Posts Tagged ‘Austria’

It started at the Winter X games in 1998 but has been introduced as a medal event for the first time at Whistler – hot on the heels of snowboard cross which made its debut at Turin four years ago. But why is this newcomer generating so much attention

Ski Cross, or Ski X as it is often written, is a race on skis between four skiers on a man made course which includes twists, turns and spectacular jumps. The race lasts about a minute and then its all over. But the frequency of crashes draws attention – it is good TV viewing with non stop action.

The video below from WorldSportTV explains what it is all about and features the French champion Ophelie David who will be competing at Whistler, Karin Huttary, a former X Games champion from Austria and Enak Gavaggio of France.

A Ski Cross Course needs to meet requirements specified by the FIS (Fédération Internationale de Ski) rules. There are men’s and women’s events and both use the same course. Athletes will have to race the course many times during the event.

The course is constructed of obstacles such as traverses, flats, rolls, banks, moguls, and jumps of various heights and difficulties, all connected with turns.

• Length: 800 to 1200 m
• Vertical Drop: 150 to 250 m
• Turns: 50% of the course must be turns of varying size and speeds between the other obstacles.
• Features: 25% of the course must be traverses, moguls, banks etc.
• Jumps: 25% of the course will be jumps 1 to 4 m high.

The excitement is immediate as all four racers start at the same time with racers spending as much as 25% of the race airborne whilst travelling at speeds of up to 65 mph and all the time there is the threat of a wipe out which can be your own fault or you may be taken out by your fellow racers.

After a timed qualification round the qualifiers race in knock out heats head to head with the first and second proceeding to the next round. When there are just 8 racers left there is what is termed ‘the small final’ to determine positions 5 to 8 inclusive and there is the ‘big final’ which determines positions 1 to 4 and therefore, in the case of the Olympics, the gold, silver and bronze medals.

Competitors are not allowed to push or trip or commit any foul play and can be disqualified from the competition if this happens.

The men’s final was held on Sunday and the winner was Switzerland’s Michael Schmid ahead of Andreas Matt of Austria who captured silver and Audun Grønvold of Norway won the bronze medal.

The ladies take to the hill today so do not miss any of the action, one of the favourites will be Ophelie David. Here she is winning the world championship held in Madonna di Campiglio in Italy in 2007. Thanks to sportsnetwork for the video and good luck Ophelie!

Don’t miss the action later today.

Yesterday we talked about the skeleton event at the forthcoming Winter Olympics to be held in Whistler, Vancouver, Canada and today we turn our attention to an extreme sport that is closely related to skeleton – the luge.

In luge – the French word for “sled” – racers begin by sitting on open fibreglass sleds. Pulling on fixed handles in the ice, they burst out of the start. After this explosive start, they use spiked gloves on the ice surface for extra acceleration before lying down on their backs, feet stretched out in front of them, heads back to be as aerodynamic as possible. Luge racers steer using their legs and shoulders, and brake by sitting up, putting their feet down and pulling up on the sled runners.

Therefore the fundamental difference between skeleton and luge is that the skeleton pilots go down the track head first lying on their stomachs whereas the luge pilots are feet first lying on their back. Which is crazier we are not sure – but a similarity would appear to be that you can see very little be it luge or skeleton.

Luge races have grown considerably faster with refrigerated luge tracks and aerodynamic equipment, so that speeds now regularly reach 140 kilometres an hour or more and G-forces reach over 5G.

The singles events consist of four heats over two days. The individual with the lowest combined time over the four runs wins. Men and women compete on the same track, but the women and doubles begin further down the course. The four-run format is unique to the Olympic Winter Games and designed to reward consistency, endurance and ability to withstand pressure – particularly on the second day.

The doubles event consists of two runs over one day, with the fastest total time determining the winner. All events in luge are timed to the thousandth of a second.

Two athletes — Peter Minsch of Switzerland and George Robertson of Australia — who in February 1883 instigated what was called “The Great International Sled Race”. Their time: 9 minutes and 15 seconds, to slide down a four kilometre track joining the Swiss villages of Klosters and Davos was nothing very special but that didn’t matter – it was the idea that mattered.  But it was not until 1964 that luge for men, women and doubles made its Olympic debut at the Games in Innsbruck.

