The women’s night slalom in Flachau is one of the highlights of the World Cup ski calendar. But after the corona-related cancellation, the women will see the light for the first time in history today (6 / 8.45 p.m., live on ORF 1) just 32 kilometers by car in Schladming. And the race on the Planai finish slope, which is up to 52 percent steep and previously reserved for men, promises to be no less spectacular.
So far, only Marlies Raich (formerly Schild) has managed to make a direct comparison at the venue of the annual “Night Race”. You couldn’t ask for a more demanding dress rehearsal in the final slalom before the Olympic Games. Shortening the route, grooming the slopes and setting the course pulls its teeth a bit, but it is always a challenge. OC boss Hans Grogl promised that OC boss Hans Grogl would offer a hard but grippy route, which was requested by FIS race director Markus Mayr after the last difficult races, thanks to sophisticated preparation.
US ski star Mikaela Shiffrin, who became world champion on a neighboring slope in Schladming in 2013, has long wanted a direct comparison with the men. Preferably on the Planai. “Here we can show that we can do it,” says the most successful female slalom skier in World Cup history in Siegen (46).
But Petra Vlhova certainly wants to do that again. The Slovakian won five of the six slaloms of the season so far and finished second in Shiffrin’s only win, which is 240 points ahead. If Vlhova is so clearly ahead after Schladming today, the small crystal ball will be safe for her ahead of time.
Troop thwarted by Corona
Bitter for Katharina Truppe, Austria’s best slalom racer so far this year: The Carinthian missed the Planai premiere because of a positive corona test. She was really looking forward to Schladming. “It’s going to be a spectacle. It’s really cool to drive on a man’s slope for once,” she confidently looked forward to the challenge after finishing seventh on Sunday in Kranjska Gora.
The domestic hopes are mainly on Katharina Liensberger, who recently went without points twice in Slovenia. “I always like night races very much,” says the Vorarlberg native. So far she only knows the Planai “from below, as a spectator” in the finish area.
Source: Nachrichten
