FIS season begins with races in the Southern Hemisphere
Aug 31, 2018·Alpine Skiing
Winter is officially underway south of the equator as FIS athletes kicked out of start gates in New Zealand and Chile.
In Cardrona, New Zealand, it all started with giant slalom races for the men and women.
On the ladies’ side, University of Denver athlete Storm Klomhaus took a decisive victory on July 30, winning her first race of the season by nearly a second with a total time of 1:58.48. German skier Julia Mutschlechner came in second while Alice Robinson from New Zealand earned third, 1.46 seconds off the winning pace. In the men’s race, World Cup skier Willis Feasey of New Zealand won the day by 1.62 seconds over Magnus Walch of Austria and Harry Laidlaw of Australia, who tied with combined time of 1:56.42.
On day two of women’s racing, 15-year-old Robinson took the victory in the second FIS race of her young career. Mutschlechner took second yet again, 1.55 seconds off the winning pace while Barbara Kantorova of Slovakia came in third. Madeleine Dekko was the top American, skiing into fifth position. The second men’s race could not be completed due to deteriorating weather conditions, according to SkiOnline.ch.
Over in El Colorado, Chile, athletes started off with a slalom and giant slalom race on July 27-28.
Argentina’s Carolina Blaquier took the first win of the season in the ladies’ giant slalom, clocking in with a combined time of 1:28.18. Noelle Barahona of Chile came in second place, 0.31 seconds off the pace. Chile’s Fernanda Leon skied to third place, 1.82 seconds off the pace. Meagan Olsen was the only American competing, landing in fourth position with a combined time of 1:30.08. On the men’s side, Chile swept the podium with Andres Figueroa taking the win. Roberto Pirozzi was just 0.18 seconds away from victory and just 0.02 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Francisco Allendes.
In the ladies’ slalom, Barahona took the win by over a second with a total time of 1:40.24. Olsen found her way into a podium position, coming in second place, 1.16 seconds away from the win. Jaione Tornero of Argentina rounded out the podium in third place. On the men’s side, Allendes came out on top with a total time of 1:29.74. Enrique Evia Y Roca of Argentina took second place, 1.01 seconds off the winning pace. Fellow Argentinian Emilio Valenzuela came in third place.
Complete results from Cardrona are available here.
Complete results from El Colorado are available here.
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