The action kicks off right at the beginning of the games with the men’s singles competition being held over the 13th and 14th Feb. Then it is the turn of the girls who race over the 15th and 16th of Feb – and finally the doubles who compete on Feb 17th.

The favourites for medals in the luge are the Germans who have dominated the event for the last 10 years and in all probability they have a very good chance of winning again. But strong competition usually comes from Austria, Italy, Russia and the USA but with home advantage see what the 2010 Olympics Luge Coach Wolfgang Staudinger says about the Luge Canada team’s chances at the Vancouver 2010 Games. Thanks RayVanEng for the video.

We have been away for a few days, to the beautiful island of Majorca and had to come back via Zurich where it was snowing. This morning, a beautiful clear day in Provence, we could see the southern Alps covered with snow. The radio told us that resorts like Isola 2000 and Auron had a 40cms of snow at the station and 80 cms at the top. Winter has arrived and many of these resorts will be opening the second week of December.

2010 is of course the year of the Winter Olympics which start in February in Vancouver, Canada. Many extreme sports are practised during the games – snowboarding in its various guises, skiing…..where do we stop, but we suggest that ski jumping must rank as one of the most extreme.

Men’s ski jumping has been part of the Olympic Winter Games since the first Games in Chamonix, in 1924. The large hill competition was added for the Innsbruck 1964 Winter Games.

Above – Todd Loddwick of the United States – photo courtesy AP Photo/Matthias Rietschiel

There are now three medal events at the Olympics – the normal hill individual, the large hill individual and a team event. The format for the individual events is the same: there are 50 starters being the world’s top 15 ranked ski jumpers and 35 who will have qualified at the games. The first round whittles this number down to 35 jumpers who then jump again in reverse starting order to the distance jumped in the first round.

Competitors are evaluated on distance and style and while there is a very close relationship between the two, the skier with the longest jump will often have the highest style points. An exception to this can be found in the landing portion of the jump as long jumps can make landing in a controlled telemark position more difficult. The quality of landing can be a determining factor in deciding the finishing place when the distances are similar.

The team event is comprised of four athletes and there are two rounds of competition. In the first round, one skier from each team jumps. Then, the second skier from each team jumps. Then the third, followed by the fourth.

In the second round, only the top eight teams from the first round compete. Similar to the individual events, the less proficient jumpers go first and the best jumpers go last. The team with the highest total score over all eight jumps wins.

Norway heads the list of all time medal winners at the Winter Olympics, holding a total of 280 medals including 98 golds and in Vancouver it will be Anders Jacobsen who will be trying to take that total of golds to 100.

In the video below from Silosaft you can watch Jocobsen win at Innsbruck in 2007, narrowly beating Thomas Morgenstern of Austria.

Good luck to all competitors – perhaps this is one extreme sport that you could not practise in Majorca!

Living legend Hermann Maier, one of Alpine skiing’s greatest, yesterday announced his retirement from competitive racing. Maier, who picked up the nickname ‘The Herminator’  won four overall World Cup titles – 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2004, two Olympic gold medals at the Nagano Olympics in 1998,  three World Championship titles – 1999 x 2 and 2005  and a total of 54 races on the World Cup circuit.

His racing career nearly ended following a motorcycle accident in August 2001 when he collided with a car on his way home from a summer training session in Austria. Doctors nearly amputated his lower leg, but instead Maier underwent massive reconstructive surgery. Most believed his racing career was over when he had to sit out the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah.

His first full season back was 2004 when he reclaimed both the Super-G and overall titles, a feat widely seen as one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. In 2004, Hermann Maier received the Laureus World Sports Award for the “Comeback of the Year” and it was at this time that he picked up his nickname for his indestructible nature.

Hermann Maier in action.

Maier had victories again in the World Cup series in 2005 and 2009 but after surgery  on his right knee in the offseason he has decided to hang up his boots.

