Olympic Super-G champion Anna Fenninger won her second World Cup race in two days on Friday when she captured the giant slalom at Are and took charge of the overall standings.
The 24-year-old Austrian had also won Thursday’s first giant slalom at the Swedish venue.
On Friday, she clocked 2 minutes 00.15 seconds with Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg and Sweden’s Jessica Lindell-Vikarby behind by 0.61 seconds and 0.68 respectively.
Photo: Reuters
Her double success allowed Fenninger to take top spot in the World Cup overall standings, deposing Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who was 10th on Friday.
She has a seven-point lead over the German with five rounds left in the World Cup season.
Fenninger had already been the fastest in the first run on Friday ahead of France’s Anemone Marmottan who took her first podium finish with a second place finish on Thursday.
In the World Cup giant slalom standings, Lindell-Vikarby has a 14-point lead over Fenninger.
“I just feel comfortable on my skis and try to go fast as I can and not to think about anything else but skiing,” Fenninger said. “I don’t know why I’m so fast to be honest. It feels really good to be in such a good shape and that it is working out that way.”
“I was a bit nervous to be the first one to face the course in the first run. It’s never easy to know how to attack the course. I won the race in the bottom section yesterday, so did I today. It’s just amazing,” she said.
Rebensberg believes she is gradually getting back to form having captured a bronze at the Olympic giant slalom in Sochi last month.
“I’ve had a tough season, with ups and downs. I was sick for almost two months. I couldn’t train in November and December. The podium tonight makes me very happy,” the German said. “I tried to be more aggressive than yesterday and to make the right adjustments. I actually wasn’t that happy about my second run, I didn’t feel I was fast. To see the green line after crossing the line was great.”
Hoefl-Riesch was to race yesterday in the slalom with a chance to reclaim the overall top spot.
Fenninger was not listed to race yesterday.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but