With 120 men and 65 women at the start of the parallel giant slalom qualifications this morning, there would be a lot of disappointment as the field would ultimately be narrowed to the fastest 16 men and women.
Though Ursula Bruhin from Switzerland got a late start with bib number 64 and most thought the top 16 qualifiers for the women's finals were long since determined, she proved them wrong by crossing the finish line with the eighth fastest time.
In the head-to-head finals she knocked out Italy's Carmen Ranigler before beating top favorite Karine Ruby from France, to meet Heidi Renoth in the semi-finals. Winning both runs over the German, Bruhin faced US rider Rosey Fletcher in the finals. The first run there was a photo finish to the Swiss' advantage by just eight hundredths of a second. Fletcher really looked as if she would be able to close the gap in the second run, but she crashed and walked with silver.
"It was tough in the qualification," the former ISF World Champion stated. "With so many riders having been on the course before, I had to fight hard to get over bumps and at the same time go for speed. Also, the slope was technical and the weather did not help. I am so glad that I proved I was able to pull it together and it was good to show that ISF has such strong riders."
Fletcher who was also 2nd two years ago said, "Berchtesgaden in mind, I was going for the gold this time. It really was a challenge today with those conditions and I am happy with second place but I was definitely pushing for the win and it was close. The level in the FIS races is high so I am glad I got there."
Austrian Manuela Riegler who has not seen a lot of good results this winter did not feel a lot of pressure. This may have helped her to finally claim the bronze when she sent Heidi Renoth from Germany to 4th place. "This was just the point of return," she said, "and I learned that I can do it again so it is very motivating for me for the rest of the week and the World Cup races to come."
Similar to his teammate Bruhin, Swiss rider Gilles Jaquet got to the finals from start position 106 and managed to claim the second gold for Switzerland today. It was a close race between him and Daniel Biveson in the final duel and they finished ex equo in the first run. When the Swede attacked in the lower part of the second run, he crashed and there was no way for him to make it up again.
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"That was really hard work," the Swiss said about his win, "it does not feel nice to get on a track when 105 riders had already done it and it is just too bad that this only happens because of disagreements between two federations. I just came here to collect some points with regard to the Olympic qualification but it feels great that I made it since it has been quite a high level today. Especially with those conditions, everyone made mistakes today. I think the key was to keep consistency, I tried that and it finally paid off. I do not care too much about the title, it was all about the qualification for Salt Lake in 2002 — I do not want to miss that one."
Biveson took 2nd place and got his best result ever in a parallel giant slalom under his belt. "I liked the course a lot and it was great racing today with just a bit too much snow," the Swede said. "My riding was much better than what I was used to so I am very happy."
Stefan Kaltschutz from Austria met his teammate Lukas Gruener for 3rd place. He was hot to make it to the podium after being eliminated by Jaquet in the semi-finals and got both runs against Gruener to his advantage. "World Championships seem to fit me a lot," Kaltschutz said. "That is the place where I can always get at least something. I would have loved to make the final duel and fight for the gold but third place is fine."
The parallel slalom qualification will take place tomorrow before the next medals will be awarded in the finals on Friday.
— Britta Semmler, MountainZone.com Correspondent
