Monday, 30th January
An Alpine Record of all Time
Last week the skiing world witnessed history in the making as USA's Mikaela Shiffrin achieved an 83rd and 84th World Cup victory at Kronplatz, becoming the most successful women's World Cup Alpine ski racer of all time. On Saturday Shiffrin took her record a step further with the 85th World Cup win at Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic. Shiffrin also became the first woman to reach 85 World Cup victories.
To continue with ski results, we begin with Alpine where the men featured in the FIS World Cup in Schladming, Austria. Slalom was won by Clement Noel (FRA), with the Giant Slalom crown going to Loic Meillard (SUI). Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) won both Slalom events at Kronplatz, Italy. Shiffrin then completed another Slalom win at Spindleruv Mlyn on Saturday, while Lena Duerr (GER) pipped Shiffrin the following day to claim the Slalom World Cup win. Cortina d'Ampezzo in Italy hosted Super G with back-to-back World Cup wins going to Marco Odermatt (SUI).
The only Snowboard World Cup featured in Blue Mountain, Canada, with Parallel Slalom as the event. Ladina Jenny (SUI) and Ramona Theresia Hofmeister claimed the two women's gold medals, while Benjamin Karl (AUT) and Oskar Kwiatkowski (POL) won the men's gold. Staying in Canada where Val St. Come hosted Freestyle. Mikael Kingsbury (CAN) and Walter Wallberg (SWE) won Moguls and Dual Mogul respectively, with the women's titles claimed by Anri Kawamura (JPN).
The best speed skiers gathered at Vars, France, for the FIS Speed Ski World Cup. Britta Backlund (SWE) and Simone Origone (FRA) dominated the event with two wins each. Seefeld in Austria hosted Nordic Combined with both women's titles won by Gyda Westvold Hansen (NOR). Compatriot Jens Luraas Oftebro won the Men's Gundersen Normal Hill HS109/7.5km, with the 10km and 12.5km titles going to Johannes Lamparter (AUT). Cross-Country featured in Les Rousses, France. Ebba Andersson (SWE) and Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) won the 10km Individual Start Free, with victories in the Sprint Final Classic by Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR) and Richard Jouve (FRA). Andersson then claimed the 20km Mass Start Classic, with the men's title going to Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR).
Kulm Mittendorf in Austria hosted the FIS Ski Flying World Cup. Halvor Egner Granerud (NOR) dominated with both HS235 titles. The women's Ski Jumping event featured at Hinterzarten, Germany. Local star Katharina Althaus and Anna Odine Stroem claimed the victories.
From Wednesday, the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation hosted their flagship event at St. Moritz, Switzerland. Susanne Kreher (GER) and Matt Weston (GBR) are the Skeleton World Champions. The Women's Monobob title belongs to Laura Nolte (GER). Over the weekend, Johannes Lochner and Georg Fleischhauer (GER) claimed the 2-man Bobsleigh, while the Skeleton Mixed Team title going to Susanne Kreher and Christopher Grotheer (GER). This week we have the 2-woman Bobsleigh and 4-man Bobsleigh champions to be decided.
Earlier in the week, Chieh-Yu Chou (TWN) completely dominated the final of the 2023 World Women's 9-Ball Championship beating Allison Fisher (GBR) 9-0. Jamie Walker (ENG) became the first-ever qualifier to win the World Open Bowls Singles crown. Over the Netball where Australia won their seventh Quad Series in eight tournaments as they beat New Zealand 56-50 in Cape Town, South Africa. USA topped the medals table in Rabat, Morocco, at the International Shooting Sport World Cup Rifle/Pistol. Results can be found here: https://www.issf-sports.org/competitions/venue/results.ashx?cshipid=3105
Two Ice Hockey World Championships featured last week. China's juniors won the Men's U20 Division II, Group B, claiming the final 8-3 against Mexico. It was Australia's day in the Women's U18 Division II, Group A, as they beat Turkey 3-1. In Field Hockey, the Men's World Championship was hosted in Bhubaneswar, India. Germany are the world champions after beating Belgium 4-3 in the shootout. The Netherlands won bronze against Australia.
Earlier last week, Moldova's 14-year-old rising snooker star, Vladislav Gradinari, became the youngest winner of a televised ranking event match at the World Snooker Tour Shootout. Chris Wakelin (ENG) won the event claiming his first ranking title ten years after turning professional.
In rugby union news, South Africa has been selected to host the next two World Rugby U20 Championships to feature in June this year and in 2024. The next leg of the World Rugby Sevens Series featured in Sydney over the weekend. New Zealand dominated both the women's and men's events further extending their leads on the overall tables. Diego Elias (PER) and Nour El Sherbini (EGY) won the Tournament of Champions, one of the major events of the Professional Squash Association World Tour held in New York City.
Sunday was the start of Event 01 of the World Surf League Championship Tour, and earlier in the week Rogelio Jr Esquievel (PHL) and Natsumi Taoka (JPN) won the first WSL Longboard Tour of the year. In football news, New Zealand have edged New Caledonia 1-0 in the Oceania Football Confederation U17 Championship Final.
Pascal Wehrlein and Jake Hughes won Rounds 2 and 3 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, at the FIA Formula E World Championship. It was also the maiden win for Hughes, while Wehrlein now leads the championship standings on 68 points. Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka won her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open after winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina. Novak Djokovic won a pulsating final by 6-3 7-6 7-6 against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The second event of the UCI WorldTour featured for both women and men last week. The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in Australia had Loes Adegeest (NED) and Marius Mayrhofer (GER) claim victories. Besançon in France hosted the next round of the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup with elite titles going to Puck Pieterse (NED) and Mathieu van der Poel (NED). The Ice Yacht Sailing World Championships featured in Lake Kegonsa, Wisconsin. Here are the results: http://iceresults.org/dn/2023worlds.html
The FIL Luge World Championship featured in Oberhof, Germany, over the weekend. Anna Berreiter (GER) and Jonas Mueller (AUT) are the Singles' Champions. Jessica Degenhardt and Cheyenne Rosenthal (GER) won the Women's Doubles, with the Men's Doubles going to Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken (GER). The Team Relay title also belongs to Germany. Full results can be found here: https://www.fil-luge.org/en/multimedia/fil-world-championships-8
Denmark have beaten France to defend their title in the IHF Men's Handball World Championship. Denmark won the final by 34-29 . Spain defeated Sweden 39-36 for the bronze medal. India beat England to win the inaugural ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup hosted in South Africa. Louna Ladevant (FRA) and Sina Goetz (SUI) were the Lead winners at the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup in Saas-Fee, Switzerland. The Speed titles went to Mohsen Beheshti Rad (IRI) and Lea Beck (LIE).
Europe's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gathered for the European Championships in Paris for the prestigious event. Full results can be found here: https://www.ibjjfdb.com/ChampionshipResults/1985/PublicResults?lang=en-US
Dresden was also the host to the ISU World Junior Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2023. Full results can be found here: https://shorttrack.sportresult.com/Results.aspx?evt=11213100000103
Ethiopia’s Haven Hailu claimed gold at the Osaka Women’s Marathon, World Athletics' first Platinum Label race of the year.
Until next time, have a great week in sport.