Maze blocks Austrian podium sweep in World Champs combined

By Published On: February 9th, 2015Comments Off on Maze blocks Austrian podium sweep in World Champs combined

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – Three races into the FIS World Ski Championships and Tina Maze is running away with the medal count, claiming her third straight piece of hardware with a victory in the alpine combined. Maze again demonstrated her full range of skiing abilities, leading the way after the downhill portion of the combined and then holding off the challenges of Nicole Hosp and Michaela Kirchgasser to earn her second gold medal, and third total, of these World Championships.

“I’m totally exhausted today. It’s a tough program, late (second run start) time and really warm so it’s all getting even harder,” admitted Maze, who will ski in all five disciplines at this event. “And tough downhill in the morning so it’s a pretty tough day. But winning is always amazing even if you have no energy. Now you can recover for next day.”

After the downhill portion Maze held a slim 0.02-second advantage over Lara Gut and an additional 0.26-second lead over Anna Fenninger. But looking at the start list it was clear that the threats to Maze’s supremacy would come in the form of the impressive Austrian slalom skiers. Hosp was fourth after the downhill at 0.90 seconds back, Kirchgasser in eighth at 1.33 seconds behind, and Kathrin Zettel 11th, 1.75 seconds out. Fenninger and Gut, not known for their slalom skills, would have to ski the slalom run of their lives to overtake Maze and hold off Hosp, both of whom have won World Cup slalom races this season.

“It was pretty cool to see all four in the top 10, and I think we can ski all pretty well slalom so it’s going to be an interesting run,” said Kirchgasser of the Austrian positions heading into the slalom run.

Warm weather was once again a factor in the slalom run as temperatures reached upwards of 50 degrees. But unlike the men’s combined, which had slalom skiers starting first and second on run two and moving all the way up to take two of the three podium spots, all of the technical threats started in the final 11 spots in the women’s race. Zettel was the first of the slalom skiers to leave the start and came down with a commanding 1.58-second advantage to the loud cheers of the fans who packed the stands.

Zettel held off the next two racers, including the best American finisher, Laurenne Ross, who ultimately ended up 14th on the day. Then came Kirchgasser, who displayed incredible poise in the quick slalom turns to build on her advantage of 0.41 seconds from the downhill. She worked the soft groove that had developed in the warm conditions and crossed the line ahead of Zettel by 1.29 seconds. But the race was still far from over.

Lindsey Vonn was the next to leave the start, and despite not skiing slalom for over two years until two days ago, she still had ambitions for a medal. Unfortunately for the hometown fans, she straddled a gate just before the first interval and was unable to complete the run. She skied down the side of the course and through the finish to wave to the fans, but was clearly upset following the race.

“I’m just really disappointed. It’s a hometown World Championships and I really tried as hard as I could. I came up short and that’s disappointing for myself and for my family and my fans. I just didn’t figure out this hill at all,” said a teary Vonn. “I was especially disappointed today because I actually skied really good slalom the last two days. I thought I had a chance at getting a medal. I guess I have one more chance in the GS, and I’ll do my best there. It’s just a lot of expectations. I’ve tried my best to live up to them, but I just didn’t.”

Hosp was the next to challenge Kirchgasser, and she skied a virtually flawless run to sneak ahead by 0.13 seconds. Then all she could do was wait. Fenninger put together an impressive run for an athlete known much more for her speed skills. She moved into third and bumped Zettel off the podium, giving the Austrians the top four spots with only two women remaining. Gut skied well, but not quite quickly enough and came down in fourth.

The only one left to spoil the Austrian sweep was Maze, the woman who has won virtually everything there is to win in the sport over the past three seasons. She pushed out of the start and skied tentatively through the first interval, looking like she was about to hand over the win to Hosp as she lost more than half of her 0.90-second advantage. But as she has been able to demonstrate time and time again, she rebounded and found her quick feet for the second half of the run. The remainder of the course she only lost an additional nine-hundredths of a second and crossed the line to take the gold by 0.22 seconds.

“This is special because I’ve always been one of the favorites, and I managed to win (my first alpine combined gold) today. If I hadn’t won today, I wouldn’t have felt good. It was really a lot of pressure on me today,” commented Maze. “I thought, I have to do this, and it’s not easy to race like that. I was really nervous before the slalom. I did a solid run in downhill, but not my best run. Still being able to win with that kind of run is amazing. I couldn’t wish for more.”