“I am healthy now and that’s the way I want to live on,” Maier said, fighting back tears at a news conference. “I wanted to become fit once more and I’ve accomplished that now.”

We are pleased to bring you this video from petrduchac of Maier in action at Kitzbühel in Austria which could be considered his own back yard for it is Maier who holds the best results ever recorded at Kitzbühel from the Super-G races, with 5 victories and 2 seconds in the 7 times that he competed there – an extreme performance in this extreme sport – without precedent – deserving respect.

We recently wrote about two endurance marathons -  Furnace Creek 508 and the  Simpson Desert mountain bike race – about which more later – and so thought we would do some research into the subject. These extreme events are gaining in popularity – does this suggest a rather macabre side to the human psyche?

Our own experience of marathons is on foot and we hated almost every yard of the actual run but when you finish, when you have bested your personal best, achieved your goal and maybe even raised a few bob for your local charity the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction is huge.

It must be the same for the marathon mountain bikers…….and having made some enquiries we have found some information on the north American endurance mountain bike races which we thought you would appreciate.

UCI

The world of mountain biking comes under the jurisdiction of the UCI – Union Cycliste Internationale (International Cycling Union) which is based in Switzerland. They run/manage all world championship events such as the recent UCI mountain bike and trials world championships that were held in Canberra, Australia. The UCI were established in 1900 but it was not until 2004 that the UCI held marathon mountain bike championships. The 2009 event was held in Austria with Roel Paulissen from Belgium winning the men’s event and Sabine Spitz  from Germany winning the women’s event.

Non-UCI events routinely cover much longer distances. The typical event in the USA is either based on time, usually 6, 12 or 24 hours, or distance, the most common being 100 miles (161 km) Events based on hours typically allow either people to compete individually or as part of the team. Distances events are almost all solo events. The number of these events and those taking part in them have grown greatly. The first such events began to be held routinely in the early 1990s Typical each year there were less than 10 events each with less than 50 racers. In 2006 nearly 100 events were held and most had more than 150 racers.

It is these non UCI events that we will report on today.

Montezuma’s Revenge is a 24 hour endurance mountain bike wilderness race held in Colorado each August. Competitors are required to climb a 14,272-foot (4,350 m) mountain-Gray’s Peak. The course varies from year to year but is always extremely demanding. The winner is determined by who covers the most distance in the 24 hour period.

Wilderness 101 Mountain Bicycle Race is a 101 mile (162 km) race held annually in late July. The race starts and ends in Coburn, Pennsylvania. The course is a single loop covering roads, forest roads and trails. The total climbing in the race is approximately 10,000 feet (3050 meters.)

Chupacabras is a 100 km race in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.  The annual race has taken place every October since 1997. It is sponsored entirely by the private sector and draws hundreds of competitors each year, primarily from Mexico and the southern US.

Leadville Trail 100 MTB is one of the oldest of a growing number of 100-mile (160 km) races. It was first run in 1994 and has become one of the best known marathon events in mountain bike racing. Entry is by lottery, with entries due by the end of January each year for the race that is run the second Saturday in August.

Breackenridge 100 is an endurance mountain bike race held annually in mid July Breckenridge, Colorado. The race offers two distance classes, 100 miles (161 km) and 100 km (62.5 miles). No awards are presented to those doing the shorter version, it simply offers easier alternative for those riders not ready to take race the full 100 miles.

Mohican MTB 100 is an endurance race of 100 miles (161 km) held annually in early June in North Central Ohio. The course contains over 11,000 feet of climbing on singletrack, doubletrack and dirt roads. This course is very scenic, almost entirely tree covered and more than 90% on dirt. This course is only one lap and is almost entirely in the 5,000 acre (20 km²) Mohican State Park.

Lumberjack 100 is an endurance race held in June at Michigan’s Big M Cross Country Ski and Mountain Bike Trail in the Manistee National Forest.  The race course consists of four 25 mile laps in the Udell Hills area.  The course contains over 8,000 feet of climbing and is 99% singletrack. Due to venue limitations, only 250 racers are allowed to participate.

