Luck, limits and Loeseth: Norwegian finds her rhythm in Santa Caterina

By Published On: January 5th, 2016Comments Off on Luck, limits and Loeseth: Norwegian finds her rhythm in Santa Caterina

The quick techno beats (think “Levels” by Avicii) that played at the Santa Caterina slalom in Italy couldn’t help every racer find her pace down the course, but for the women who let the music guide them, the hill and skis were in perfect harmony.

Nina Loeseth of Norway pushed her limits with every snappy turn and found that her first run lead wasn’t just luck. The Attacking Viking has been posting career-best finishes all season, and her momentum was building – enough so that it put her on the top podium spot ahead of the Czech Republic’s Sarka Strachova and Slovakia’s Veronika Velez Zuzulova, who finished second and third on Tuesday.

SANTA CATERINA,ITALY,05.JAN.16 - ALPINE SKIING - ALPINE SKIING - FIS World Cup, Santa Caterina, slalom, ladies, award ceremony. Image shows the rejoicing of Nina Loeseth (NOR). Photo: GEPA pictures/ Wolfgang Grebien

“It’s really something special especially when you’re on the podium there and you hear your national anthem,” Loeseth said of her first World Cup victory. “I was tearing up quite a bit. It’s very emotional.”

Heading into the day, Loeseth’s nerves were in high gear as a result of her shaky performance in Lienz, Austria, before Christmas where she straddled the second gate in the first run. They were compounded some by being the first person to run the course in Santa Caterina, a replacement for the originally scheduled Zagreb race. She said that once she made it past the second gate of the course, she was ready to push herself, which paid off.

Her second run was no different, and the Norwegian used her love of the icy conditions to her advantage to post the fastest time on that run as well.

“I felt I pushed it quite good on the flats here today, and so I was quite happy with the number when I came down and saw actually how much I won with,” Loeseth said, referring to her 1.12 second margin of victory. “It was a good second run, too, not like just a lucky run.”

The second run was about redemption for Zuzulova – who was most recently on the podium in Aspen, Colo., this November.

SANTA CATERINA,ITALY,05.JAN.16 - ALPINE SKIING - ALPINE SKIING - FIS World Cup, Santa Caterina, slalom, ladies. Image shows Veronika Velez Zuzulova (SVK). Photo: GEPA pictures/ Christian Walgram

“I was even crying after first run because I was really disappointed,” Zuzulova said. “And in the second run, I tried to attack more, but when I came down, I was not so happy about my second run because I knew that I did the mistake on the top. After, when the girls after me came down, I started to understand that that run was not that bad.”

Meanwhile, Strachova knows what she needs to get a “W.”

“Two perfect runs,” she said. “Today it was much more better than in the last races, but yeah, I need a good first run and perfect second run.”

World Cup races are often a glass case of emotion for athletes with highs and lows. Lone American Resi Stiegler, who finished in 14th place and earned her second best finish this season, always keeps things positive.

“The track, it was actually quite like a dream,” Stiegler said. “The snow is smooth, and nice, and it was so nice that I was just enjoying it a little too much, but I liked it.”

Stiegler said that she plans to keep pushing herself – similar to Loeseth’s own plan – by really putting it on the line in order to break into the top five. Stiegler continues to recover from her most recent knee injury and has her eye on moving up the results sheet.

Frida Hansdotter of Sweden broke her podium streak, but remains the World Cup slalom points leader by finishing the day in fifth place – 2.12 seconds off of the winner. 

The women’s World Cup season continues on Thursday with the first downhill training run in Zauchensee, Austria.


