Schladming, Austria – Alpine Europeans watch ski racing the way that Americans watch football, so it was some source of consternation in Austria that in over a week of competition at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Schladming, the home team had yet to win a gold medal . That all changed on Tuesday, however, and the near capacity crowd of spectators on hand roared as this traditional ski racing powerhouse team won Tuesday night’s Nations Team Event.
The event was a parallel slalom with four athletes from each nation competing head-to-head. The fastest team moved on to the next round. After the Austrians, the powerhouse slalom skiing Swedes edged the U.S. Ski Team in the quarter final and went on to earn the silver medal with Germany in bronze in a nail-biting 0.01-second victory over Canada.
Two superb “small final” runs from Mike Janyk, of Whistler, British Columbia, who beat Germany’s Felix Neureuther, and Guelph, Ontario’s Erin Mielzynski, who clawed back a huge deficit to edge superstar Maria Hoefl-Riesch by one one-hundredth of a second, gave Canada a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth and final heat. Young Toronto gun Phil Brown, who skied so well on his world championship debut as Canada advanced through the first two rounds, laid down Canada’s fastest run of the night but lost by the narrowest of margins to hand bronze to Germany, as they had the faster aggregate times.
“We came as close as you can get to winning a bronze medal. The team did fantastic,” said Alpine Canada president Max Gartner. “They really stepped it up in front of a huge crowd under the lights.”
Crested Butte, Colo.’s David Chodounsky, who was strong in the Moscow City Event before World Championships, led the U.S. squad by winning all of his duels. The U.S. was also represented by Tim Jitloff of Reno, Nev., Mammoth Mountain, Calif.’s Stacey Cook, and Laurenne Ross, of Bend, Ore.
“Moscow was my first time in an event like this,” said Chodunsky. “I’ve raced like this before just for fun, racing ski club when I was little back home. I skied the best I could. We got to the quarterfinals, but couldn’t quite pull it off against Sweden. They’re really strong.”
The U.S. Ski Team is currently leading the medal table with two gold medals from Ted Ligety, of Park City, Utah, and a bronze in super G from Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancuso.
World Championship ski racing action now shifts to tech events with the women’s giant slalom on Thursday, followed by the men’s GS on Friday with Park City, Utah’s Ted Ligety seeking to defend his 2011 title with a third gold medal in Schladming.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Alpine Ski World Championships
Schladming, Austria – Feb. 12, 2013
Nation’s Team Event
1. GOLD Austria
- HOSP Nicole F
- KIRCHGASSER Michaela F
- THALMANN Carmen F
- HIRSCHER Marcel M
- MATHIS Marcel M
- SCHOERGHOFER Philipp M
2. SILVER Sweden
- EKLUND Nathalie F
- HANSDOTTER Frida F
- PIETILAEHOLMNER Maria F
- BYGGMARK Jens M
- HARGIN Mattias M
- MYHRER Andre M
3. BRONZE Germany
- DUERR Lena F
- HOEFL-RIESCH Maria F
- HRONEK Veronique F
- DOPFER Fritz M
- LUITZ Stefan M
- NEUREUTHER Felix M