Joan Verdú puts Andorra in the Finals of an Alpine Ski World Cup for the first time
Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt will receive the Overall 2023 Crystal Globes
The Soldeu Finals will determine the winners of the women’s Super-G and the men’s Slalom
Andorran skier Joan Verdú made history this Sunday by qualifying for the Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals Andorra 2023. Verdú finished 18th in the second run of the Giant Slalom in Kransjka Gora (Slovenia) this weekend, which earned him 20th place in the overall classification in the discipline. Consequently, he will compete with the 25 best skiers in the world in the GS Finals that will take place on the Avet course in Soldeu on Saturday, 18th March at nine o’clock in the morning. It is a historic milestone that no Andorran alpine skier has ever achieved before.
The competitions in the Alpine Ski World Cup Finals begin on the Àliga course in El Tarter on Wednesday, where the Downhill, Super-G and Mixed Team Parallel races will be held. However, the official downhill training sessions are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, as well as the opening ceremony, this Monday, on the Avet Platform in Soldeu, at 19:00h.
Regarding the awards for this season that will be presented in Grandvalira, Mikaela Shiffrin, having been crowned in Åre this Saturday as the athlete with the most victories in Alpine Ski World Cup races in history, will receive the Overall 2023 Crystal Globe in Soldeu on Sunday, 19th March, as well as those for the Slalom and Giant Slalom disciplines. It will be the 5th Overall that she has achieved in her sports career, and the second that she receives in Soldeu. In individual disciplines, she has seven Slalom, two Giant Slalom and one Super G in total.
The American skier will seek to make her feat even more remarkable, competing in the World Cup events in Super-G on the Àliga course on the 16th, and on the Avet course in Slalom and Giant Slalom on the 18th and the 19th. Her objective would be to continue adding more titles to her record and to surpass the already stratospheric figure of 87 victories and 136 podiums achieved. Until now, Ingemar Stenmark is the skier who has held this sporting milestone.
In Women’s Downhill, the Italian Sofia Goggia will receive the award for the category, a title she has held for the last three seasons and that she also won in 2018. The Italian will race on the Àliga course on Wednesday.
So, only the winner of one female discipline will be decided in Andorra: the Super-G. This will be on the Àliga course, El Tarter, on Thursday, 16th March, from 10:00h. According to current standings, Elena Curtoni leads the classification and if she manages to finish as leader, it would be the first Crystal Globe for the Italian skier.
In the men’s category, Marco Odermatt will receive the Overall 2023 Crystal Globe, repeating the one he won in 2022. In addition, the Swiss racer is also the winner of the Giant Slalom and Super-G globes in this 2023. Meanwhile, Aleksander Kilder will lift the prize in Downhill, revalidating the 2022 prize. The two will also compete in their respective World Cup races in the Grandvalira ski area.
In Andorra, the men’s discipline yet to be decided will be the slalom, led by Lucas Braathen, currently followed by his compatriot Henrik Kristoffersen, who will defend the title he won in 2022. For the Norwegian Braathen it would be the first Crystal Globe in his list of achievements.
