Hector was the only runner to cope with the icy slope in Jasna and took about a second off World Cup record winner Mikaela Shiffrin. Behind them, too, the gaps were enormous. New Zealand’s Alice Robinson came in third, five hundredths behind the exceptional US runner. The Austrians, on the other hand, were worlds behind Hector. Ricarda Haaser, the best ÖSV runner, finished twelfth, 3.92 seconds behind. The second round is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (live on ORF1).
The Slovakian hopes of a home win, however, only lasted a few seconds. Because Vlhova slipped on the inside ski in the upper part after around ten goals and into the net. What’s more: the 28-year-old, whose right ski was caught in the safety barrier, was unable to free herself from her predicament or ski down into the valley herself. Vlhova ultimately had to be rescued with the Akja.
Hector is in his own league
The Swedish Olympic champion was not impressed by the difficult conditions and clearly left the competition behind.
Hector leaves the icy slopes cold
Not only the thousands of Slovakian fans, but also front runner Hector were dismayed by Vlhova’s situation. “It’s a shame for Petra and the audience. Unfortunately, sometimes that happens,” said the Swede, who had no problems with the piste, in an ORF interview: “The piste is great, it’s icy, but still grippy. The run turns, but there’s nothing else, it was of course difficult to get the ski to run properly.” By the way: In 2016, Lara Gut-Behrami had a bigger lead at halftime, who was 1.44 seconds ahead of Shiffrin in Sölden at the time.
Women’s RTL in Jasna
Standing in the first round
Speaking of Shiffrin, she took off her hat to Hector: “You have to be 100 percent sure on a surface like this. If you’re not, the ski will slip behind you and you’ll lose at every gate. Sara did a spectacular run.” How difficult the conditions were in Jasna was shown not only by several falls by her predecessors, but also by Federica Brignone. With start number one, another candidate for victory, the Italian, had already fallen victim to the conditions. ORF expert Nicole Hosp also fell during her tracking shot.
Austrian total failure
This time the Austrian team was a total failure, with the small exception of Haaser. The Tyrolean’s almost four seconds were the shortest distance to the top. But Haaser still saw a lot of room for improvement. “It was great, I had a lot of grip. There was a lot of indoor space on the slopes. The material was right, the only thing I have to do is drive the ski down better,” said the 30-year-old, who, according to her own statement, apparently did not make any mistakes in the set-up compared to her teammates.
Ricarda Haaser (AUT)
Julia Scheib and Franziska Gritsch, on the other hand, crossed the finish line 5.70 and 5.82 seconds behind Hector, while Elisabeth Kappaurer and Katharina Liensberger were only 6.01 and 6.22 seconds behind the Swede. Stephanie Brunner was canceled. The frustration over the backlog was written deep on Scheib and Co.’s faces. “I’m not surprised by the deficit because I slipped away from the first goal. “It was different when I drove in, there was more grip,” said Scheib. Gritsch agreed: “It’s brutally difficult and very slippery. You almost have no grip. But check it off and move on,” said the Tyrolean.
