bigger jump during round two, 133.5m compared to 129m from Hendrickson, but she wasn't awarded the style points as she had to settle for second.
Hendrickson won with a total of 262.8 with Takanashi just two points behind in second while Jacqueline Seifriedsberger jumped from sixth after round one to finish third.
The Austrian ended with 233.9 points with Coline Mattel of France fourth with 221.5, Elena Runggaldier of Italy fifth with 217.4 and Carina Vogt of Germany sixth with 216.1.

 

[Smallville22]

Ski Jumping World Cup

Schlierenzauer and Zyla share victory in Oslo

Gregor Schlierenzauer ended Kamil Stoch's run of back-to-back World Cup victories as he picked up his first in six weeks in Oslo although he had to share it with maiden winner Piotr Zyla.
Schlierenzauer claimed his second overall ski jumping World Cup title with a fifth-place finish in Kuopio on Tuesdeay, having won the crown for the first time two years ago.
However he went into the third from last World Cup event of the season in Oslo having not won in five and only finished in the top three twice during that time.
But Schlierenzauer was back to his best in Norway as he produced the biggest jump of round two to move up from fourth after round one and take the joint victory with Zyla.
Schlierenzauer, who leapt 134.5m for 133.1 points in round one, recorded a distance of 135m for 137 points second time out and an overall total of 270.1.
Zyla placed third after round one with his leap of 135.5m giving him 137.1 points before an effort of 133.5m for 133.0 points meant he claimed his debut win tied with Schlierenzauer.
Robert Kranjec was the leader after round one with an effort of 134m producing a score of 141.6 points however he was the ninth best during round two to fall to third.
Kranjec's jump of 126m gave him 125.2 points and 266.8 overall with Stoch placing fourth with 260.0, Anders Jacobsen fifth with 259.0 and Wolfgang Loitzl sixth with 254.1.
The World Cup now moves to Planica for the final two individual events of the season as well as the team finale all of which are ski flying competitions as opposed to ski jumping.

 

[Smallville22]

Slovakia government backs joint 2022 bid with Poland

Slovakia's government has officially backed a joint bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics with neighbours Poland, Prime Minister Robert Fico said.
Slovak officials will meet with Polish partners by the end of the month to discuss details.
The two European countries share a border straddled by the High Tatras mountains, a favourite winter holiday destination for locals and tourists from Russia, Ukraine and Hungary.
Germany's Munich, beaten by South Korea's Pyeongchang for the 2018 Winter Olympics, is also considering a bid for the 2022 Games while a planned Swiss candidacy of Davos and St Moritz was rejected by local citizens.
"There will be a joint meeting of Slovak and Polish ministers and prime ministers in (the Slovak town of) Poprad. A joint bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics will be one of the topics," Fico said after a government meeting.
Poprad unsuccessfully bid for the 2002 and 2006 Winter Games.
Poland's Sports Ministry said in January it would back a proposal to co-host the Winter Olympics, centred around the city of Krakow, and the government would soon discuss providing the necessary guarantees for the bid.
Poland successfully co-hosted last year's Euro soccer championship with Ukraine.
Slovaks are keen on hosting ice hockey and skiing events, with the total cost of hosting the 2022 Games estimated at up to £1.34 billion.
The financial burden would be split between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which would be expected to provide some 40 percent of the funds, and the two countries with Poland providing the larger share.
The IOC has set November 2013 as the application deadline and the host city will be elected in July 2015.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Svindal and crocked Vonn win downhill titles as fog cancels Lenzerheide races

