Gagnon attacks from the back for combined victory in Andorra

By Published On: February 28th, 2016Comments Off on Gagnon attacks from the back for combined victory in Andorra

Alpine combined creates a potent mix, combining a speed run and a slalom run into a single race and throwing top athletes like Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin out of their element on one run or another.

In Soldeu, Andorra, the World Cup ladies took on the challenge of a super G and slalom and some new faces found the podium. Canada’s Marie-Michele Gagnon, better known for her prowess on the technical circuit, took advantage of a shortened super G run to claim her second World Cup victory – her first win was also in combined in Zauchensee, Austria, in 2014.

“I mean I wasn’t expecting a win,” Gagnon said. “I was surprised. I was hoping for a podium. That’s always a good result, and I knew that I was skiing strong.”

Second place went to Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener, who is fresh off of her win in the Stockholm city event. This marks her fifth career World Cup podium finish.

SOLDEU,ANDORRA,28.FEB.16 - ALPINE SKIING - FIS World Cup, Alpine combined, Super G, ladies. Image shows Anne-Sophie Barthet (FRA). Photo: GEPA pictures/ Wolfgang GrebienRounding out the podium was Anne-Sophie Barthet of France, who made an impressive move from bib 47 to earn her first World Cup podium finish.

“I can say that the last 10 years were a little bit difficult and so today it’s like we won a little bit,” she reflected. “There was a lot of frustration during those 10 years and today was just one race, it managed to erase everything. Just a wonderful day and think maybe it can also be a fresh start.”

Barthet was not the only one who made some impressive moves. Of the top 10 finishers, more than fifty percent of the athletes started from outside of the top 30.

Mikaela Shiffrin, who recently returned to competition, moved from her 40th-place super G finish to a final result of eighth place. She was narrowly beat by Austria’s Stephanie Brunner, who moved to seventh place from bib 45, and Canada’s Candace Crawford, skied from bib 44 to a ninth-place finish and her first World Cup top-10 result.

While the two women leading the overall rankings could not find their way onto the podium, their saga continues. Lara Gut skied out in the slalom while Lindsey Vonn, who suffered an injury to her left knee yesterday, led the field after the super G run and was able to grab a 13th-place finish and 20 World Cup points. This increases her lead over the Swiss skier to 28 points in the overall.

Vonn’s teammate, Stacey Cook, finished in 25th place. Jacqueline Wiles finished outside the top 30 while Alice Mckennis and Laurenne Ross did not finish.

Women’s racing continues in Jansa, Slovakia, with a giant slalom on Saturday, March 5.


The Scoop
by Hank Mckee

  1. Gagnon, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  2. Holdener, Head/Head/Head
  3. Barthet, Head/Head/Head
  4. Brignone, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  5. Kopp, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  6. Miradoli, Dynastar/Lange/Look
  7. Brunner, Head/Head/Head
  8. Shiffrin, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  9. Crawford, Head/Head/Head
  10. Schnarf, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  • Women’s World Cup alpine combined, Soldeu, Andorra, Feb. 28, 2016. … It is the 32nd of 41 races on the women’s schedule. … The third of four alpine combined races but only the second held. … It is the fourth World Cup hosted by Andorra and the first combined.
  • It is the second career World Cup win for Marie-Michele Gagnon, the first also in combined from Altenmarkt Jan. 12, 2014. … It is the first Canadian win of the season … and the first since Dustin Cook won the Meribel super G March 19, 2015. … The winning margin is 0.20 of a second. … Top four are within the same second. … Top 13 within two seconds.
  • It is the fifth career World Cup podium for Wendy Holdener, her first in combined. … She won this year’s Stockholm city event and was also on the podium in the Lienz slalom Dec. 29.
  • It is the first career World Cup podium for Anne-Sophie Barthet. … Her previous best had been sixth, once in slalom (Aspen 2009) and once in GS (Ofterschwang 2013).
  • It is the first combined scoring finish for Mikaela Shiffrin. … She started the second run from 40th, 1.93 seconds out. … It is the third career scoring finish for Candace Crawford and her second of the weekend. … It is her first top 10 finish. … It is the first time in 18 World Cup combined races Lindsey Vonn has finished worse than sixth. … It is the 14th time this season Stacey Cook has scored World Cup points. … It is the seventh score of the season for Marie-Pier Prefontaine.
  • Lindsey Vonn holds the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1235-1207 over Lara Gut (DNF 2nd). … Viktoria Rebensburg (DNF 1st) is third overall with 914pts.
  • Gagnon, Gut and Vonn are tied for the lead of the combined standings with 100pts each.
  • Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 3663-3458 over Italy. … Switzerland is third with 3105pts. … The U.S. is fourth at 2639pts and Canada eighth at 1112pts.

