CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) – The most recent world ski championships (all local times):
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4:20 pm
Combined champion Marco Schwarz says he was inspired by the two gold medals that Austrian teammate Vincent Kriechmayr won in this year’s world skiing championship.
Schwarz says “it’s really cool that Vince showed you how to do this”.
Kriechmayr triumphed on the descent and the super-G.
Schwarz says “it is wonderful that it also worked for me today”.
It is the first time that the Austrian national team has won the first three men’s events in the world.
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15:50
Marco Schwarz won the combined men’s championship to give Austria his third gold medal in the world skiing championship.
Schwarz beat current champion Alexis Pinturault in four hundredths of a second. Switzerland’s Loic Meillard was 1.12 behind in third.
Schwarz was a bronze medalist two years ago. He was four-tenths of the lead in fifth place after the super-G portion before recording the fastest time on the slalom leg.
Canadian skier James Crawford surprisingly led after the super-G and finished as the best fourth of his career.
Skiers of lower rank were still descending the course.
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3:20 pm
Mikaela Shiffrin says that winning her sixth world title is “incredible”.
Shiffrin became the first American female championship winner since Tamara McKinney won in 1989 at the Vail Worlds.
Shiffrin had not competed in discipline in the worlds before.
She says: “I am happy that we decided to put this in the plan of this world champion”.
Shiffrin won the slalom part after registering the third fastest time in the first leg of the super-G.
She says “it sure was a tough slalom, so I’m really happy that I got a really good race”.
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14h40
Mikaela Shiffrin won the combined women’s championship to set an American record with her sixth world title.
Shiffrin has four golds in the slalom and one in the super-G from previous worlds.
Shiffrin was third after the super-G part, but was the fastest in the slalom leg by beating Petra Vlhova of Slovakia by 0.86 seconds. Olympic champion Michelle Gisin of Switzerland finished 0.89 behind with bronze.
Two of Shiffrin’s main competitors failed to complete their slalom races.
The leader of the first race, Federica Brignone, climbed the third gate while Italy continues to wait for its first medal at this year’s World Cup, after five events. Current champion Wendy Holdener of Switzerland also skied at the start of her race.
Skiers of lower rank were still descending the course. ___
1:10 pm
Canadian skier James Crawford says he is “a little” surprised to register the fastest time in the combined men’s super-G opening in the world championship.
Crawford says “I didn’t expect to win, but to get close for sure”.
The Canadian skier is “having a very good year in the super-G” and reached sixth place in his career at Kitzbühel three weeks ago.
Crawford adds that Monday’s event “was finally a race in which I managed to hit rock bottom without any major mistakes”.
He will defend a 0.08 second advantage over defending champion Alexis Pinturault in the slalom part.
Crawford says: “I’m not slack” in the technical discipline and “I can definitely ski slalom, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to do well against these top competitors”.
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12:45 pm
Canadian skier James Crawford holds the surprising lead after the combined men’s super-G part in the world championship.
Crawford leads Alexis Pinturault for eight hundred seconds, going for the decisive slalom leg at 3:20 pm
The best result of Crawford’s career is the sixth in a World Cup super G in Kitzbühel last month.
Pinturault is the current world champion and Olympic silver medalist of 2018.
The French skier is followed by a trio of Austrians including Vincent Kriechmayr.
Kriechmayr won gold in both previous men’s races in these worlds.
Men used exactly the same course as women in the first stage of the combined event.
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11.00 am
Federica Brignone leads Mikaela Shiffrin for six hundredths of a second after the first leg of the women’s combination in the world championship.
Brignone defeated Elena Curtoni by 0.01 with Italy 1-2 in the super-G, with Shiffrin appearing in third.
Brignone will open the decisive part of the slalom at 2:10 pm
Italy did not win a medal in the first four races in the world.
The general leader of the World Cup, Petra Vlhova, from Slovakia, has to make up four tenths of Brignone in the slalom.
Two-time world champion Wendy Holdener of Switzerland finished 0.97 behind.
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