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French star Marie Bochet returns to action in Liechtenstein following her participation at the Saalbach 2021 World Cup in Austria ⒸBenedikt LexBy Lena Smirnova | For World Para Snow Sports
It has not been an easy season for Marie Bochet. France’s star Para alpine skier juggled constantly changing schedules, mounting pressure in the year before the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games and, to top it all off, contracted COVID-19.
Now about to race at the Europa Cup finals in Malbun, Liechtenstein, the eight-time Paralympic champion is hoping to finish this challenging season on a positive note.
The competition, consisting of one giant slalom and one slalom race, will be held until Friday with 52 skiers from 14 nations. It is the sixth and final stop of the Europa Cup season that started in late November.
Imagen Puriya Khaliltash competed in border cross and banked slalom in the men’s SB-UL class at PyeongChang 2018 ⒸOIS PhotosBy Lena Smirnova | For the IPC
Winter is a busy season for Puriya Khaliltash.
Not only is the Para snowboarder from the Islamic Republic of Iran training daily to qualify for his second Paralympic Games while balancing a full-time job as a snowboard instructor, he is also helping to design the courses that he trains on.
Khaliltash’s story is just one example of the tenacious spirit shared by three sports enthusiasts who are determined to make Iran’s second appearance in the Para snowboard events at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games even more memorable than the first.
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Germany s Anna-Maria Rieder took gold in all four races she competed in at the Leogang 2021 World Cup in Austria ⒸBenedikt LexBy Lena Smirnova | For World Para Snow Sports
Germany’s Anna-Maria Rieder finished the World Cup races in Leogang with a clean sweep of four gold medals to finish off the 2020-21 World Cup season on a high note.
With her second slalom victory in the women’s standing class, Rieder took Germany’s count of gold in the women’s races in Leogang, Austria to nine out of 12 races.
Rieder was at least 5 seconds faster than her teammate Andrea Rothfuss in both slalom races to claim the gold. And she is eager to make even further improvements ahead of next season.
Imagen ⒸBenedikt LexBy Lena Smirnova | For World Para Snow Sports
Rene de Silvestro clinched his career’s first speed victory at the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup in Saalbach, Austria to follow on his first golden result in a technical race last season.
The Italian sit-skier was just 0.37 seconds behind the downhill and super-G Crystal Globe holder Jesper Pedersen in the first super-G race held at the Austrian ski resort. In the second race, de Silvestro outraced the Norwegian athlete by 1.13 seconds, also breaking Pedersen’s winning streak at five races.
“I m happy because the gap from the first place is really small, even if I admit that I could do something more,” de Silvestro said. “The track conditions are really excellent and it s a fairly technical track, which suits my characteristics. I trained well in this period despite COVID and I think I can still improve, but in any case I am skiing at high levels.”
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MAKING A MARK: Markus Salcher en route to victory in the downhill race at the World Cup in Saalbach, Austria. ⒸBenedikt LexBy Lena Smirnova | For the IPC
A mere 0.13 seconds kept Markus Salcher off the podium in his signature downhill race at a home World Cup in Saalbach, Austria.
Far from discouraged, the Paralympic bronze medallist in the discipline returned a few hours later to deliver his best downhill performance in three years.
“For me it’s a tremendous success today because it’s my first downhill win in three years. It’s cool that I’m on top of the podium again,” the Austrian standing skier said of bouncing from fourth to first place in the season’s first two downhill races.