South American Cup downhill races kick off at La Parva

South American Cup racing ramped up on Tuesday with four races hosted in one day at La Parva, Chile. The venue pulled off two runs of downhill for each gender in a field stacked with World Cup athletes.

Brice Roger of France won the first men’s race of the day in a field of more than 80 athletes. With a six-point penalty, the competition was fierce. Roger’s final time was 1:15.47, just 0.03 seconds ahead of Germany’s Thomas Dressen in second place. Klemen Kosi of Slovenia came in third place, 0.16 seconds away from the win. The U.S. Ski Team’s Thomas Biesemeyer was just off the podium in fifth place.

In the second race,  Kosi worked his way to the top spot with a time of 1:16.52. He was chased of Josef Ferstl of Germany, who was just 0.06 seconds away from the win. Roger claimed another podium finish in third place. Biesemeyer was one again the top American in ninth place, 0.77 seconds away from the win.

On the women’s side, Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic won both races in a small field of 22 athletes. Ledecka took the victory by a 2.11 second margin over Carmina Pallas of Andorra in the first competition. Elena Yakovishina of Russia rounded out the podium in third place, 2.69 seconds away from the win. Team Summit’s Abigail Murer was the top American in ninth place, 4.79 seconds away from the win.

In round two, Pallas made up some time, only 1.78 seconds off of the Czech skier, who had a final time of 1:19.46. There was a shake up in third place with Chile’s Noelle Barahona rounding out the podium. Murer repeated her performance, coming in ninth place.

Complete results are available here.