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.
“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.
“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
- Loeseth, Volkl/Lange/Marker
- Strachova, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
- Velez Zuzulova, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
- Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Hansdotter, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
- Holdener, Head/Head/Head
- Gagnon, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
- Pietilae-Holmner, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
- Barthet, Head/Head/Head
- 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 |