11th to 12th March
Re-writing the history books
At only 27 and almost exactly 12 years after her first FIS Alpine World Cup race, Mikaela Shiffrin has further established herself as the most dominant athlete in sport at present. Åre in Sweden hosted the Women's Alpine event and having already won the Giant Slalom on Friday, Shiffrin then continued her amazing season by winning the Slalom on Saturday, claiming her 87th World Cup Gold in the process. It was equally fitting that Åre was the ski resort Shiffrin won her very first World Cup back in 2012.
Seoul was the home of the International Skating Union (ISU) World Short Track Speed Skating Championships. The much anticipated duals were between the home grown stars and the exceptional speed skaters from the Netherlands. Dominant performances came from Park Ji Won (1500m), Suzanne Schulting (1500m), and Xandra Velzeboer (500m). The full results of the preliminaries, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals can all be found here: https://bit.ly/3TdHg0m. Finland's Team Fintastic Junior are the champions of the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships 2023 that took place in Angers in France, their third consecutive gold. A total of 23 teams attended with 512 Skaters representing 19 ISU Members.
The road cycling season is gaining momentum as we approach the Spring and Summer seasons. The Netherland's Lorena Wiebes was victorious in the Miron Ronde van Drenthe on Saturday, a UCI Women's WorldTour day-race hosted in the Netherlands. On Sunday Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar rode into Nice as the winner of the Paris-Nice, a UCI WorldTour multi-stage race. A second UCI WorldTour multi-stage race also completed in Italy on Sunday. On this occasion it was Slovenia's Primož Roglič claiming the Tirreno-Adriatico.
Motorsport fans had a busy weekend with four championships opening their new seasons. USA's Dallas Daniels completed back-to-back wins in Daytona Beach, Florida, at the Progressive American Flat Track. Having already won on Thursday, Daniels then achieved maximum points in the Daytona Short Track II. In Neom in Saudi Arabia, Extreme E opened their season with two races over the weekend. Sweden's Kevin Hansen and Australia's Molly Taylor claimed the Desert X Prix Race 1, while Race 2 went to Sweden's Mattias Ekström and Spain's Laia Sanz. Germany's Ken Roczen won the 450SX in the AMA Supercross Championship, while Australia's Hunter Lawrence continued his dominant form in the 250SX. Spain's Toni Bou won Round 2 of the FIM X-Trial World Championship and now leads the overall standings on 14 points. William Byron has made it back-to-back wins in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale. The FIA World Endurance Championship opened the season with the Prologue at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley, and Ryo Hirakawa in their Toyota Gazoo Racing hypercar lead the standings. Spain's Jorge Prado tops the standings after the first round of the FIM Motocross World Championship that opened the season at the picturesque Villa la Angostura in Argentina.
France's Bastian Escofet and Spain's Nia Suardiaz won the Freefly-Slalom at the Global Wingsports Association World Tour in New Zealand. Surf-Freestyle was claimed by USA's Chris MacDonald and again Nia Suardiaz. In snooker news, China’s Ding Junhui captured the Six Red World Championship crown for a second time, after scoring an 8-6 win over local star Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in Pathum Thani, Thailand. In football Senegal has won the U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo, Egypt. Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich retained her title at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, a World Athletics Platinum Label race. Hungary's Michelle Gulyas and Egypt's Ahmed Elgendy claimed the individual victories at the UIPM 2023 Pentathlon World Cup Cairo. The Mixed Relay gold went the Lithuania's Gintare Venckauskaite and Titas Puronas.
Japan's Akane Yamaguchi and Hong Kong's Ka Long Angus Ng won the women's and men's singles titles at the Badminton World Federation Germany Open. South Korea reigned in the Doubles. Ha Na Baek and So Hee Lee claimed the women's title, while the men's gold went to Sol Gyu Choi and Won Ho Kim. China's Yan Zhe Feng and Dong Ping Huang won the Mixed Doubles. Hungary's Zsanett Bragmayer and South Africa's Henri Schoeman are the Elite winners of the 2023 World Triathlon Arena Games Triathlon Series in Sursee, Switzerland.
Azerbaijan's Baku hosted the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup. Kazakhstan's Milad Karimi won the Men's Floor Exercises, while France's Coline Devillard won the Women's Vault. Carlos Yulo of the Philippines won Parallel Bars, local star Nikita Simonov was victorious in the Still Rings, while China's Qiu Qiyuan won the Uneven Bars. Carlos Yulo won his second gold in the Men's Vault, with Italy's Giorgia Villa the Balance Beam champion. Pommel Horse gold belongs to Kazakhstan's Nariman Kurbanov with the Women's Floor going to France's Marine Boyer. To close off a fantastic weekend, Israel's Alexander Myakinin claimed gold in the Horizontal Bar.
The International Biathlon Union Youth Junior World Championships in Shchuchinsk completed over the weekend. Germany's Selina Grotian and New Zealand's Campbell Wright won Junior Sprint gold. Germany's Julia Tannheimer achieved the Youth Women Sprint-Pursuit double. Grotian then also won the Junior Pursuit, with Norway's Martin Nevland claiming the Men's Junior Pursuit. Fellow countryman Sivert Gerhardsen won the Men's Youth Pursuit. At the IBU World Cup in Oestersund, Norway won both the Women's and Men's Relay. Italy's Dorothea Wierer and Norway's Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen won the Mass Start.
Krvavec in Slovenia completed the FIS Telemark World Cup and World Junior Championships. Switzerland's Martina Wyss and France's Noe Claye won the Parallel Sprint in the World Cup. France's Augustine Carliez and Alexis Page won the junior titles. Sierra Nevada in Spain hosted Snowboard Cross. Britain's Charlotte Bankes won both races, with the men's titles going to Spain's Lucas Eguibar and Switzerland's Kalle Koblet. Kranjska Gora in Slovenia hosted Men's Alpine with Giant Slalom titles going to Switzerland's Marco Odermatt. Ski Cross featured in Veysonnaz in Switzerland. Home hero Fanny Smith and Sweden's David Mobaerg claimed gold.
Oslo was the location for three FIS World Cup events. Starting with Nordic Combined, the Gundersen Large Hill HS134 gold was claimed by Norway's Gyda Hansen Westvold (5km) and Jarl Magnus Riiber (10km) on the Saturday. Riiber completed the double on Sunday. In Ski Jumping Austria's Chiara Kreuzer and Slovenia's Anze Lanisek won on Saturday, while Sunday's champions are Slovenia's Ema Klinec and Austria's Stefan Kraft. In the Cross-Country 50km Mass Start Free, the champions are Norway's Ragnhild Gloeersen Haga and Simen Hegstad Krueger.
China has won the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2023 defeating Canada 5-2 at the Richmond Curling Centre in British Columbia. In the Mixed Doubles, the crown belongs to Latvia. Finally, Turkey has made it three-in-row at the UMB Carom Billiards World Championship National Teams 3-Cushion played in Viersen, Germany.
Until next time, have a great week in sport.