Shenandoah 100 is a 100 mile (162 km) endurance race held annually on the Sunday during Labour Day weekend. The race course start and finish points are near Stokesville, Virginia and is mostly contained in the George Washington National Forest and has nearly 12,500 feet of vertical climbing over the 100 miles.

Endurance 100 is an endurance race of 100 miles (162 kms) held annually in late August in Utah.

So there you have a brief compendium of the main endurance marathons held in the US – we hope you will get yourselves motivated to take on this challenge – get yourself fit and then glow in the aftermath personal satisfaction and achievement. Below is some action from Utah in the video from BrianHeadInsiders

We promised to update you on how the crazy guys are in the Simpson Desert classic – day 3 and its getting tougher – still one man with 100% – thanks to Sue George of www.cyclingnews.com for this extract.

‘Once again the Simpson Desert threw in a bag of tricks for the riders. A change from the normal race route has been necessary as the Warburton Crossing leading onto the Birdsville Track is impassable. Day three was diverted up the little used sand track, known as the K1 Line.

Good conditions were experienced for the first few hours of the stage. However, by around 10:00 am riders were pushing into a northerly headwind while slugging through soft sand. By 10:45 am, the wind blew up a massive dust storm that has continued through most of the day and evening.

Nevertheless, 13 riders completed the morning stage, including the one remaining 100% rider, Alan Keenleside from NSW. Keenleside was well supported throughout the day by 2008 winner Lynton Stretton, who despite suffering a knee injury, is doing everything possible to help him remain undefeated by the desert.’

The FIS Snowboarding World Cup has moved to Kreischberg in Austria for two days of competition. Yesterday it was the turn of the parallel giant slalom boarders and although the US competitors didn’t make a podium finish there was plenty of promise on show.

Siegfried Grabner of Austria won the men’s competition, followed by Switzerland’s Simon Schoch in second and Meinhard Erlacher of Italy in third.

U.S. Snowboarding’s Tyler Jewell (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Chris Klug (Aspen, CO) led the way for U.S., finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.
“Jewell hit a hole. He had a lead, hit the hole and got behind and he couldn’t make it up,” U.S. Snowboarding Alpine head Coach Steve Persons said. “It was about the only hole on the whole course. Other than that the snow was perfect today.”

Jewell was followed in eighth by teammate Klug (Aspen, CO), who won the first qualifying round.
“Klug actually won in the qualifier but didn’t have such a good second run,” Persons said. “These finishes show that we are within striking distance. If we can get these guys qualifying in the top eight then they’re going to be able to perform.”

In the women’s race, Doris Guenther of Austria won, followed by Japan’s Tomoka Takeuchi in second and Austrian Claudia Riegler in third.

Michelle Gorgone (Boston) also had trouble in the same spot as Jewell and was unable to make up the time in the end, finishing 13th.
“For Michelle, today her challenge was terrain. In the first run she hit the same hole [as Tyler] and went down,” Persons said. “She caught up with her opponent halfway down the course but lost a little on a steep pitch. But it was definitely a show of her speed. She’s riding really well and fast.”

Teammate Erica Mueller (Steamboat Springs, CO) followed Gorgone in 22nd.

The riders remain in Kreischberg for a night parallel slalom event on Wednesday.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 LG SNOWBOARD FIS WORLD CUP
Kreischberg, Austria – Jan. 6, 2009
Parallel Giant Slalom
1. Siegfried Grabner, Austria
2. Simon Schoch, Switzerland
3. Meinhard Erlacher, Italy
4. Heinz Inniger, Switzerland
5. Jasey Jay Anderson, Canada

Men

Women
1. Doris Guenther, Austria
2. Tomoka Takeuchi, Japan
3. Claudia Riegler, Austria
4. Johanna Shaw, Austria
5. Marion Kreiner, Austria

Although the video below from riservabianca does not show the Kreisberg event (nothing yet posted) it shows the tough conditions that were experienced at Limone, Italy in the FIS World Cup event held just before Christmas, you should also recognise some of the names of the boarders even if you cannot exactly identify the boarders.[youtube=http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=bBChInScbtg]