Scandinavians sweep first GS of Winter Games NZ

The Winter Games NZ competition continued on Aug. 28 with the women’s giant slalom at Coronet Peak. The competition, which also functions as an Australia New Zealand Cup race, was a Scandinavian affair and featured a tight tussle for top honors.

The title went to Norwegian World Cup skier Mina Fuerst Holtmann, just 0.06 seconds ahead of teammate Kristin Lysdahl.

Holtmann was happy with her result, which was a repeat of her 2015 performance, after coming off a two-year injury break.

“The last time I raced was at the Winter Games NZ in 2015 on the same course,” Holtmann said. “I love this hill, and it was very challenging today so it was good to get the win. It was quite bumpy, but the same for everyone and the mountain did a great job on the course.”

@minaholtmann lays it down hard to take out first place in women’s Giant Slalom ?#audiquattro #WGNZ #ski #snow | ? @miles_holden

A post shared by Red Bull NZ (@redbullnz) on Aug 27, 2017 at 8:14pm PDT

High-profile Swedish athlete Maria Pietilae-Holmner took the bronze medal. Nina O’Brien was the top American of the day, coming in 17th place with 3.94 seconds between her and the winner.

Spring conditions created challenges for the race crew. The men’s giant slalom, planned for the same day, was rescheduled to Sept. 1. Chief of Race Hannah Hazeldine said because of the delicate snowpack combined with warm weather, the jury decided to preserve the Out Wide slope and delay the race until Friday. She said the course held up well for the women’s event in the “unseasonably warm weather” and there was a good surface on the race line.

The elite field of 50 women included Olympians and World Cup racers representing 18 countries – Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.S.

The men’s first ANC giant slalom will be held tomorrow followed by the women’s second ANC giant slalom. The slalom events scheduled for Aug. 30 and Aug. 31 will be relocated to the Rocky Gully Race Arena.

“We are making the shift to preserve the Out Wide course for the men’s second giant slalom on Friday,” said Hazeldine.

Release courtesy of Winter Games NZ

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