Fog on the piste ****** organisers to cancel the men's and women's downhills in Lenzerheide, handing Aksel Lund Svindal and Lindsey Vonn the discipline's crystal globes.
Conditions on the lower part of the Silvano Beltrametti piste delayed both races several times from their respective original start times of 9:30am local time (8:30 GMT) and 11am (12pm GMT).
World champion Svindal, who retained his 58-point lead in the standings over last year's winner Klaus Kroell of Austria, was left with mixed feelings about the cancellation of the men's downhill.
While it gave him his first globe in the sport's blue riband event, Svindal's chances of taking the overall World Cup crown are in jeopardy.
With only three races left in the season, including the slalom in which he does not take part, the Norwegian trails Austria's Marcel Hirscher by 149 points, a gap last year's overall champion seems almost certain to retain in the giant slalom and slalom.
"I have mixed feelings about today," Svindal said. "I'm of course happy to have clinched my first downhill globe but also sorry to have lost a great chance to score big points in the overall title.
"Marcel Hirscher fully deserves his second big cup, he has achieved an amazing season. I am also very pleased with my own winter, I have done a lot with my downhill gold medal in Schladming and my two crystal globes in the speed events. I hope now that the Super-G race will take place tomorrow.
"The jury took the right decision as the racing conditions were really bad with that fog," he added.
"I would have enjoyed racing the downhill course again today, I like it a lot but that's life."
There are rumours that he will strap on some slalom skis as a result, but he is unlikely to be successful in that discipline.
The subsequent cancellation of the ladies race meant that Vonn claimed the downhill title despite currently recovering from a broken leg in rehab in Florida.
"Omg I won the World Cup Downhill title!!!!! 6 in a row with a bum knee! Everything in life comes back around," Vonn wrote on her Twitter profile.
In 2011, the American, a four-times overall World Cup champion, lost the big globe by three points after two races were cancelled at the finals, also in Lenzerheide.
It was a 17th World Cup title for Vonn beating Austrian Anne-Marie Moser Proell's total of 16. Only Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark has more with 19 in the men's ranks.
Vonn beats Slovenia's Tina Maze, the overall champion, by one point in those standings. The fog ruined Maze's hopes of bagging all five crystal globes.
Slovenian Maze secured the overall title last month and could still take the three other disciplines.
Her current overall total of 2,254 points is a World Cup record after she bettered Hermann Maier's mark of 2,000.
A men's and a women's Super-G are scheduled on the same course on Thursday.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Hirscher assured title as Maze, Svindal claim globes

Austrian Marcel Hirscher was assured his second Alpine skiing overall World Cup on Thursday after fog, wind and snow ****** organisers to cancel men's and women's super-G races at the season's finals.
The decision meant Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal clinched the super-G World Cup while Slovenian Tina Maze took the women's title in the discipline.
Hirscher is certain to lift the overall crystal globe after Svindal, his sole remaining rival, said he would not enter Sunday's closing slalom.
Hirscher refused to celebrate, however, after races on the windswept Silvano Beltrametti course were called off following a heavy crash that left team mate Klaus Kroell in hospital with a broken shoulder.
"It's very difficult to rejoice about the possibility of winning the big globe on a day when Klaus Kroell got injured. It's a real pity. I will wait for the next race to celebrate," said the 24-year-old Salzburg skier, who also won the slalom World Cup.
Downhill world and World Cup champion Svindal trails the Austrian by 149 points in the standings, with only a maximum of 100 available from Saturday's giant slalom if he misses Sunday's race.
"I'm not doing the slalom. It would be useless. I would need to win it to have a chance and this is out of the question," said Svindal, who has not scored a point in a slalom for more than three years.
"I'll do the giant slalom to end on a good note but it's over," added the skier, who had not been expected to race the slalom but would have been allowed to on the basis of his overall ranking.
If the decision to cancel the Super-Gs was controversial, with the Austrian team putting pressure on organisers, Hirscher's title was deserved.
Nine racers had braved gusting winds to start the race before Kroell, last year's downhill World Cup champion, crashed into the safety nets and had to be flown to hospital by helicopter.
The Austrian team left the start area before the decision had been made to call it a day. Coaches and skiers later voted not to continue by a slim margin.
"I was the only one to stand up and say I wanted to race," said Svindal. "I wanted to win another race and maybe score points. But obviously days like this are very political.
"He (Hirscher) had a fantastic season, worthy of great skiers of the past like (Sweden's Ingemar) Stenmark or (Italy's Alberto) Tomba. He deserved to score that many points," added the Norwegian.
Svindal noted that, unlike downhills and Super-Gs, slaloms are rarely cancelled which makes it easier for the technical skiers to win the overall title.
He had another reason to feel aggrieved after his girlfriend, American Julia Mancuso, saw her women's Super-G World Cup hopes disappear when that race was also cancelled because of the men's delay.
The crystal globe went to world champion Maze, her third of the season to go with the giant slalom and overall World Cup titles.
The Slovenian, who could add the slalom globe to her haul on Sunday, lost the downhill World Cup crown to injured American Lindsey Vonn by one point after Wednesday's men's and women's races were cancelled because of fog.
"It's not yet the time for celebrations. I want to keep focused on Saturday's slalom," said Maze.
"In a sense, it's the most important race of the season because I really want to win that globe and because it's going to be a great fight," said the Slovenian, who leads American world champion Mikaela Shiffrin by seven points.
Lenzerheide has a long history of bad weather at World Cup finals with four races also called off in 2011 because of the conditions.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Germans win team event in Lenzerheide

Germany won the parallel Alpine Skiing team event at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
The team of Felix Neureuther, Fritz Dopfer, Veronique Hronek and Lena Duer beat Sweden 3-1 in the final.
The Swedish team was made up of Andre Myhrer, Jens Byggmark, Maria Pietilae-Holmner and Frida Hansdottir.
World champions Austria could only finish fourth after losing the third place play-off with Italy.
Only seven nations competed in the event with the US being among those who skipped the event.