Marie Bochet defeated Andrea Rothfuss in one of the most anticipated head-to-heads as the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup season kicked off in Kuhtai, Austria, on 19 December, with the slalom races.

France’s four-time Sochi 2014 gold medallist Bochet clocked an overall time of 2:09.04 in the women’s standing to finish ahead of Germany’s Paralympic champion and 2017 slalom world champion Rothfuss by just 1.05.

Canada’s Alana Ramsay (2:11.74) completed the podium.

Neutral athlete and two-time Paralympic champion Aleksei Bugaev (1:55.71) won the men’s standing an impressive 5.77 ahead of USA’s Thomas Walsh, who ended second. Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl (2:02.59) collected bronze.

France’s three-time world champion Arthur Bauchet (2:03.87) ended in fifth place but will most surely improve going into the season.

Three-time world champion Anna Schaffelhuber (2:22.30) of Germany only collected bronze in the women’s sitting, behind arch-rival and Paralympic gold medallist Claudia Loesch (2:18.73) of Austria. Schaffelhuber’s compatriot Anna-Lena Forster (2:20.81) ended second.

Norway’s Jesper Pedersen was the surprising winner in the men’s sitting with an overall time of 2:01.50. USA’s Tyler Walker (2:04.48) and Canada’s Kurt Oatway (2:06.04) completed the top-three. Dutchman Jeroen Kampschreur could not finish the first run and his result was therefore invalid.

There were no major surprises in the visually impaired categories.

Four-time Tarvisio 2017 champion Henrieta Farkasova, guided by Natalia Subrtova, clocked an overall time of 2:06.82 to win the women’s race.

The Slovakian had no major issues in finishing first, followed by Great Britain’s Menna Fitzpatrick (2:16.73) and guide Jennifer Kehoe, and Germany’s Noemi Ewa Ristau (2:16.90), guided by Lucien Gerkau.

The men’s equivalent saw Canadian Paralympic champion Mac Marcoux (2:03.79), guided by Jack Leitch, coming in first.

Slovakia’s Miroslav Haraus (2:05.18) and guide Maros Hudik took silver, while neutral skier Valerii Redkozubov and guide Evgeny Geroev (2:06.67) sealed bronze.

Haraus’ compatriot and four-time Paralympic champion Jakub Krako, guided by Branislav Brozman, did not enjoy the expected start of the season as he finished in seventh place with an overall time of 2:10.36.

Competitions in Kuhtai will continue on Wednesday (20 December) with more slalom races across all categories.

Live stream and complete live results are available for the first time on a dedicated World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup website. https://www.paralympic.org/alpine-skiing-world-cup-2018

Broadcasters and news agencies interested in the 2018 World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup footage and interviews can contact Alexis Vapaille via alexis.vapaille@paralympic.org.