The World Alpine Championships are a showcase for the finest skiers in the world. The Team Event is an event which very few people understand and ever fewer care about.
But it’s another medal and the Swiss won their first gold in the event, defeating three-time champ Austria in the final.
The event has four skiers – two men and two women – competing as a group over a short, city-event-style Parallel Slalom course. In team vs. team competitions, each of the four skiers on one team skis against a skier on the other. If the races are 2-2, the winner is the team with the lowest “tie-break value.”
Both of the semis were 2-2 and went to the tie-break value, with Austria advancing over Italy and Switzerland getting back Germany. In the final:
● 1: Wendy Holdener (SUI) d. Katharina Liensberger (AUT), 24.90-25.18
● 2. Michael Matt (AUT) d. Daniel Yule (SUI), 23.72-24.20
● 3. Katharina Truppe (AUT) d. Aline Danioth (SUI), 25.35-25.56
● 4. Ramon Zenhaeusern (SUI) d. Marco Schwarz (AUT), 23.23-23.77.
The Swiss won by having a lower tie-break score of 48.13 to Austria’s 48.90.
Italy defeated Germany, 3-1, to win the bronze medal.
The Alpine Worlds has a rest day on Wednesday and then will conclude with the Giant Slalom and Slalom races through the weekend. Summaries:
Mixed
Team Event/ Big Final: 1. Switzerland (Holdener, Matt, Truppe, Zenhaeusern); 2. Austria (Linsberger, Yule, Danioth, Schwarz). Small Final: 3. Italy (Curtoni, Della Mea, Maurberger, Vinatzer); 4. Germany (Duerr, Geiger, Strasser, Tremmel). Semis: Austria d. Italy, 2-2 (49.23-49.52); Switzerland d. Germany, 2-2 (48.75-48.95). Third: Italy d. Germany, 3-1. Final: Switzerland d. Austria, 2-2 (48.13-48.90).
