WSSA European Freestyle Skating

Championships 2013

 

Speed Slalom

 

Two finals 100% Italian !!

The second day of the European Freestyle Skating Championships was dedicated to Speed Slalom. Warsaw 2013 broke the record of participation to the speed slalom contest with 101 competitors (95 in Paris in 2010).

Photo : Janusz Bąk, morphi.pl
Photo : Janusz Bąk, morphi.pl

In this category, the italians seem stronger than ever as they qualified 9 skaters out of 13 in the men category, and 7 out of 10 italian competitors in the women category.

E.Czapla (Pol), finished at the 9th place . Photo : T.Bourbon
E.Czapla (Pol), finished at the 9th place . Photo : T.Bourbon

In the women competition, Cristina Rotunno (Ita, #1) qualified at first place with a time of 5,051sec (free start mode) in front of T.Derisbourg (Fra, #9) with 5,082sec, B.Bossi (Ita, #2) with 5,086sec and K.Lysenko (Rus, #13) with 5,144sec.

Kristina Lysenko had to fight very hard to qualify to the semi-finals, winning each of her duels in 3 runs, while Tiffany Derisbourg had a hard time in the quarter finals against J.Czapla (Pol, #15).
On their side, C.Rotunno and B.Bossi, won all their duels in only 2 runs, quite easily, and they did the same in the semi finals, winning in 2 runs only, letting T.Derisbourg and K.Lysenko fight for the 3rd place. K.Lysenko won the small final in 3 runs, and got her best result in an European Championship since Moscow 2009 where she was also 3rd.

K.Lysenko (Rus). Photo : T.Bourbon
K.Lysenko (Rus). Photo : T.Bourbon

Cristina Rotunno vs Barbara Bossi, this is the remake of many big finals (World Championships 2011 & 2012, Inline Games 2013,…) and they are both used to be against each other, with a little advantage to C.Rotunno in the past year. This time, the pressure is more on the shoulders of B.Bossi, since she won everything in her career, except the European title.
C.Rotunno arrived in this final, almost without any mistake, only 1 penalty cumulated in all her previous runs, and if we analyse her times, she is getting faster after each round, controlling her opponent each time, without going to fast, just the right speed to secure a clean first place.
On her side, B.Bossi did more mistakes, 5 in total, with quite similar times in each round.

From left : B.Bossi, C.Rotunno, K.Lysenko
From left : B.Bossi, C.Rotunno, K.Lysenko

In the final, at the first run, B.Bossi started very good, and finished faster than C.Rotunno, without any mistake and a 5.48 sec, best time of the competition so far. In the second run, B.Bossi did the same, but one penalty gave the victory to C.Rotunno, who finished her line again perfectly. Then Cristina Rotunno went faster in the 3rd run, with a perfect 5.47 sec, new best time of the competition, to win her 2nd european title in a row after the first one won in Berlin 2012. With this victory, Cristina Rotunno equals the record of C.Guicheteau (Fra) with 2 European titles in speed slalom in a row, and became the most titled women in the short history of the European Championships with 4 medals in her career until today.

C.Rotunno. Photo : T.Bourbon
C.Rotunno. Photo : T.Bourbon

The Men competition was spectacular, with a lot of suspense ; in the qualifications, Yohan Fort (Fra, #11) the 3 times title holder, did the fastest time in 4,321 sec (new Europe Championships record). S.Nai Oleari (Ita, #1) 0.2 sec slower took the second place, followed by J.Fort (Fra, #21) and just behind, M.Allegrini (Ita, #48) is the surprise of the qualifications with a very good 4,670 Sec, placing him at the 4th place and followed by D.DeAraujo (Ita, #6) - the brazilian native skater living in Italy, and skating for his host country- at the provisory 5th place.

Y.Fort. Photo : T.Bourbon
Y.Fort. Photo : T.Bourbon

In the quarter finals, despite of a victory in the first run, M.Allegrini was beaten by D.DeAraujo, faster and cleaner. All the favorites qualified quite easily for the semi finals, but Y.Fort had to run 3 times against A.Shitov (Rus, #39) and J.fort also had to run 3 times against F.Morrone (Ita, #95) in the previous rounds.

The first semi final was very stressful, the title holder, Yohan Fort, wins the first run with a very fast and clean 5.005 sec, versus a clean 5.048 sec for D.De Araujo, very close. Then the french was disqualified in the second run, while D.De Araujo signed a clean 5.149 sec. In the 3rd run, the Italian did a very good start, right in the signal, and cut the line with a time of 4.963 sec, without any mistake, while Y.Fort, was only in 5.093 sec. He can regret his mistake in the second run and will not be able to defend his title in the final against the current world number 1, who won against J.Fort in 2 runs.

Yohan Fort then beat his younger brother with 2 fast and clean runs, around 5.0, to take the 3rd place of the competition, a quite disappointing result for him, since he stopped his serial with 3 european titles in a row.

D.DeAraujo. Photo : T.Bourbon
D.DeAraujo. Photo : T.Bourbon

In the final, the revenge of the last Paris Slalom World Cup, D.De Araujo and S.Nai Oleari fight this time for their first European title. After winning 1 run each, again, they place themselves for the last time on the start line, with an advantage on the paper, to Diego who passed for the second time of the competition under the 5 sec. (4.989 sec), and was faster in the second run, but with one penalty ; but unfortunately, the pressure was too high, and he did a big mistake and was disqualified in this final run, letting the world N.1 get his first continental title in his career. This season is already very good for S.Nai Oleari, who confirms his rank, and will keep his world 1st place at least until the world championships, his main goal for this season.

From left : D.De Araujo, S.Nai Oleari, Y.Fort. Photo : T.Bourbon
From left : D.De Araujo, S.Nai Oleari, Y.Fort. Photo : T.Bourbon

Speed Slalom Women top 5 :

 

1. ITA  Rotunno Cristina

2. ITA  Bossi Barbara

3. RUS Kristina Lysenko

4. FRA Derisbourg Tiffany

5. FRA Granjon Lily

Speed Slalom Men top 5 :

 

1. ITA  Nai Oleari Simone

2. ITA  De Araujo Diego

3. FRA  Fort Yohan

4. FRA  Fort Jimmy

5. ITA  Allegrini Matteo