The Scoop
by Hank Mckee

  1. Loeseth, Volkl/Lange/Marker
  2. Strachova, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  3. Velez Zuzulova, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
  4. Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  5. Hansdotter, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  6. Holdener, Head/Head/Head
  7. Gagnon, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
  8. Pietilae-Holmner, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  9. Barthet, Head/Head/Head
  10. Noens, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
  • Women’s World Cup slalom, Santa Caterina, Italy, Jan. 6, 2016. … This race is rescheduled from Zagreb Jan. 3, due to a lack of snow. … It is the 15th race of the women’s 41 race schedule. … The fifth of 10 scheduled slaloms. … It is the second women’s race of the season to be rescheduled, both of them slaloms (Levi and Zagreb). … Zagreb’s races were also moved in 2014. … There have only been two World Cup slaloms previously held at Santa Caterina, one Nov. 28, 1993 won by Vreni Schneider and one Feb. 12, 2000 won by Spela Pretnar. … Janica Kostelic won the World Slalom Championship at Santa Caterina in 2005. … Mikaela Shiffrin won the last two women’s slaloms held at Zagreb.
  • It is the first career World Cup win for Nina Loeseth. … She had previously earned three podium placings, two of them this seson, a second in GS at Courchevel Dec. 20, 2015 and third in slalom at Are, Dec. 13, 2015. … The winning margin is 1.12. Top four are within two seconds. … It is the ninth Norwegian victory of this season, the first won by a female. … The last win for a Norwegian female came from Andrine Flemmen in 2002.
  • It is the fifth career World Cup podium for Sarka Strachova, the second this season after a third in slalom at Aspen Nov. 29. … It is her fifth top five of the season.
  • It is the 21st career World Cup podium for Veronika Velez Zuzulova… The 19th in slalom. … It is her second podium of the season after a second at Aspen Nov. 28.
  • Marie-Michele Gagnon notches her best result of the season by one placing and registers her third top 10 of the season. … Erin Mielzynski collects her third scoring result of the season, all in slalom. … It is the fifth score of the season for Resi Stiegler, all of them top 15 slalom results.
  • Lara Gut (did not race) leads the World Cup overall standings 658-521 over Frida Hansdotter (fifth in race). … Lindsey Vonn (did not race) is third overall with 500pts. … Mikaela Shiffrin (did not race) is eighth overall with 296pts.
  • Hansdotter leads the slalom standings 365-271 over Strachova. … Velez Zuzulova is third with 220pts. … Shiffrin is seventh with 200pts.
  • Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 1875-1524 over Switzerland. … Italy is third with 1332pts. … The U.S. is fourth with 1152pts and Canada ninth with 445pts.

