Watching the World Cup races

[Christy]

I love that she won, and I was surprised to learn she didn't already have a WC or Olympics gold-medal. And Miki 3rd--that was fun! Her post-race interview was funny. After she made her big mistake she thought, that's the kind of mistake someone who hadn't skied a lot of Super G recently would make.

But the men's! I was genuinely afraid for the first skiers, especially Mauro Caviezel, who had a severe concussion last month and looked so out of control before he skied out (I was relieved when he did--I just wanted him to stop). I couldn't even see how a skier could make the turn after that big jump off the top, until James Crawford did it. At the end Travis Ganong said something like, he hopes race organizers will fix that a bit as doing it at the downhill's high speeds could be problematic.

 

[teppaz]

I love that she won, and I was surprised to learn she didn't already have a WC or Olympics gold-medal. And Miki 3rd--that was fun! Her post-race interview was funny. After she made her big mistake she thought, that's the kind of mistake someone who hadn't skied a lot of Super G recently would make.

But the men's! I was genuinely afraid for the first skiers, especially Mauro Caviezel, who had a severe concussion last month and looked so out of control before he skied out (I was relieved when he did--I just wanted him to stop). I couldn't even see how a skier could make the turn after that big jump off the top, until James Crawford did it. At the end Travis Ganong said something like, he hopes race organizers will fix that a bit as doing it at the downhill's high speeds could be problematic.

I really thought it was physically impossible to clear that gate until Crawford did it. What would have been the options if they had continued to miss it? Adjusting the gate would have meant giving another chance to the guys who went first? A low bib was a real disadvantage with that course. Very proud of Pinturault, who skied it with his usual finesse.

 

[HikenSki]

Yeah that men's race was crazy! We too were wondering how to clear those gates. Some opted for air and a sharp turn, some tried to stay glued to the snow for a slower turn. The downhill will.be very interesting for sure. And yes, so glad Caviezel skied out. I too was worried for him.

 

[Christy]

MIKAELA!!

Also loved that James Crawford came from nowhere to get such a good result. That is one of my favorite things, when skiers come from the back to surprise us all.

@teppaz could you tell if they moved the gates for the men's super G? It seems like they would, since there would be ruts from the women, but the blue lines seemed the same to me and I couldn't tell if they had. Just wondering if they were skiing the exact same courses.

I've really enjoyed Lindsey's commentary this week, though she wasn't on today.

 

[teppaz]

It was the same Super-G course for men and women but they added gates to the men's slalom course. This WashPost article calculates that Shiffrin was 2 seconds behind Crawford in the Super-G section and would have been 9th against men in the slalom.

So where might Shiffrin have finished in the men’s race? Well, it’s an inexact science, but Shiffrin required 45.05 seconds to clear the 57 turning gates of the women’s slalom course. Add in the three more turning gates on the men’s course, the equivalent of a 5.26% increase, and it translates to an extra 2.37 seconds. That would have placed Shiffrin ninth overall in the men’s race.

 

[Christy]

It was the same Super-G course for men and women but they added gates to the men's slalom course. This WashPost article calculates that Shiffrin was 2 seconds behind Crawford in the Super-G section and would have been 9th against men in the slalom.

I hadn't seen that article. Very interesting. Thanks. Still would have loved to see how a dominant (and bigger) speed skier like Lindsey would have stacked up against the men.

 

[teppaz]

Yeah, body mass means a lot in speed. Shiffrin just doesn't have it.

 

[Christy]

Yeah, body mass means a lot in speed. Shiffrin just doesn't have it.

Plus, while she did great in the Super G portion of the AC, she is still learning the speed events and we wouldn't call her a great speed skier yet. It is very interesting to me to see how she stacked up against the men, but if I got to pick a woman to compare, it wouldn't be her.

 

[teppaz]

Yeah, you'd have to go for Goggia or Suter, more of a pure speedster. I tend to love the all-rounders, who are more common among the women than the men right now.

 

[teppaz]

Wow, that GS was intense today! Real suspense to the very end, and some surprising results. I was happy to see Gut take the gold, continuing her incredible resurgence this season. No commentary on Peacock but my mother in France told me the commentators there explained the surface was all over the map, with big differences within one run then between runs 1 and 2.

