Watching the World Cup races

[santacruz skier]

Oh man, I don't have cable so no Olympic Channel for me! I wish Peacock would carry the commentary races. I don't see why they don't, it's all NBC.

I have cable and Roku so can watch this weekend I hope!

 

[Christy]

Did others catch that Lara Gut came down in yesterday's race to silence? No music, no announcer? She had criticized the course preparation and that was her punishment. :( I was glad to see her do well today. Sofia's run was so great to watch! There was such a clear difference between her and everyone else. Petra looked a lot more comfortable than she has in other speed races, in both races, which is interesting...

I was sorry to see all of the crashes, both men's and women's, though. I can't believe Stephanie Venier raced today. It sounds like everyone is mostly okay, or at least not as bad as many of us feared (Urs's crash...awful).

 

[teppaz]

Did others catch that Lara Gut came down in yesterday's race to silence? No music, no announcer? She had criticized the course preparation and that was her punishment. :( I was glad to see her do well today. Sofia's run was so great to watch! There was such a clear difference between her and everyone else. Petra looked a lot more comfortable than she has in other speed races, in both races, which is interesting...

I was sorry to see all of the crashes, both men's and women's, though. I can't believe Stephanie Venier raced today. It sounds like everyone is mostly okay, or at least not as bad as many of us feared (Urs's crash...awful).

What a weekend — and it’s not over! Thrilled to see Goggia killing it at Crans-Montana. Doesn’t seem to be any love lost between her and Gut-Behrami, at least judging by their body language on the podium today. The Italian women’s team has turned into such a powerhouse, and I don’t think any Austrian made it to the top 10 today.
But yeah, the crashes were scary, especially on the men’s side. Ledecka skied down bit it looked like her face was bloodied. The January classics are merciless.

 

[teppaz]

I can't believe Ledecka did the Super-G today. She was wearing some kind of contraption around her neck and lower jaw. Another reminded those women are badasses, in case there was still any question about it.

And Goggia not clearing that last gate… I guess she had to make a choice between crashing and the gate

 

[Christy]

They are all so tough. I'm not sure if you heard Lindsey's commentary, but she said Ester is working with Lindsey's former team at Red Bull and focusing more on skiing these days. She didn't specify exactly what that means, but given that Red Bull is the company that set Shaun White up with his super secret half-pipe that he had to be helicoptered in to, safe to say it's a beneficial relationship for Ester.

I was happy to see Lara get the win. And it was a good men's race too! I was really pulling for Clarey at 40 years old. So close!

 

[teppaz]

They are all so tough. I'm not sure if you heard Lindsey's commentary, but she said Ester is working with Lindsey's former team at Red Bull and focusing more on skiing these days. She didn't specify exactly what that means, but given that Red Bull is the company that set Shaun White up with his super secret half-pipe that he had to be helicoptered in to, safe to say it's a beneficial relationship for Ester.

I was happy to see Lara get the win. And it was a good men's race too! I was really pulling for Clarey at 40 years old. So close!

No Vonn commentary on Peacock (though they had Porino doing the second men’s DH) so I missed that intel. Thanks for sharing.
I too was bummed about Clarey missing out. The guy is skiing better than ever!

 

[teppaz]

What a thrill to see Lara Gut back on top! It took her four years after busting her knee, but she did it. This is making the overall race even more interesting as Vlhova seems to be in a tech slump.

 

[Christy]

I love to see this too. We've seen so many racers, like Ilka Stuhec, continue to struggle after an injury. It is great to see Lara beating the odds. And I just love watching her ski these super G courses. She just does it better than anyone else right now.

I'm surprised that Petra is hanging in there and skiing the Super Gs rather than resting up for the world championships, especially given her mediocre results in tech lately. Michelle Gisin DID skip these speed races...

I just saw a little news snippet that Sofia G sprained her knee skiing down after the race today was canceled. :(

 

[teppaz]

Horrible news for Goggia: she fractured her lateral tibia plateau today. She wasn't even competing since the race was cancelled. No championships for her.

As for Vlhova, she's clearly trying to earn points for the overall rankings so the strategy seems to prioritize that over the discipline globes. She did well enough but is it worth endangering the points she could get in tech?

And yeah, coming back from an injury is grueling. Ilka Stuhec is still struggling, and so is Ragnild Mowinkel. Tessa Worley seems to be finally dialing back in. And then of course there's one of my favorites, Anna (Fenninger) Veith, though she did get a silver in the Olympics Super-G post-injury.