Official Results

Rank Bib Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  8 GAGNON Marie-Michele 1989 CAN  58.00  45.66  1:43.66  0.00
 2  10 HOLDENER Wendy 1993 SUI  58.26  45.60  1:43.86  +0.20  2.22
 3  3 BARTHET Anne-Sophie 1988 FRA  58.40  45.87  1:44.27  +0.61  6.77
 4  31 BRIGNONE Federica 1990 ITA  57.59  46.86  1:44.45  +0.79  8.76
 5  34 KOPP Rahel 1994 SUI  58.23  46.65  1:44.88  +1.22  13.53
 6  15 MIRADOLI Romane 1994 FRA  57.98  47.14  1:45.12  +1.46  16.20
 7  45 BRUNNER Stephanie 1994 AUT  58.16  47.02  1:45.18  +1.52  16.86
 8  33 SHIFFRIN Mikaela 1995 USA  58.97  46.26  1:45.23  +1.57  17.42
 9  44 CRAWFORD Candace 1994 CAN  57.95  47.48  1:45.43  +1.77  19.64
 10  11 SCHNARF Johanna 1984 ITA  57.59  47.87  1:45.46  +1.80  19.97
 11  25 STUHEC Ilka 1990 SLO  57.45  48.02  1:45.47  +1.81  20.08
 12  23 FEIERABEND Denise 1989 SUI  58.17  47.33  1:45.50  +1.84  20.41
 13  20 VONN Lindsey 1984 USA  57.04  48.55  1:45.59  +1.93  21.41
 14  37 HAASER Ricarda 1993 AUT  58.22  47.56  1:45.78  +2.12  23.52
 14  6 WORLEY Tessa 1989 FRA  58.01  47.77  1:45.78  +2.12  23.52
 16  36 SCHNEEBERGER Rosina 1994 AUT  58.09  47.86  1:45.95  +2.29  25.41
 17  35 SKJOELD Maren 1993 NOR  58.76  47.30  1:46.06  +2.40  26.63
 18  21 KIRCHGASSER Michaela 1985 AUT  58.88  47.19  1:46.07  +2.41  26.74
 19  14 BRODNIK Vanja 1989 SLO  58.75  47.75  1:46.50  +2.84  31.51
 20  30 KLING Kajsa 1988 SWE  57.30  49.34  1:46.64  +2.98  33.06
 21  41 GOGGIA Sofia 1992 ITA  58.13  48.65  1:46.78  +3.12  34.61
 22  2 PUCHNER Mirjam 1992 AUT  58.40  48.47  1:46.87  +3.21  35.61
 23  39 SCHEYER Christine 1994 AUT  58.91  48.01  1:46.92  +3.26  36.17
 24  18 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  57.86  49.07  1:46.93  +3.27  36.28
 25  1 COOK Stacey 1984 USA  58.12  49.40  1:47.52  +3.86  42.82
 26  28 IGNJATOVIC Nevena 1990 SRB  59.90  47.64  1:47.54  +3.88  43.04
 27  16 FERK Marusa 1988 SLO  59.38  48.35  1:47.73  +4.07  45.15
 28  49 PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier 1988 CAN  58.86  48.94  1:47.80  +4.14  45.93
 29  55 PAULATHOVA Katerina 1993 CZE  59.14  48.76  1:47.90  +4.24  47.04
 30  27 NUFER Priska 1992 SUI  58.77  49.39  1:48.16  +4.50  49.92
 31  43 SUTER Corinne 1994 SUI  58.28  50.01  1:48.29  +4.63  51.37
 32  47 GUTIERREZ Mireia 1988 AND  1:00.12  48.67  1:48.79  +5.13  56.91
 33  26 VENIER Stephanie 1993 AUT  58.80  50.36  1:49.16  +5.50  61.02
 34  4 WILES Jacqueline 1992 USA  58.83  50.75  1:49.58  +5.92  65.68
 35  48 GASIENICA-DANIEL Maryna 1994 POL  59.54  50.08  1:49.62  +5.96  66.12
 36  50 SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena 1984 ARG  1:00.78  50.23  1:51.01  +7.35  81.54
 37  53 SHKANOVA Maria 1989 BLR  1:01.07  50.04  1:51.11  +7.45  82.65
 38  51 HINTERREITNER Sissi 1997 AND  1:00.94  51.50  1:52.44  +8.78  97.40
 39  24 DORSCH Patrizia 1994 GER  57.98  1:02.62  2:00.60  +16.94  187.93
Disqualified 1st run
 46 KANTOROVA Barbara 1992 SVK
Did not start 2nd run
 38 HAEHLEN Joana 1992 SUI
 9 HUETTER Cornelia 1992 AUT
Did not start 1st run
 5 SIEBENHOFER Ramona 1991 AUT
Did not finish 2nd run
 54 SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen 1982 ARG
 52 RAMENTOL Sara 1996 AND
 42 BASSINO Marta 1996 ITA
 29 KRIZOVA Klara 1989 CZE
 22 BAILET Margot 1990 FRA
 19 MARSAGLIA Francesca 1990 ITA
 17 GUT Lara 1991 SUI
 13 CURTONI Elena 1991 ITA
 12 ROSS Laurenne 1988 USA
 7 MAIER Sabrina 1994 AUT
Did not finish 1st run
 56 MCKENNIS Alice 1989 USA
 40 COLETTI Alexandra 1983 MON
 32 REBENSBURG Viktoria 1989 GER

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About the Author: Gabbi Hall

A California native, Gabbi moved to Vermont to ski on the NCAA circuit for St. Michael’s College, where she served as team captain and studied journalism. Before joining Ski Racing, she worked as a broadcast TV producer and social media manager in higher education. She can be reached via email at gabbi@skiracing.com