Winter sports news blog
After comeback: ski legend declares war
Updated on December 8, 2024 – 6:52 p.mReading time: 12 minutes
The winter sports season has begun. In our news ticker you will find all the important news about ski jumping, biathlon, alpine skiing and cross-country skiing.
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Lindsey Vonn has not yet achieved any top placings on her return from skiing retirement, but has shown further solid performances. In the Super-G races in Copper Mountain, the former speed dominator and Olympic champion took places 24 and 19. The 40-year-old was just over two behind the American Lauren Macuga, who was fastest twice on Sunday seconds.
The races in the US state of Colorado were officially called FIS events and therefore below the World Cup level. Nevertheless, numerous top athletes were at the start. In the two downhill runs on Saturday, Vonn finished 24th and 27th. They were their first races in 2,127 days.
“This is just the beginning and the way I ski is currently more important than the times,” Vonn said via the X platform after her comeback on Saturday. “I’m sure people will speculate and say based on the results that I’m not in top shape, but I disagree. This was training for me.”
The Norwegian biathlete Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold has to interrupt her competitions for the time being due to cardiac arrhythmia. As the Norwegian association announced, the four-time world champion will not compete in the mass start in Kontiolahti or the World Cup in Hochfilzen. Instead, the 28-year-old travels to Norway to receive medical care.
Tandrevold explained: “From a purely medical point of view, there would be nothing against me starting today. I have a cardiac arrhythmia, which means that my heart sometimes beats faster than normal.” That only happens occasionally, she said. But she had problems in both the individual race and the sprint and had to stop on the track at times. The team’s doctor said: “Ingrid needs rest and recovery.”
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Thanks to a decent performance on the cross-country ski trail, Julian Schmid can look forward to a podium finish in the Nordic Combined. The 25-year-old from Oberstdorf took second place in Jarl Magnus Riiber’s home win in Lillehammer, Norway. He was 36.7 seconds behind the local hero after 10 kilometers. With Johannes Rydzek in seventh place, another German made it into the top ten.
Nathalie Armbruster repeated her comeback from the previous day and also landed in second place. After jumping, the 18-year-old was in ninth place. The day before she had fought her way up from 14th place to sixth place.
A total of five athletes from the German Ski Association were in good shape in the race before the start of the 5-kilometer route. But only Armbruster and Jenny Nowak in ninth place were able to hold their own. Ida Marie Hagen from Norway secured the victory.
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Franziska Preuß made an impressive comeback after her short forced break due to illness and took fifth place in the biathletes’ first individual race this winter. After two shooting errors, each penalized with 45 seconds, she was 1:09.6 minutes behind the perfectly shooting winner Lou Jeanmonnot from France in Kontiolahti, Finland.
Preuß had to cancel the relay race last Sunday at short notice due to a slight infection. But apparently well recovered, the 30-year-old completed the 12.5 kilometer race as the best athlete in the German Ski Association.