First Olympic medal for Silvan Zurbriggen! 

Feb, 22 2010

Seven years after finishing 2nd in Slalom at the St Moritz FIS Worlds, Switzerland’s Silvan Zurbriggen reached another major podium today at Whistler Creek where he came in 3rd in the combined event after two strong runs down the demanding Dave Murray course.
A solid 7th in the morning in the downhill portion of this Super-combined, only 7/10 behind the leader, the Silvan veteran knew he was battling for a spot on the podium in the slalom leg. Fortunately the Swiss didn’t let himself being too much impressed by the challenge and fought again with great determination.
Another gusty run propelled him into 3rd place and allowed his team to celebrate its first medal in that discipline since the 1992 Games at Albertville.
“This is huge for me, I was aiming for the podium here but there were so many good skiers involved today that I was not too sure,” said the 28-year-old afterwards. “I was very pleased with my downhill run this morning, the course was extremely challenging and it was far from being easy. It definitely was a strong boost for my moral.”
“I again gave my best in the slalom but I didn’t ski as well as I was hoping. It was a tough run but I skied with my guts. I badly wanted that medal after all these difficult years and all my injuries and setbacks. I’m proud of myself being able to deliver a medal with all that pressure on my shoulders.”
“It’s a great reward. I’m more than delighted now. It will help me be very motivated again at the end of next week for the slalom. This is a nice slope for a world class slalom.”
A powerful and talented slalom specialist in the early part of his career, Zurbriggen choose to become an all-rounder afterwards yet he struggled finding his pace for while. Three years ago he suffered a career-threatening knee injury after a huge crash at Val Gardena and he had to work very hard to get back on the tour.
Las winter he finally celebrated his first World Cup win as he clinched the ‘Classical’ Hahnenkamm combined at Kitzbühel and finished 2nd in the combined World Cup standings behind his teammate Carlo Janka. He finished the Overall World Cup standings in 19th position.
Last summer, he opted to train more slalom and skip the speed events to focus on the gate event. This strategy helped him to nail two encouraging podium finishes in slalom at Alta Badia and Schladming and also two in combined.
And there is still more to go for here this week.
 

First Olympic medal for Andrew Weibrecht. 

Feb, 20 2010

Andrew Weibrecht, who came into the Vancouver Games with a rather 10th place in the 2007 Beaver Creek downhill topping his World Cup race results, achieved quite an extraordinary performance today during the men’s Super-G clocking the 3rd best overall time to capture an unexpected bronze medal behind two of his great role models, Axel Lund Svindal and Bode Miller.
“This is awesome, absolutely unbelievable, I have no words to fully express my feeling right now,” the skier from Lake Placid said after some of the top-favorites finished their race without  beating his time. He waited longer than the other two medalists to talk to the press because he wanted to be sure to keep his medal.
“I was very happy to start with a lower number this morning and I pushed as hard as possible,” also said the 24-year-old who put down some top 15s in important places this season in the speed events as 11th in the Kitzbuehel’s Super-G and in the Beaver Creek downhill, 12th in both events at Lake Louise, 13th in the Wengen downhill.
"I knew that with an early start number I had an advantage for sure and I tried to the best I could to capitalize on it. I had some mistakes but I was charging the whole way. It’s the first time I had ever come down leading, so I was excited about that. I couldn’t believe it held up as long as it did."
"It’s incredible that we came out firing so hard, especially in a year, on the men’s side where we haven’t had a lot of wins or podiums. To come out and put down medals at the beginning of the games is awesome. It was definitely, by far, the most exciting ski race that I’ve ever watched.”
“I was fore sure impressed and motivated by the performances achieved by the US women, especially Julia Mancuso who already got two silver medals after a so-so season,” he explained. “She showed that believing and fighting hard can help achieving great results.”
“I was so excited to be on that podium in the finish line next to such impressive skiers as Aksel and Bode who have been great inspirations for me. I’ll always remember that day.”
Weibrecht who grew up in Lake Placid, NY, the place of the 1980 Winter Olympics, was also proud to carry on the Olympic tradition of his resort. “I often ski on White Face Mountain where the 1980 Olympics took place and I always dreamed to be once competing at the Games,” he also told the press. “And here I am with that bronze medal, it’s wonderfull.”

Didier Defago, Gold in Donwhill! 

Feb, 16 2010

A year after his thrilling double win in the two foremost ‘Classics’ in Alpine Ski Racing – Wengen and Kitzbühel - Didier Defago again eclipsed all famous rivals today at Whistler Mountain to win the showcase men's Olympic Alpine skiing downhill. He finished just ahead of Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal and USA’s Bode Miller.
 
He became the first Swiss to win a men's Olympic Alpine title since Pirmin Zurbriggen in Calgary in 1988 - also on Canadian snow. It’s Didier Defago’s first medal since clinching gold at the juniors World Championships in the mid 90s. He has already been racing in two Olympics and five FIS World Championships

"This morning I knew that the course would suit me well. I have been looking for a podium for a long time," said Didier Defago over the clanking of cowbells from the slopeside crowd.
"It was my main goal coming here – fly back home with a medal in my bag, I was really determined to get it here. I was not thinking about the gold medal yet. This is really amazing. It hasn't sunk in yet. You had to really fight on that piste, it was pretty bouncy. It was really a beautiful run," also said the 32-year-old after seizing his first Olympic medal in his third Games.
 
The skier from Morgins, a father of two kids, felt confident and determined prior the race after qualifying for the Olympic team last week after the second training run.
"I was since day 1 in the racing mood, very focused and resolute too and of course very pleased to have made the team at the end," also explained the Swiss veteran, who captured two 2nd places this season including one at Bormio. "I was happy to get two days off last weekend to recuperate and be fully ready for the race. I knew that the course would suit my style with his numerous technical parts. "
“The conditions have changed a lot since training, but they were perfect for me," he also commented. "I knew I would do well, but I never expected to do this well. I had a great year with Wengen and Kitzbuhela last winter. A medal had to come eventually for me. It is one of the most beautiful days of my life."
 
"I didn’t make any major error on my way down. My line was fine and my skis very fast. My equipment was particularly efficient today. The course was harder today and very bumpy too especially in the middle part. I really skied well there. "

Hold-up from the team Rossignol at the Junior Worlds! 

Feb, 08 2010

Junior World Championships, Region Mt-Blanc (Fra):
Rossignol runs off with 7 medals out of 8 and takes 50% of the handed out medals!

The relief is assured! Our junior team made impressive results at the Junior World Championships held last week in France, in the Region Mont-Blanc.
Presents on each podium, the team left the competitions with a total of 12 medals including 7 in Gold!
An amazing razzia from the young generation! The results speak for themselves…

Men’s GS:
1. Mathieu FAIVRE (Fra) - Rossignol
2. Stefan LUITZ (Ger) - Rossignol

Women’s Super G:
1. Marine GAUTHIER (Fra) – Rossignol
2. Jérômine GEROUDET (Fra) – Rossignol

Men’s Super G:
1. Maxence MUZATON (Fra) – Rossignol
3. Mattia CASSE (Ita) – Rossignol

Women’s Slalom:
1. Christina GEIGER (Ger) – Rossignol

Men’s Slalom:
1. Reto SCHMIDIGER (Sui) - Rossignol
3.  Sergei MAITAKOV (Rus) – Rossignol

Men’s Downhill:
1. Mattia CASSE (Ita) - Rossignol

Women’s Downhill:
1. Jérômine GEROUDET (Fra) – Rossignol

Women’s GS:
3. Federica BRIGNONE (Ita) – Rossignol

Congratulations to all for these exceptional results!!!