Whistler Cup: Shiffrin's perfect season succumbs in final race

By Published On: April 12th, 2010Comments Off on Whistler Cup: Shiffrin's perfect season succumbs in final race

It was a dramatic finish in the Whistler Cup’s K2 women’s slalom.

American Mikaela Shiffrin was a couple of gate from completing a nearly perfect season, an unheard of accomplishment in ski racing. She had won all of the races she had finished all season with the exception of one, a third place finish in the Whistler Cup super G, a discipline she had not raced in before. And she had a lead after the first run of her best discipline, the slalom, in her final race of the season, at the Whistler Cup against the best competitors of her age group. Just before the finish she exited the course. She hiked back into the course and finished, but the win went to Austrian Anna Poglitsch and her teammate Julia Grosshaupt was second. After a first run mishap Canadian Adrienne Poitras poured it on in the second heat to salvage third place and help lead the hosts to a second straight Whistler Cup Nations Cup.

Without Shiffrin in the picture, Poglitsch was in complete control, winning by 3.43 seconds. Poitras said she was lucky have even completed the first run. “I really didn’t think it was going to be possible because I almost straddled a gate in my first run, but the ski went on the right side. I did lose my balance and was really slow going into the next gate, so I knew I had to have a great second run. I got kind of lucky.”

The U.S. skiers got ninth from Breezy Johnson, 11th from Brittany Lathrop and 12th from Danielle Brownell-Patty.

Slovene Miha Hrobat collected the men’s GS win over Iceland’s Jakob Helgi Bjarnason with Canada’s Karl Kuus picking up the bronze medal and said the course was just as he liked it, straight and fast and “in great condition.”

Hughston Norton led the U.S. contingent in fifth with Max Hall ninth and Peter Papineau 12th.

WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 11, 2010 – GIRLS K2 – SLALOM
1      2    POGLITSCH Anna     AUT1     44.73   (2)    43.55   (1)    1:28.28
2      25    GROSSHAUPT Julia     AUT1     47.35   (6)    44.36   (3)    1:31.71
3      13    POITRAS Adrienne     CAN1     48.03   (8)    45.17   (6)    1:33.20
 
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 11, 2010 – BOYS K2 – GIANT SLALOM
1      19    HROBAT Miha     SLO1     52.15   (1)    49.65   (3)    1:41.80
2      12    BJARNASON Jakob Helgi     ISL1     52.57   (2)    49.54   (2)    1:42.11
3      6    KUUS Karl     CAN1     53.16   (7)    50.15   (8)    1:43.31
 
WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 11, 2010 – GIRLS K1 –SLALOM
1      12    ARAI Mio     JPN1     34.81   (3)    38.69   (1)    1:13.50
2      3    KATAGIRI Narumi     JPN1     35.31   (4)    39.55   (2)    1:14.86
3      11    PILNA Kristyna     CZE1     36.22   (7)    39.62   (3)    1:15.84

WHISTLER, BC – APRIL 11, 2010 – BOYS K1 – GIANT SLALOM (1 run)
1      1    FOREJTEK Filip     CZE1     56.95   (1)
2      3    BLENGINI Alberto     ITA1     57.04   (2)
3      10    PRIELOZNY Matej     SVK1     57.56   (3)

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”