Poor Brignone, skiing out again and screaming in frustration. Not a good turnout for the Italian women so far, besides Bassino in the parallel (an even I have a hard time caring about, sorry).

 

[Christy]

I just finished watching it. So exciting! Lara is amazing. Watching her ski that second run, it was impossible to imagine that she would make the mistakes the previous women made. She just looked too solid. It seems unfair that FIS does not award points for the world championships. I can't understand why. Imagine if Lara earned points for these races.

I loved Nina O'Brien's performance.

I notice neither of us have anything to say about the parallel events lol.

 

[teppaz]

I think Lara is on such a tear that she could catch up with the slumping Vlhova in the overall.

O’Brien had a classic case of the yips in the second run but her first was fantastic. And how about the Polish skier, whose name I’m blanking out, who keeps popping up in the top 15 and now top 10? I’d never noticed her before this season.

 

[Christy]

It was hard to imagine that Nina could pull together a second run as good as her first. All those little mistakes and the length of the course seem to have caught up to her. But what a great boost of confidence going forward. And yes, the Polish skier has been nipping around the edges--good for her!

I loved the course. As a spectator, I thought the length was great. I have to think that the length and general swoop-iness and almost Super-G-ness (very technical terms there) suited Lara.

And goodness, Petra. She looks miserable. I was shocked to see her start the parallel. I know she's won a parallel event, but, c'mon, it's a parallel and an event worth no points. I thought for sure she'd show up in the team event too but luckily no (does Slovakia not have a real team?). Is she going to crash and burn and lose the overall? What will happen in the slalom coming up?

I should also say I'm thrilled to see Mikaela do so well. So close, but Lara was just better.

 

[Christy]

I enjoyed the men's GS more than I expected. First the parade of nations in the second run was nice to see. I always like emotional finishes, and I sure got that when the race ended and both Luca (especially Luca) and Mathieu were crying in the finish. Poor Alexis though. That was so unexpected. Also, I didn't realize that Luca and Michelle Gisin were a couple!

SPOILER FROM TODAY





More unexpected stuff in the women's slalom--I felt so bad for all the good skiers who DNF'ed or DSQ'ed. Boy did Liensberger kill it though!

 

[Christy]

Love all the in-person ski racing memories Facebook has been reminding me of from this week. The Vancouver Olympics! In retrospect, this would have been a good time to have gotten into photography, and taken an actual camera to the events. Oh well. This trip to the Olympics is one of my all time best memories.







And the 2015 World Championships in Beaver Creek.

Carlo Janka

 

[teppaz]

Fantastic photos! Thanks for posting them. I've never seen any of those races live. Every year I tell myself I should try to go to Killington (closest to where I live) and every year I have to work on those days. My fantasy is to take a month and just bum around the Alps one January.

 

[santacruz skier]

Fantastic photos! Thanks for posting them. I've never seen any of those races live. Every year I tell myself I should try to go to Killington (closest to where I live) and every year I have to work on those days. My fantasy is to take a month and just bum around the Alps one January.

Yes and you can ski Kitzbuhel and Wengen...... I'll meet you there !

 

[teppaz]

I didn't realize that Luca and Michelle Gisin were a couple!

I didn't either. I'm expecting more couples to come out the Worlds — it's rare that the men and women circuits overlap, especially for two weeks!

 

[teppaz]

Yes and you can ski Kitzbuhel and Wengen...... I'll meet you there !

I'm looking for loose change under the couch cushions! I'd need a windfall to swing this but a girl can dream.

 

[teppaz]

I was waiting for the end of this 3-race weekend to post but today's Super G turned out to be horrific. The worst of ski racing, with two horrendous crashes. It's going to be hard to forget the sound of Kajsa Vickhoff Lie screaming in pain. That said I was very happy to see Brignone just send it after her disappointing Worlds. She's had a mediocre season and that was a gutsy win.

As for Gut-Behrami: wow. She's taken the lead in the overall and while there are some tech races coming up, Vlhova looks like she's ran out of juice. I don't understand what she was doing racing his weekend when she should have been training in tech. Right now my money is on Gut-Behrami for the overall.