Once again, absolutely nothing is working in the Ski World Cup
The men's slalom in Val d'Isere? Canceled. The women's super-G in St. Moritz? Also canceled. The Alpine Ski World Cup is going from cancellation to cancellation, and the men are being hit particularly hard. Only two of nine competitions have been able to take place as planned so far.
Anyone who takes the trouble to look at the Alpine Ski World Cup competition calendar will come across a sad monotony. Cancellation after cancellation, especially in the men's event: out of nine planned races, only two have been able to start so far, followed by the next cancellation on Sunday morning. The slalom in Val d'Isere has been canceled. After Saturday's giant slalom, rain and snowfall set in and put the course in the French Alps in a condition that, according to the FIS, made it impossible to hold the event.
A World Cup had already been held in the slalom in Gurgl, Austria, in November, with a triple victory for the hosts, led by Manuel Feller. Switzerland's Marco Odermatt won the giant slalom in Val d'Isere yesterday, taking the lead in the discipline World Cup after the actual giant slalom opener in Sölden at the end of October was also canceled. Alexander Schmid, last year's sensational first German individual world champion in over 30 years, celebrated a strong comeback in ninth place. The 29-year-old had torn a cruciate ligament after his World Championship coup in training.
Meanwhile, there were still no speed races for the men: In Zermatt, Switzerland, and Beaver Creek, USA, all four downhill races and one super-G were canceled. Too much snow, too much wind, too little visibility. This coming weekend in Val Gardena/Gröden in South Tyrol, things should finally get going downhill at speed for the first time this season.
Although the overall situation looks a little better for the women, their Super-G in St. Moritz cannot take place either. According to the FIS, the conditions have "deteriorated drastically" in the place where the Winter Olympics were held twice in 1928 and 1948. Mikaela Shiffrin had won the downhill the day before; it was the 91st World Cup victory in total for the US American, but only her fourth in this discipline. The German racers achieved two top ten finishes: Kira Weidle finished ninth, while Emma Aicher surprised in sixth place. The first super-G in St. Moritz on Friday was won by Italy's Sofia Goggia.
The super-G in St. Moritz is the third race of the season that cannot be started. Previously, both downhill races in Zermatt were canceled in November due to strong winds. The women will travel from St. Moritz to Val d'Isere in the coming days, where a downhill and a super-G are planned for next weekend - in the hope that the weather conditions will then allow a fair and safe competition again.
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Despite the challenging weather conditions, the ongoing Alpine Ski World Cup continues to be affected, with the men's alpine skiing events facing numerous cancellations. For instance, the men's slalom in Val d'Isere was called off due to poor conditions, coinciding with only two out of nine competitions successfully completed so far in the men's event. Moreover, the dynamic of Winter sports is not just limited to alpine skiing as various events struggle to maintain their schedules.
Source: www.ntv.de