 

[Christy]

I always liked Anna a lot as well. Oh and right, Ragnild too! Her career was on such a rise. The young American (speed) women have just been battered. I wonder if they will ever reach their potential.

Horrible news for Goggia: she fractured her lateral tibia plateau today. She wasn't even competing since the race was cancelled. No championships for her.

Oh, that is terrible. A real loss for the sport.

The injuries in general concern me. Is the sport as safe as it could be? Bode Miller used to talk about this, that FIS cares more about exciting courses than skiers' bodies. Is that true? Do other racers feel that way? I don't know.

 

[teppaz]

There's definitely been some grumblings about injuries but I also read (can't remember where) that statistically the number is on par with previous years.

Henrik Kristoffersen wrote a blog post about Adelboden being ridiculous this year: "we are seeing a lot higher speed and courses which are less turny…Alpine skiing involves taking a lot of risk, but this is not the kind of risks I want to be taking…In my second run on Saturday, I couldn’t justify giving it all I got, because of a horrendous and dangerous course set."

 

[HikenSki]

There's definitely been some grumblings about injuries but I also read (can't remember where) that statistically the number is on par with previous years.

Henrik Kristoffersen wrote a blog post about Adelboden being ridiculous this year: "we are seeing a lot higher speed and courses which are less turny…Alpine skiing involves taking a lot of risk, but this is not the kind of risks I want to be taking…In my second run on Saturday, I couldn’t justify giving it all I got, because of a horrendous and dangerous course set."

Oh yeah, that Adelboden course was ridiculous. The fact that they took that jump out the second day indicated the course was really too risky.

 

[Christy]

I wonder if Hendrik faced any repercussions, as Lara did recently when she criticized the Crans Montana course conditions. The article mentions the announcers froze her out during training; they did it during the first race as well.

https://skiracing.com/womens-overall-battle-heats-up-ahead-of-crans-montana/

The cascading drops and compressions are its defining features, and when the speed is not properly controlled, it can be dangerous track. Downhill title winner Ilka Stuhec met her demise here in 2019 and hasn’t been herself since.

Organizers shut down the first training run after just one racer, Lara Gut-Behrami, to reset a few gates. After the restart, Nina Ortlieb, of Austria, crashed lower down the course in the “fox hole,” tearing her right ACL, meniscus and patellar tendon. Her season is over.

That section was also reset before second training, but not before some harsh criticism from Gut-Behrami, the only other two-time winner of the Mont Lachaux track, who called the soft conditions “a disaster.” In response, the live announcers did not speak during her second training run and muted the music for further effect. The Swiss skier, whose career had languished since her 2015 injury, returned to form on this track with her double victory before COVID abruptly ended last season. Her form has continued on that trajectory this year with a super G win and promising GS results, but now, she will not only fight the track but perhaps some ill will from the fans.

 

[teppaz]

LGB had the last laugh with an incredible run in Super G.
And now we hear Shiffrin is doing the Super G and the combined at the Worlds, in addition to slalom and GS. She hasn’t done speed races yet this season so interesting.

 

[newboots]

In case anyone is just joining in (I hope to), here's a discussion of streaming options:

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2021/02/03/alpine-skiing-world-championships-tv-live-stream-schedule/

 

[teppaz]

Thanks for posting. I hope Peacock carries the commentary for a change. I'm usually fine without it but it'd be fun to have it for the Worlds.

 

[teppaz]

Will these championships start already?!?

In the meantime, this article about Petra Vlhova says that she's the only skier to enter all 22 World Cup races this season. Yowza!

 

[Christy]

Wow. And I didn't realize she had Tina Maze's coach. Knowing how badly she wants the overall, I wonder why she is racing in so many races on Cortina, where there are no points to be gained, but with the risk of exhaustion and injury.

I also didn't know that the WC had a Slovakia stop this year!

 

[teppaz]

I love how he says: yeah, she'll get tired — we planned for it!

I agree it's a risky gamble, plus doing all those races in Cortina? I'm just not sure the Maze all-around sweep can be repeated.

 

[teppaz]

Gut-Behrami killed it at the Super G. She's so on point, she's now a real threat for the overall. I'd never have guessed I'd say that when the season started.
Impressive showing from Shiffrin as well. She could go for a big haul, medal-wise.