Great results for Russia, Germany at alpine Europa Cup
20.12.2014
Skiers have been competing in giant slalom events in Kuhtai, Austria, as they prepare for the 2015 Worlds.
Sochi 2014 hosts Russia claimed five giant slalom podiums at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in Kuhtai, Austria, on Saturday (20 December), with athletes from Germany, Austria and Japan also putting on impressive displays.
Following on from their success in Friday’s (19 December) slalom event, Russia's Valerii Redkozubov and guide Evgeny Geroev (1:53.74) collected their second win in as many days with two fastest runs in the men’s visually impaired.
Their teammates Ivan Frantcev and guide, German Agranovskii (1:57.59), stood on the second step of the podium, ahead of Slovakian Sochi silver medallist Jakub Krako guided by Martin Motyka (1:58.44).
A further two Russians medalled in the women’s standing, but could not beat 25-year-old German Andrea Rothfuss, an owner of three World Championships medals in the discipline.
In sub-zero temperatures under clear skies, Rothfuss (2:04.08) eased down the slope quickest in her two runs to beat Mariia Papulova (2:10.34) and Andrea Khorosheva (2:15.84). It is her second gold in Kuhtai.
Germany’s success continued with five-time Paralympic champion Anna Schaffelhuber (2:06.05) reclaiming the top spot from Austrian Claudia Loesch (2:13.95) in the women’s sitting.
Whilst Loesch was triumphant in the slalom the previous day, it was Schaffelhuber who stopped the clock first to also beat teammate Anna Lena-Forster (2:19.72) in third.
Austrian racer Matthias Lanzinger (1:47.11) took his first high-level victory of 2014-15 in the men’s standing. A solid set of runs saw the super-combined world champion finish ahead of Russia’s Alexey Bugaev (1:49.37) and Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl (1:51.99).
Japan tasted victory in the men’s sitting courtesy of double Paralympian Akira Kano (1:58.37), whilst his teammate Takeshi Suzuki battled for position with Austria’s Roman Rabl and Germany’s Georg Kreiter.
Kreiter sat second after the first run, as Rabl and Suzuki finished in a tantaslising dead heat. But after a less-than-perfect last run for Kreiter knocked him out of medal contention, it was Rabl (1:59.82) who claimed the spoils just ahead of Suzuki (2:00.02) in third.
Great Britain’s Millie Knight (2:18.82), guided by Jen Kehoe, took her second win in Kuhtai in the women’s visually impaired. Belgium’s Marie-Morgane Dessart (2:34.63) was second.
Races conclude with super-combined events on Sunday (21 December). Skiers then head off for a short break before returning on 8 January for the first 2014-15 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in La Molina, Spain.
The highlight of the season will be the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships which will be staged in Panorama, Canada, between 28 February and 10 March.
Media accreditation for Panorama 2015 is available.
Full results from all competitions can be found at IPC Alpine Skiing's website.