“I have to take off my hat in response to the performance of Tina Maze at these World Championships. It’s pretty amazing,” said Hosp. “When I was in the finish line and I saw her coming down in the slalom losing some time, I was thinking maybe it could be enough for me. But she fully deserves this victory. Starting the event as a favorite, it’s a lot of pressure.”

Hosp has been having a rejuvenating slalom season, taking the win in Aspen earlier this season and finishing in the top 10 in three others. She was second in the Olympic combined in Sochi and was third in the 2013 World Championship combined in Schladming.

“It’s amazing for me. It’s a great day, I’m so happy about this medal, and it was a big fight. It was a long day and hard race,” said Hosp. “In the finish part of the downhill I was really fast, at the steep part it was not that good. In slalom, yes, it was really good. I think Kirchi had a perfect run. She made a really good run, and I was so happy when I was in the lead before her in the finish.

Kirchgasser may have had the biggest smile of the day after her slalom leg that held up for the fastest run of the afternoon. It was a bit of redemption for her after finishing fourth in the same event in Schladming two years ago. Ironically, the leaderboard in that race looked very similar to the one today, with one big exception. The 2013 winner was retired German star Maria Hoefl-Riesch. Maze and Hosp finished second and third in that race to bump Kirchgasser to fourth. But not this year.

“It’s perfect. I mean, I had a really good downhill run. When I came into the finish at just 1.3 behind, I thought, oh cool! My slalom was really great. I think it was nearly a perfect run, maybe at the beginning a little more smooth for the next time, but I’m so happy with my bronze medal,” said Kirchgasser. “It counts just one, two, three at the World Championships, and I got the third place — perfect.”

Fenninger was looking to match Maze with her third medal in three races, but she does not ski nearly as much slalom as the top three and ended up with the wooden spoon in fourth.

“I think I had a really good slalom run for me, for the training that I had before. So I’m satisfied, or stoked, with both my runs. It was a good day,” admitted Fenninger. “The other three were better today, and it was a good fourth place.”

Maze will now go into the final two events with the chance to match Lasse Kjus’ individual record medal haul from the 1999 Vail/Beaver Creek World Championships. He won a medal in all five individual events. Maze has the giant slalom and slalom remaining, both of which she has already won on the World Cup tour this season.

“I think it would be awesome. I really hope I can (win five medals) and be in each event on the podium,” said Maze. “Of course, it’s not easy. You need to be focused on your run on the hill. Why not?”

The American women left empty-handed for the second race in a row. Vonn was the only one within striking distance after the downhill, but still trailed Maze by 1.31 seconds. The remaining starters of Ross, Julia Mancuso and Jackie Wiles all left themselves with big deficits to make up after the downhill portion and none of them typically race slalom. They put in a strong effort in the afternoon, but were unable to match the speed of the slalom regulars and finished 15th, 14th, and 17th, respectively.

The next race is the team event, scheduled for Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. MT. The U.S. team will be comprised of Mancuso, Mikaela Shiffrin, Paula Moltzan, Ted Ligety, Will Brandenburg, and David Chodounsky.

See more photos from this race here

 

The Scoop

By Hank McKee

  1. Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
  2. Hosp, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  3. Kirchgasser, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  4. Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
  5. Gut, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  6. Zettel, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  7. Stuhec, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  8. Marsaglia, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
  9. Mowinckel, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
  10. Bailet, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Women’s World Championship alpine combined, Beaver Creek, Colo., Feb. 9, 2015:

  • It is the sixth race of the 2015 World Ski Championships … the third women’s event. … It is the 75th Championship combined. … Maria Hoefl-Riesch (retired) was the last combined champion at Schladming in 2013 (and at Sochi 2014 in Olympic competition). … The women have not had a World Cup combined this season.
  • It is the fourth career gold medal and ninth World Championship medal for Tina Maze … her third medal, and second gold of these championships. … Her four golds have each come in different disciplines. … All she is missing is slalom. … Nine medals matches her with Pirmin Zurbriggen and Renate Goetschl for sixth on the all-time World Championship medal list.
  • Winning margin is .22 of a second. … Top five finishers are within the same second … top six within two seconds. It is the smallest field for a World Championship race since women’s combined at Santa Caterina in 2005 where just 21 finished.
  • It is the sixth World Championship medal for Nicole Hosp … her third in combined, having also medaled in the event at Schladming in 2013 and in St. Moritz in 2003.
  • It is the second career World Championship medal for Michaela Kirchgasser, the first a silver in slalom at Schladming in 2013.
  • It is the third best of eight World Championship results for Laurenne Ross. … It is the 18th best of 23 World Championship placings for Julia Mancuso. … It is the first career World Championship placing for Jacqueline Wiles.
  • Medal count: Austria  three gold,  two silver, one bronze; Slovenia two gold, one silver; Switzerland one gold,  two bronze; U.S. one silver, two bronze; Canada one silver; Norway one silver; France one bronze.

