The World Championships start this week in Austrian Saalbach. Let’s look back at the previous week for essential stories from the alpine skiing circus.
Courchevel Night Slalom: The Croatian Celebration
Before the race, the Swiss had high hopes. Wendy Holdener is delighted to train with Henrik Kristoffersen thanks to her new trainer, Jörg Roten, who used to be responsible for the Norwegian’s individual preparation. Also, Camille Rast, who still leads the slalom ranking, looked forward to the trophy. But both were disappointed last week. Rast only managed fifth, and Holdener skied out in the second run. The night belonged to the Croatian sensation, Zrinka Ljutic, who kept her nerves calm and won both runs. Second and third places belonged to Sara Hector (SWE) and Lena Dürr (GER), who nailed the second run to jump five places up.
The big talk also surrounded Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) and her comeback. Shiffrin finished tenth but was quite happy with her performance, as she told the press in the post-race interview.
Shiffrin Is Back and Vonn Stirs Up the Mood
The fans are thrilled. Mikaela will indeed bring some medals when she is back, right? Honestly, she is a champion to come back so close to the biggest event with such pressure weighing her down because, as she expressed, her focus is not on the medals or the records but on her full recovery.
This is a step. This is a really big step in my recovery. But it’s only one step, actually. We’re taking it as it comes. My biggest goal is to enjoy being back in the start gate again.
After the race, she shared an Instagram post explaining that she does not feel in her top form yet:
It’s quite daunting to think about all the work that lies ahead in returning to my top form.
But to her, being able to race again is the true miracle after the months of recovery:
Everyone wanted to know what a “successful” return to racing would look like in my head, well, that was it!
On another note, Lindsey Vonn is back on track and stirring up the mood of the American women’s team, no doubt. This year, a team-combined event will be on the World Championships menu for the first time. Vonn would love to race in one team with Shiffrin, creating a dream team. She told the media and the couches about this. However, these statements don’t align with Shiffrin’s sentiment about her comeback form.
Nor is it sure that the coaches will choose Vonn for the team-combined event, with other female speed specialists on the US team being in top form. Breezy Johnson ranked fourth in the last downhill, Lauren Macuga finished regularly in the top 10 this season, and Jacquline Wiles also ranked higher than Vonn in the previous downhill. We will see if the American coaches choose their athletes according to the latest results and form or the attention they get from the media.
The Last Downhill Test For Men Did Not Happen
Races can be canceled due to fog, rain, snow, or dangerously soft surface. This time, the downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was canceled because, due to weather, none of the two scheduled training runs could occur. Usually, there are three training sessions, so if the weather makes two of them impossible, at least one usually does take place. But this week, it was impossible to organize three training runs, as the racers were in Schladming till Tuesday (the slalom specialists don’t count for the downhill races), and thus, the speed specialists came to Garmisch for one race only to tune into the downhill mood with limited time.
So, they trained, until they learned about the cancellation, and then went straight to Saalbach to get into the racing mood on this season’s biggest venue.
Ideally, they would have a free week to get ready, get used to the conditions, and rest to perform at their very best. Fans would love it; the athletes would love it. Yet, the FIS thinks that the more races, the better, and packed the last week before the World Champs with as many races as possible.
So, let us wish our athletes a happy recovery so that they can bring us the best show possible.
