Early-Season Storylines as the Alpine Skiing World Cup Heats Up
With the cancellation of the mid-November slalom races in Levi, Finland, the new Alpine skiing season became something of an inadvertent tease.
With the usual link between them removed, the wait between the opening races in Soelden, Austria, and the start of the World Cup's weekly schedule was more than one month. It was a frustrating blow for race-hungry competitors and fans after the already lengthy offseason interval.
As expected, the wait proved worthwhile, with the World Cup tour's first stops in North America providing plenty to enjoy and discuss. Over the following pages we look at some of the most notable early-season notes and storylines, beginning with the American sensation who starred in Aspen, Colorado.
Shiffrin Still Supreme in Slalom but Her Ambitions Are Extending Elsewhere
1 of 4
Back in March, Marcel Hirscher recorded an extraordinary time in the Garmisch Partenkirchen giant slalom. The Austrian's combined two minutes, 43.23 seconds beat second-place home favorite Felix Neureuther by 3.28 seconds.
It was little wonder Hirscher ended the season victorious in the GS standings in such form. Likewise, it would be little surprise if we see Mikaela Shiffrin top the slalom equivalent for the fourth year running after she recorded a similarly impressive time gap in the first of two slaloms in Aspen last week.
The 3.07-second advantage over Slovakia's Veronika Velez Zuzulova broke the discipline record previously set by France's Florence Steurer in March 1986, per the Federation Internationale De Ski official website. Impressive as the dominant performance was in its historical context, its implications for the season ahead are most enticing.
Velez Zuzulova and Sweden's Frida Hansdotter skied well by almost any standard, with the latter producing even better one day later when she moved up a place to secure second. But even then, last season's runner-up in the slalom table was still 2.65 seconds behind Shiffrin.
Though proud of her efforts, the American modestly played down the gaps when speaking to the FIS site after the Sunday showing. Her Aspen times may be reined in over the coming months, but Shiffrin's rivals will feel slightly unnerved by what they saw.
The 20-year-old's weekend could have been even better too. Leading Friday's giant slalom, Shiffrin crashed within sight of the finishing line, denying her a chance to add to the points she recorded with her third place in the Soelden edition.
Set to make her bow in the Lake Louise super-G this weekend in Alberta, we could find out the scope of the technical specialist's first serious crack at the overall World Cup.
A Mixed Start for Weakened Austrian Team
2 of 4
Shiffrin becoming a more notable overall title contender is in part a result of the absence of two former winners, Tina Maze and Anna Fenninger.
While Maze announced earlier in the spring she was taking a year off, Fenninger's absence was a cruel consequence of a season-ending crash on the eve of racing Soelden.
It has left an Austrian women's team already short of two of its previous, prime podium-botherers—the recently retired Nicole Hosp and Kathrin Zettel—without its best chance of winning. An array of skiers who are seeking to prove their talents will not attempted to make up that deficit.
So far there have been mixed indications as to how this will go heading into 2016.
Second to Fenninger in the giant slalom standings last season, Eva-Maria Brem sits third after two top-10 finishes including a second place in Aspen. With only one World Cup win to her name, she will be eager to add a confidence-boosting addition to her resume sooner rather than later.
The first slalom in America proved to be a frustrating affair. Although Austria registered three names in the top 20, five women failing to finish—including Michaela Kirchgasser, Bernadette Schild and Carmen Thalmann—was not an encouraging start.
Better outcomes occurred a day later when Thalmann and Kirchgasser improved to finish fifth and sixth, respectively. Those respectable second runs put them in contention prior to Shiffrin confirming her dominance.
With Hirscher's third in the Soleden GS and Matthias Mayer's Lake Louise super-G runner-up spot sandwiching a more frustrating downhill at the Canadian resort, the Austrian men will aim to join their female colleagues in recording wins that will take minds off the much-missed Fenninger in the coming weeks.
Svindal's Successful Return
3 of 4
That Aksel Lund Svindal managed two top-10 finishes at the World Championships in February without any real preparation beforehand was a measure of the Norwegian's talent. Having missed all of the season up until then, it was a tremendous effort.
Fully fit and eager to make up for lost time, Svindal getting back to winning ways quickly this season was always going to be a good bet.
After getting his first World Cup points in more than a year in Austria in October, Svindal did the downhill and super-G double in Lake Louise, narrowly pipping Italy's Peter Fill in the former before doing enough to hold off Mayer the next day.
He's understandably jubilant at recapturing his best form so quickly, and the success' larger implications were hard to avoid even if they were not at the forefront of his mind.
Down the results lists on both days was Kjetil Jansrud. In Svindal's absence, his team-mate and friend had won the downhill and super-G globes that had occupied places in the older Norwegian's trophy cabinet the previous two years.
They will not be alone in pursuing the title this year. Fill and Mayer have begun brightly, while there are intriguing potential challenges from the likes of Hannes Reichelt and the also returning Erik Guay.
But so far as the men's speed events are concerned, the potential friendly (or, who knows, not-so-amiable) rivalry between Svindal and Jansrud looks set, as anticipated, to feature heavily in the narrative.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
What's Next?
4 of 4
With no Fenninger and Maze, last year's downhill and super-G title winner Lindsey Vonn joins her compatriot Shiffrin as one of the favorites for the overall globe.
Her attempt did not get off to a good start when she skied out of the Aspen giant slalom, but the American superstar will likely feel more comfortable racing her preferred speed events in Lake Louise.
Also worth keeping an eye on in the women's side in coming weeks will be the form of Switzerland's talented but previously inconsistent Lara Gut (winner of the aforementioned GS) and a revitalised Italian team. Led by Federica Brignone's GS win in Soelden, the latter is already looking like a more confident group after a disappointing previous season in which Elena Fanchini's fifth-place result in the downhill standings was as good as it got.
As well as the continuation of the previously discussed men's speed-discipline battles, the technical specialists also resume competition in Beaver Creek, Colorado, with the season's second giant slalom.
Ted Ligety bounced back from an altogether disappointing 2015 World Cup with a superb win in Soelden. The likes of Hirscher, Neureuther, Henrik Kristoffersen and Alexis Pinturault will all be working to get their campaigns up and running, with the former trio in particular keeping one eye on the following week's slalom races in Val d'Isere, France.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
