With the World Cup season in the rearview mirror for many winter sports, here’s a look at some of the athletes who were awarded Crystal Globes for their efforts.
Canadians such as moguls skier Mikael Kingsbury and bobsledder Kaillie Humphries were among many notable stars competing on the world stage who climbed onto the overall podium in 2017-18.
Bobsleigh
Kaillie Humphries: Three wins and two silver-medal performances propelled the Calgary native to her fourth title in the discipline with 1631 points. American Elana Meyers Taylor (1591) and Germany’s Mariama Jamanka (1538) rounded out the top three. Edmonton’s Alysia Rissling was sixth at 1288.
Justin Kripps, 2-man: The Calgary resident hauled in a gold, three silver, and a bronze along the way to securing his first career World Cup title with 1631 points. Germany’s Francesco Friedrich finished second overall at 1504, while Calgary’s Christopher Spring amassed 1347 points to secure the overall bronze.
Johannes Lochner, 4-man: Germany swept the overall podium with Johannes Lochner claiming the top spot with 1652 points. Friedrich was second at 1468, followed by Nico Walther at 1421. Kripps was just one point shy at 1420.
Moguls
Mikael Kingsbury: The 25-year-old from Deux-Montagnes, Que., finished first on Sunday in the men’s dual moguls in Megeve, France, wrapping up the season with two Crystal Globes as overall moguls champion as well as top freestyle skier across all disciplines. Kingsbury has now won seven straight World Cup season titles, and seven straight overall titles.
Perrine Laffont: The French skier finished second in the final race of the season to secure the moguls title on the women’s side with 607 points. American Jaelin Kauf won Sunday’s race and finished close behind in the standings at 561. Andi Naude of Penticton, B.C., and Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Montreal end the season fourth and fifth, respectively, in the discipline standings.
Ski cross
Kevin Drury of Toronto and Mount-Tremblant, Que.’s, Brittany Phelan, who each earned three podium finishes this season, secured bronze Crystal Globes in the men’s and women’s ski cross standings, respectively. Strong performances by Olympic gold medallists Brady Leman (Calgary) and Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, B.C.), Chris Del Bosco (Montreal), and Georgia Simmerling (West Vancouver) also helped Canada win the Nations Cup as the top team. Switzerland’s Marc Bischofberger and Sandra Naeslund of Sweden were the overall winners for the individual disciplines.
Alpine (slalom, giant slalom, downhill, super-G)
Mikaela Shiffrin, overall: The American skier captured gold in giant slalom in Pyeongchang and then went on to repeat as the overall champion on the World Cup circuit. Shiffrin also locked up the title for the slalom discipline for the fifth time in six years. Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany took the title in giant slalom, Olympic gold medallist Sofia Goggia of Italy was tops in downhill, and Tina Weirather claimed the title for super-G.
Marcel Hirscher, overall: The Austrian phenom overcame a fractured ankle suffered in August to end up with his record seventh overall World Cup title. Hirscher also set a record by claiming his seventh slalom title as he won seven of eight races. For good measure, Hirscher also secured the giant slalom crown with one race remaining on March 3. Swiss skier Beat Feuz finished ahead of Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway in the downhill category, while Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud took control of the super-G category with a win on home snow earlier this month.
Skeleton
Yun Sungbin: The South Korean slider, who won a historic gold medal at the 2018 Winter Games, came away with five gold and a pair of silver in seven World Cup events to finish as the overall points leader with 1545.
Jacqueline Loelling: Four gold and a bronze helped the German collect 1628 points to capture the gold Crystal Globe ahead of teammate Tina Hermann (1504). Calgary’s Elisabeth Vathje finished third overall (1470) on the strength of three silver and a bronze medal this season. Canadians Jane Channell and Mirela Rahneva finished fifth and eighth, respectively.
Luge
Felix Loch, men’s singles: The German missed the podium at the Olympics, but made up for it by taking the World Cup title with 923 points. Austria’s Wolfgang Kindl (838) and Roman Repilov of Russia (774) finished second and third, respectively.
Natalie Geisenberger, women’s singles: Germany continued its dominance with Geisenberger high above the pack with 1120 points. Fellow German Dajana Eitberger was second at 754, followed by American slider Summer Britcher at 726. Alex Gough of Calgary finished fourth with 697 points.
Germany, doubles: Toni Eggert and Sascha Benecken ran away with the overall title by tallying 1170 points. Countrymen Tobias Wendl and Tobias Arlt were second with 911 and Austrians Peter Penz and Georg Fischler third at 836.
Germany, team relay: The Germans will also have to find a place in the trophy case for the Crystal Globe they won in relay. Germany led the way with 485 points, ahead of Austria at 400. The Canadian entry of Gough, Sam Edney, Tristan Walker, and Justin Snith finished the season third overall at 381.