 

Results

 1  17  565243 MAZE Tina 1983 SLO  1:45.25  48.12  2:33.37  0.00
 2  21  55690 HOSP Nicole 1983 AUT  1:46.15  47.44  2:33.59  +0.22  1.65
 3  15  55759 KIRCHGASSER Michaela 1985 AUT  1:46.58  47.14  2:33.72  +0.35  2.62
 4  20  55947 FENNINGER Anna 1989 AUT  1:45.51  48.75  2:34.26  +0.89  6.67
 5  12  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:45.27  49.04  2:34.31  +0.94  7.05
 6  9  55838 ZETTEL Kathrin 1986 AUT  1:47.00  48.01  2:35.01  +1.64  12.30
 7  30  565360 STUHEC Ilka 1990 SLO  1:46.39  49.41  2:35.80  +2.43  18.22
 8  10  297702 MARSAGLIA Francesca 1990 ITA  1:46.65  49.31  2:35.96  +2.59  19.42
 9  22  425929 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  1:46.32  49.66  2:35.98  +2.61  19.57
 10  2  196968 BAILET Margot 1990 FRA  1:47.49  49.10  2:36.59  +3.22  24.14
 11  7  565401 BUCIK Ana 1993 SLO  1:50.01  47.76  2:37.77  +4.40  32.99
 12  6  565333 BRODNIK Vanja 1989 SLO  1:48.26  49.64  2:37.90  +4.53  33.97
 13  8  206367 HRONEK Veronique 1991 GER  1:47.31  50.60  2:37.91  +4.54  34.04
 14  14  538573 ROSS Laurenne 1988 USA  1:46.71  51.30  2:38.01  +4.64  34.79
 15  18  537545 MANCUSO Julia 1984 USA  1:47.92  50.10  2:38.02  +4.65  34.87
 16  29  296472 FANCHINI Elena 1985 ITA  1:47.56  51.28  2:38.84  +5.47  41.02
 17  3  539536 WILES Jacqueline 1992 USA  1:48.13  50.95  2:39.08  +5.71  42.81
 18  11  45331 SMALL Greta 1995 AUS  1:49.01  50.38  2:39.39  +6.02  45.14
 19  25  385092 KOMSIC Andrea 1996 CRO  1:51.85  49.43  2:41.28  +7.91  59.31
 20  26  155563 KRIZOVA Klara 1989 CZE  1:48.69  52.84  2:41.53  +8.16  61.19
 21  27  35089 SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena 1984 ARG  1:52.67  49.11  2:41.78  +8.41  63.06
 22  1  115115 BARAHONA Noelle 1990 CHI  1:51.32  51.62  2:42.94  +9.57  71.76
Did not start 2nd run
 23  296427 SCHNARF Johanna 1984 ITA
 5  245066 MIKLOS Edit 1988 HUN
Did not finish 2nd run
 24  426043 TVIBERG Maria Therese 1994 NOR
 19  537544 VONN Lindsey 1984 USA
 13  516219 NUFER Priska 1992 SUI
Did not finish 1st run
 32  375018 COLETTI Alexandra 1983 MON
 31  385096 POPOVIC Leona 1997 CRO
 28  107613 GRENIER Valerie 1996 CAN
 16  105269 GAGNON Marie-Michele 1989 CAN
 4  297910 CURTONI Elena 1991 ITA

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About the Author: Jessica Kelley

A 10-year veteran of the U.S. Ski Team, Kelley collected three NorAm titles, won GS silver at the 2002 World Junior Championships, and was a member of the 2007 World Championships team during her professional career. She resides in Park City, Utah, with her husband, Adam Cole.