Successful Para-Ski World Cup from April 1st to 3rd in St. Johann in Salzburg
© Sports report
From April 1st to 3rd, around 40 athletes from 6 nations competed in para-ski, a combination sport of ski racing and parachute jump, for the World Cup title in St. Johann in the Snow Space Salzburg ski area.
In addition to the many international teams, the athletes from the host club HSV Red Bull Salzburg were the hottest contenders for the title in the individual and team competitions. And they didn’t disappoint, Salzburg won four gold, two silver and one bronze at their home World Cup. Local hero Anton Gruber received two golden homecomings in the men’s and masters classifications. Sophie Grill was responsible for two more gold medals (ladies and juniors). Her team colleague Magdalena Schenner jumped to silver in the women’s classification. Bronze in the juniors also went to Michael Urban, an athlete from HSV Red Bull Salzburg. In the team competition, the silver for the team HSV Red Bull l. HSV Red Bull Salzburg can also look forward to numerous medals in the overall World Cup.
From April 1st to 3rd in St. Johanner Alpendorf, the best athletes in Austrian and international para-skiing (a combination of ski racing and a parachute jump) will be competing for the coveted overall World Cup victories. A total of 205 jumps were made over the three days, and around 40 athletes from 6 nations had to complete two runs in the giant slalom.
For the Austrian team, more precisely that of the host club HSV Red Bull Salzburg, the “home game” was a triumphant success. Despite the weather-related shifts and stand-by times, they coped well with both the piste and the thermal conditions and were able to show excellent performances in both disciplines. The Salzburg athletes drove and jumped unerringly onto the top podium and secured numerous medals at their home World Cup. In addition to the World Cup (overall) medals, the Austrian state championship titles and those of the ÖHSV championship were also awarded this weekend.
Triumphant end of the season on home soil
After the first jumps completed on Friday and the ski race on Saturday morning, the competition could only become normal on Sunday. The athletes from HSV Red Bull Salzburg were able to carry some of the tailwind from the previous days into the final day, but had to struggle with the difficult thermal conditions in the gripping finale and finally gave in to the strong German team in the exciting final laps.
There was gold in the junior and women’s rankings for 22-year-old Sophie Grill, who deservedly won with excellent skiing and jumping performances. The overall World Cup victory in the women’s and junior rankings also goes to the young athlete. “Of course I’m incredibly happy that it worked so well. My first para-ski season and then the overall World Cup victory, I never expected that,” says Sophie Grill, overjoyed at her first successful season in para-ski.
Silver in the women’s category went to her team colleague Magdalena Schenner, who also secured second place in the overall World Cup rankings ahead of Erika Franz from Switzerland. In the junior classification, their teammates Michael Urban and Joachim Knauss followed in third and fourth place. For Michael Urban, this result also means silver in the overall junior world cup.
Local hero Anton Gruber from St. Johann was able to win gold both in the men’s and in the masters classification in the gripping final and thanks to top jumping performances, especially in the last two rounds. The overall World Cup victory in the men’s category and the bronze medal in the master’s classification also went to the St. Johanner. You put more pressure on yourself, which is really not easy. And to win at home in front of family, friends and jumping colleagues is something very special,” Anton Gruber is happy about his victories.
With silver in the team classification, the HSV Red Bull Salzburg team (Sophie Grill, Magdalena Schenner, Manuel Sulzbacher and Anton Gruber) only had to admit defeat to the strong Germans. They also had to line up in second place behind Germany in the overall World Cup. Fourth place went to the young HSV Red Bull Salzburg Team II (Michael Urban, Bernhard Voglmayr, Joachim Knauss and Christian Irausek), which came in behind the Czech team.
Despite the difficult weather conditions, which demanded a lot of flexibility from the organizers, the organizers are happy about the extremely successful handling of the World Cup final. It was important to the organizers, consisting of HSV Red Bull Salzburg, the Snow Space Salzburg ski area and the St. Johann in Salzburg tourism association, as well as the WSV St. Johann and the municipality of St. Johann in Salzburg, to get an event going that not only convinces with sporting highlights, but also brings this little-known sport closer to a wider audience.
“No one would have believed that we would be able to complete a competition this weekend with these weather conditions, and now we are just happy that we were able to hold the entire event with six jumps,” says Hans Huemer from HSV Red Bull Salzburg, who is extremely satisfied with the World Cup stop in St. Johann.
The discipline PARA-SKI
The competition discipline PARA-SKI consists of PARA (derived from “Parachute”) and the alpine giant slalom (SKI). In FIS-regulated ski racing, the aim is to be as fast as possible in two runs and as accurate as possible in six jump runs. The target jump is scored in penalty points, which are awarded depending on the distance to the large target point, with each centimeter deviation being counted as a penalty point. The time in the giant slalom is also converted into points, starting from the winning time: the winner of the giant slalom has zero penalty points and the time of those behind is converted into points so that about 0.3 seconds one point. So 1 second 3 points. In target jumping, these points correspond exactly to the distance in cm. (1cm = one point). Along with the time in the race, these points are the final result.
The competitive sport of para-ski has its origins in the Austrian air rescue services. Pilots and parachutists were trained there for rescue operations in mountain accidents, avalanches and flood disasters. During winter search and mountain operations in alpine terrain, material was dropped from fixed-wing aircraft and rescue teams were then dispatched. Accuracy with the parachute and skiing skills were basic requirements for the rescuers. Since the rescue operations were relatively rare, however, in addition to the effective training, international friendly competitions soon developed, and thus a World Cup series and from 1987 also an official World Championship of the FAI (World Air Sports Association).
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HSV Red Bull Salzburg
04/03/2022