Sport News
Fenninger mines gold in Colorado again
In an exciting giant slalom race that saw the lead change hands more times than could be counted on two hands, Anna Fenninger (AUT) earned a hard-fought gold against a large, competitive field at the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships in Beaver Creek.
Fenninger had a big mistake in the lower third of the course, but amazingly enough she still managed to finish 1.40 seconds ahead of second place finisher Viktoria Rebensburg (GER). The bronze medal went to Sweden’s Jessica Lindell-Vikarby who finished 0.09 behind Rebensburg.
It was Fenninger’s third medal at these World Championships and her second golden effort with her other gold coming in the super-G in addition to a silver in the downhill.
“It is really nice and there are so many emotions. Today it’s unbelievable that this happened. I gave everything and I won everything and it’s just a great day,” said Fenninger. “I had a big mistake and I knew it cost me a lot of time so I had to risk everything at the bottom of the course. When I crossed the finish line and saw the result, it was unbelievable.”
Despite losing out on the gold medal with the last racer, Rebensburg still had reason to celebrate as she earned Germany its first medal in Beaver Creek and also had the fastest second run of all racers. It was the first-ever World Championship medal for both Rebensburg and Lindell-Vikarby.
“I’m really happy, I’ve tried for this seven times at the World Championships and three times at the Olympics to get a medal, so I’m really pleased with how things worked out today,” said Lindell-Vikarby.
Tina Maze (SLO) barely missed out on her bid to earn a medal in all five events at the World Championships. After her strong second run, she came down in third place, but was promptly knocked out of medal contention by Lindell-Vikarby. Maze can still go for a fourth medal in Saturday’s slalom.
“I felt no pressure today, I was really relaxed,” said Maze. “I just didn’t have the energy to make it on the podium today. It just didn’t work out for me today. I’m fine and ready to move on an look ahead.”
Americans Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn both came down and saw green, but with the strong field skiing after then, the duo finished well out of the medal race with Shiffrin taking eighth and Vonn ending in 14th place.
The first run featured an amazing 116 racers, including entries from Israel, Georgia, Peru and Libya to name a few, giving the day a truly international flare. Fenninger topped the massive field with an advantage of 0.81 seconds. Lindell-Vikarby was third after the first run, while Rebensburg was a distant 11th, 1.70 seconds off the pace.
"The first run I was struggling a little bit, but I tried to push as hard as I could on the second run," said Rebensburg. "When I finished I didn't know if it would be good enough for a medal with all the other skiers left. In the end the silver is pretty amazing."
Tomorrow the men will be in action for the giant slalom with the first run scheduled for 10:15 and the second run starting at 14:15 (MST).
Fenninger had a big mistake in the lower third of the course, but amazingly enough she still managed to finish 1.40 seconds ahead of second place finisher Viktoria Rebensburg (GER). The bronze medal went to Sweden’s Jessica Lindell-Vikarby who finished 0.09 behind Rebensburg.
It was Fenninger’s third medal at these World Championships and her second golden effort with her other gold coming in the super-G in addition to a silver in the downhill.
“It is really nice and there are so many emotions. Today it’s unbelievable that this happened. I gave everything and I won everything and it’s just a great day,” said Fenninger. “I had a big mistake and I knew it cost me a lot of time so I had to risk everything at the bottom of the course. When I crossed the finish line and saw the result, it was unbelievable.”
Despite losing out on the gold medal with the last racer, Rebensburg still had reason to celebrate as she earned Germany its first medal in Beaver Creek and also had the fastest second run of all racers. It was the first-ever World Championship medal for both Rebensburg and Lindell-Vikarby.
“I’m really happy, I’ve tried for this seven times at the World Championships and three times at the Olympics to get a medal, so I’m really pleased with how things worked out today,” said Lindell-Vikarby.
Tina Maze (SLO) barely missed out on her bid to earn a medal in all five events at the World Championships. After her strong second run, she came down in third place, but was promptly knocked out of medal contention by Lindell-Vikarby. Maze can still go for a fourth medal in Saturday’s slalom.
“I felt no pressure today, I was really relaxed,” said Maze. “I just didn’t have the energy to make it on the podium today. It just didn’t work out for me today. I’m fine and ready to move on an look ahead.”
Americans Mikaela Shiffrin and Lindsey Vonn both came down and saw green, but with the strong field skiing after then, the duo finished well out of the medal race with Shiffrin taking eighth and Vonn ending in 14th place.
The first run featured an amazing 116 racers, including entries from Israel, Georgia, Peru and Libya to name a few, giving the day a truly international flare. Fenninger topped the massive field with an advantage of 0.81 seconds. Lindell-Vikarby was third after the first run, while Rebensburg was a distant 11th, 1.70 seconds off the pace.
"The first run I was struggling a little bit, but I tried to push as hard as I could on the second run," said Rebensburg. "When I finished I didn't know if it would be good enough for a medal with all the other skiers left. In the end the silver is pretty amazing."
Tomorrow the men will be in action for the giant slalom with the first run scheduled for 10:15 and the second run starting at 14:15 (MST).
Source: fis-ski.com
