SX golden crown battle ahead in Sunny Valley
Mar 12, 2021·Ski Cross
After the successful FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships 2023 test events in Georgia’s Bakuriani, we have moved on to Sunny Valley resort in Russia for the penultimate stop before World Cup finals.
It is the annual battle for the highly anticipated golden crown that will be going down in the South Ural Chelyabinsk region for the fifth time this year at the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup.
Will Fanny Smith add to her golden crown collection?
Fanny Smith (SUI) holds the record so far, as she has already three crowns at home. Will she add another one to her collection? With Smith being in top shape this winter, one can expect her to show a great performance to a track that she clearly likes a lot. This would add to her collection of extraordinary achievements this year.
Not only has the Swiss athlete broken Ophelie David’s record of most victories among male and female athletes, Smith did set a new record with a total of now 28 World Cup victories and is officially the winningest SX athlete of all time.
Add a World Champs silver medal and a career’s third ski cross crystal globe to the list, and you will understand why Smith is being seen as one of the favourites to be winning in Russia.
World Champion Sandra Naeslund (SWE), has won one time so far in Sunny Valley. Although she joined the World Cup only after the World Champs in Idre this season, Naeslund showed that she is definitely back in the game by taking a win at Reiteralm, which was the first World Cup competition after the World Champs.
She then took a double podium in Bakuriani, one second place in the individual race and a third place with teammate David Mobaerg at the world premiere of the ski cross mixed team event. Although Naeslund is no threat to the ski cross overall World Cup win, which Smith had already secured in Bakuriani, Naeslund is for sure currently Smith’s biggest threat for the golden crown battle here in Russia.
Another athlete who will want to stop Smith’s golden crown collection, but rather add to her own, is Canada’s Marielle Thompson. It is her, who won the very first golden crown here in February 2017, therefore Thompson will surely be seeking to get on top of the podium again. Currently sitting in second place at the overall World Cup standings, the Canadian showed really consistent racing throughout the season with a total of five podium spots so far this winter.
A few other names that we should have on the list for Saturday’s competition is France’s Marielle Berger-Sabatell, who took second place here in 2020 and jumped onto the podium twice this season. Therefore, the French athlete is also currently sitting in third rank in the overall World Cup ranking.
But also, young Swiss athlete Talina Gantenbein has been one to watch throughout the season, especially since she made her maiden podium appearance at the very beginning of the season and managed to grab another one in Idre.
Midol again king of Sunny Valley?
On the men’s side, Bastien Midol was the only athlete able to win back-to-back races here in Sunny Valley, back in 2019, taking home one golden crown so far. The year before it was Kevin Drury (CAN) and Jonas Lenherr (SUI), who each took one win and one second place making it a tie for the win, therefore they had to battle it out at the farewell event in the evening with dance-offs and other competitions in order to be the one taking home the golden crown. In the end, it was decided that they both would get one each.
Unfortunately, Kevin Drury suffered from a season-ending injury back in December and we will not see him compete here in Russia. But Jonas Lenherr on the other hand has had a strong season so far with three podiums, resulting in second rank for the overall World Cup ranking this season.
With teammate Ryan Regez (SUI) being absent and not competing here in Sunny Valley, it could be Lenherr’s chance to secure that second rank. And actually, for the same reason, Bastien Midol, currently sitting in fourth, with a good performance, the Frenchman could pass Regez and get into third rank, especially since Midol has showed some strong racing lately as well.
Of course, nobody can edge off SX World Cup winner Reece Howden, who like Fanny Smith, sealed the deal in Bakuriani way before the final competition of the season, due to his consistent strong racing throughout the winter. Although, the 22-year-old Canadian did not manage to take a podium in Bakuriani (GEO), his strong performances throughout this year have made him THE male athlete to be always counted in for each and every competition for podium spots.
After his personal disappointment in Georgia, he will be surely seeking to strike back in Russia. It will be the first time for Howden to compete in Sunny Valley, so we can’t wait to see his strategy for this course.
It is actually 2017/18 SX crystal globe winner, Marc Bischofberger (SUI), who will be defending the winning title from 2020 here at the Russian resort. With him missing the first couple of races at the beginning of the season due to a shoulder injury, Bischofberger is hungry to compete and to fight for the World Cup wins, especially if there are golden crowns to grab.
Temperatures are looking quite crispy for the race day, but forecast also promises some sun, so we are looking forward to a good track and some solid and great racing for Saturday. Make sure to tune in for the last competition before World Cup finals on March 21 in Veysonnaz (SUI).
Sunny Valley title defenders from February 2020: Fanny Smith (SUI) and Marc Bischofberger (SUI).
Qualifications are set for March 12 at 13:00 LOC/ 9:00 CET, which you can follow via live timing on our website or via FIS App and finals are slated for February 13 at 13:00 LOC/ 09:00 CET.
WATCH LIVE (subject to change):
Saturday, February 13 at 13:00 LOC/ 9:00 CET:
TV: ORF Sport+ (Austria), TV2 SPXRT (Denmark), Eurosport 2 (Europe) at 9:20 CET, Ziggo Sport 14 (The Netherlands), SVT 1 (Sweden), RSI (Switzerland)
Livestreaming: FIS Freestyle Youtube channel (geo-restricted; check countries where livestream is going to be available HERE), CBC Streaming (Canada), RTS Streaming (Switzerland)
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