Featured Image: The men’s alpine combined podium: Jonas Skabar (FRA), Loic Chable (SUI) and Tomas Barata (ESP). Credit: International University Sports Federation FISU
The FISU Winter World University Games alpine ski racing events kicked off in Torino, Italy, this week. The alpine events started Wednesday, January 15th, and will run through Wednesday, January 22nd. Nordic skiing also began on the 15th and continues through the last day of the Games on Thursday, the 23rd.
The alpine ski racing events have been taking place in Bardonecchia, Italy. The athletes are competing in super-G, giant slalom, slalom, alpine combined, and a mixed team parallel event.
This will be the first year that the Winter World University Games will host para-athlete alpine skiing events.
Two athletes from United States universities have already distinguished themselves by winning in the alpine skiing competitions. Loïc Chable from the University of Denver and Louison Accambray from the University of Colorado have shined in these prestigious events.
Louison Accambray
Junior Louison Accambray from La Clusav, France, is representing the CU Buffaloes at the Winter World University Games.
At her first university race and the first of the season, she achieved victory at the DU Invitational giant slalom event. This brought her into the Games with winning momentum.
On the first day of racing, Accambray secured a podium finish in the alpine combined (+0.78), trailing behind Sophie Nyberg (SWE) in second place (+0.60) and Emy Charbonnier (FRA), who achieved victory.
Then, today, January 17th, she turned up the heat in the super-G and came through the finish triumphantly. It was a tight race, but Accambray was able to pull off the win by -0.06 ahead of Sophie Nyberg.
The women will turn to tech tomorrow, January 19th, for the GS event and then slalom on January 21st.
Loïc Chable
The Switzerland racer, Loïc Chable, is representing the Denver Pioneers at the Winter World University Games. As a graduate student, he is currently in his first season with the Pios after racing the previous two seasons at Westminster University.
Following his 5th-place finish at the Denver Invitational and the RMISA season opener at the Loveland Ski area, where he led the DU men, he made his way to the Winter University Games.
On January 16th, he competed in the men’s alpine combined, where he showcased dominance over the field. With a victory margin of +0.63, Chable was celebrated with the eruption of traditional Swiss cowbells.
He stated, “You know when you are racing downhill you don’t see your time. And when I saw the fans cheering with the cowbell, that is when I knew I had won. It was a great feeling.”
His goal heading into today’s super-G was to “hold another gold medal,” but unfortunately he did not finish.
Chable still has several more chances to earn a spot on the leaderboard with three more events left to go.
Full results can be found here.
More information and the complete schedule can be found here.
About the Author: Ellie Hartman
