Marie Bochet defeated Andrea Rothfuss in an eagerly anticipated head-to-heads as the World Para Alpine Skiing World Cup season began in Kuhtai ©Getty Images

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, today with the slalom races.

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

Canada’s Alana Ramsay in 2:11.74 completed the podium in third place.

Neutral athlete and two-time Paralympic champion Aleksei Bugaev posted a time of 1:55.71 to win the men’s standing race, an impressive 5.77sec ahead of the United States' Thomas Walsh in second. 

Switzerland’s Thomas Pfyl in a time of 2:02.59 collected bronze.

France’s three-time world champion Arthur Bauchet timed in at 2:03.87 to end in a disappointing fifth place.

Three-time world champion Anna Schaffelhuber, of Germany, posted a time of 2:22.30 to collect bronze in the women’s sitting, behind arch-rival and Paralympic gold medallist Claudia Loesch, of Austria, in 2:18.73.

Schaffelhuber’s compatriot Anna-Lena Forster, with 2:20.81, finished second.

Andrea Rothfuss, of Germany, was beaten into second place ©Getty Images
Andrea Rothfuss, of Germany, was beaten into second place ©Getty Images

Norway’s Jesper Pedersen was the surprising winner in the men’s sitting with an overall time of 2:01.50. 

The US' Tyler Walker, in 2:04.48, and Canada’s Kurt Oatway, in a time of 2:06.04, completed the top-three. 

Dutchman Jeroen Kampschreur could not finish the first run and his result was therefore invalidated.

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 in 2:16.73 and guide Jennifer Kehoe, and Germany’s Noemi Ewa Ristau, in 2:16.90, guided by Lucien Gerkau.

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


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

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 tomorrow with more slalom races across all categories.