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  1  425771 LOESETH Nina 1989 NOR  58.70  58.95  1:57.65  0.00
 2  6  155415 STRACHOVA Sarka 1985 CZE  59.03  59.74  1:58.77  +1.12  6.85
 3  3  705287 VELEZ ZUZULOVA Veronika 1984 SVK  59.83  59.19  1:59.02  +1.37  8.38
 4  12  55759 KIRCHGASSER Michaela 1985 AUT  59.39  59.92  1:59.31  +1.66  10.16
 5  7  505679 HANSDOTTER Frida 1985 SWE  59.67  1:00.10  1:59.77  +2.12  12.97
 6  5  516280 HOLDENER Wendy 1993 SUI  59.82  59.99  1:59.81  +2.16  13.22
 7  14  105269 GAGNON Marie-Michele 1989 CAN  59.80  1:00.02  1:59.82  +2.17  13.28
 8  4  505760 PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria 1986 SWE  59.63  1:00.21  1:59.84  +2.19  13.40
 9  25  196726 BARTHET Anne-Sophie 1988 FRA  59.54  1:00.42  1:59.96  +2.31  14.14
 10  13  196806 NOENS Nastasia 1988 FRA  59.32  1:00.65  1:59.97  +2.32  14.20
 11  30  206487 WIESLER Maren 1993 GER  59.90  1:00.18  2:00.08  +2.43  14.87
 12  9  55977 THALMANN Carmen 1989 AUT  59.31  1:00.88  2:00.19  +2.54  15.54
 13  11  106961 MIELZYNSKI Erin 1990 CAN  1:00.87  59.58  2:00.45  +2.80  17.14
 14  15  537772 STIEGLER Resi 1985 USA  1:00.26  1:00.25  2:00.51  +2.86  17.50
 15  40  565401 BUCIK Ana 1993 SLO  1:00.74  59.81  2:00.55  +2.90  17.75
 16  29  206279 GEIGER Christina 1990 GER  1:00.50  1:00.15  2:00.65  +3.00  18.36
 17  52  565320 FERK Marusa 1988 SLO  1:00.54  1:00.28  2:00.82  +3.17  19.40
 18  51  56367 GALLHUBER Katharina 1997 AUT  1:00.71  1:00.16  2:00.87  +3.22  19.71
 19  19  506146 SWENN-LARSSON Anna 1991 SWE  1:00.14  1:00.76  2:00.90  +3.25  19.89
 20  43  516265 GMUER Chiara 1993 SUI  1:00.88  1:00.43  2:01.31  +3.66  22.40
 21  17  56032 SCHILD Bernadette 1990 AUT  1:00.75  1:00.65  2:01.40  +3.75  22.95
 22  31  306249 HASEGAWA Emi 1986 JPN  1:00.91  1:01.76  2:02.67  +5.02  30.72
 23  32  565331 LAVTAR Katarina 1988 SLO  1:01.42  1:01.32  2:02.74  +5.09  31.15
 24  23  296259 MOELGG Manuela 1983 ITA  1:01.22  1:01.97  2:03.19  +5.54  33.90
 25  27  515997 FEIERABEND Denise 1989 SUI  1:01.32  1:02.09  2:03.41  +5.76  35.25
 26  16  55898 BREM Eva-Maria 1988 AUT  1:01.60  1:01.96  2:03.56  +5.91  36.17
 27  28  516334 CHABLE Charlotte 1994 SUI  58.95  1:07.58  2:06.53  +8.88  54.34
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 59  95050 KIRKOVA Maria 1986 BUL
 58  555018 GASUNA Lelde 1990 LAT
 56  155728 DUBOVSKA Martina 1992 CZE
 55  297601 BRIGNONE Federica 1990 ITA
 54  385092 KOMSIC Andrea 1996 CRO
 48  25096 GUTIERREZ Mireia 1988 AND
 47  315187 IGNJATOVIC Nevena 1990 SRB
 46  298723 MIDALI Roberta 1994 ITA
 45  205239 WIRTH Barbara 1989 GER
 44  56206 KOECK Hannah 1994 AUT
 39  485637 ALOPINA Ksenia 1992 RUS
 38  307493 ANDO Asa 1996 JPN
 37  206701 WILLIBALD Elisabeth 1996 GER
 36  56126 ZELLER Lisa-Maria 1992 AUT
 35  56143 GRUENWALD Julia 1991 AUT
 33  305944 KIYOSAWA Emiko 1983 JPN
 26  197319 BAUD MUGNIER Adeline 1992 FRA
 18  206355 DUERR Lena 1991 GER
Did not finish 2nd run
 21  196803 MOUGEL Laurie 1988 FRA
 20  506341 WIKSTROEM Emelie 1992 SWE
 8  516284 GISIN Michelle 1993 SUI
Did not finish 1st run
 57  355055 BUEHLER Rebecca 1992 LIE
 53  197616 ALPHAND Estelle 1995 FRA
 50  705394 KANTOROVA Barbara 1992 SVK
 49  298767 SOSIO Federica 1994 ITA
 42  225525 TILLEY Alexandra 1993 GBR
 41  56253 HUBER Katharina 1995 AUT
 34  107427 ST-GERMAIN Laurence 1994 CAN
 24  56315 TRUPPE Katharina 1996 AUT
 22  296509 CURTONI Irene 1985 ITA
 10  296354 COSTAZZA Chiara 1984 ITA
 2  705423 VLHOVA Petra 1995 SVK

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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