Danelle Umstead picks up her first medal of the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy with bronze in super-G.
- Andrew Kurka skied to back-to-back medals with bronze in super-G competition on Thursday.
- Danelle Umstead and guide Rob Umstead won their first medals at the 2017 world championships with a third place finish in Tarvisio, Italy.
- Team USA secured three medals heading into the third day of competition on Saturday with an off day scheduled for tomorrow.
TARVISIO, Italy – Andrew Kurka (Palmer, Alaska) returned to the podium on Thursday, this time joined by U.S. teammate Danelle Umstead (Park City, Utah) with guide and husband Rob Umstead (Park City, Utah) after securing bronze medals in super-G competition at the 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy.
Kura repeated his success from the 2015 championships, coming in third in the men’s sitting race to capture his second medal in Tarvisio after winning his first world title yesterday in downhill. He nearly stole second after clocking in a fast second run to finish just three-hundredths of a second from silver with a final time of 1:05.08.
Umstead moved up from the fourth place position on Thursday with a strong second run to finish with a time of 1:16.53 and her first world championship medal of 2017. The now four-time world medalist will contest super combined on Saturday, the event she won bronze medals in at the 2010 and 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
OTHER TOP TEAM USA RESULTS
4th - Laurie Stephens (Wenham, Massachusetts) in the women’s sitting class
5th - Kevin Burton (Boulder, Colorado) and guide Chris Tatsuno (Sun Valley, Idaho) in the men’s visually impaired class, Staci Mannella (Randolph, New Jersey) and guide Sadie DeBaun (Park City, Utah) in the women’s visually impaired class and Stephanie Jallen (Harding, Pennsylvania) in the women’s standing class
10th - Thomas Walsh (Vail, Colorado) and Melanie Schwartz (Aspen, Colorado) in the men’s and women’s standing classes, respectively.
QUOTES
Danelle Umstead
“Today was a great day for Rob and I. This hill is so fun and we love Tarvisio. Our strongest events are typically the speed events. We just missed the podium yesterday in the downhill, but we stayed positive and knew what we needed to work on to get stronger and better for the race today. Our coaches are the best in the world and helped us execute a plan for today’s course. It all just came together for today’s race.”
“We know what we have to work on and have a lot to work to do, but our progression is right on track.”
“I’m so excited to be a super-G bronze medalist at the 2017 world championships. We are thankful to the host country for putting on such a spectacular event here in Tarvisio. We couldn’t ask for a better place to be able to represent Team USA.”
LIVESTREAM & RESULTS
Follow results and action live at this week’s 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships in Tarvisio, Italy. Speed competition will resume on Friday with super combined events.
