Today took place the first race of the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, in High 1 Resort in Korea. Today race was the Slalom, where the European skiers showed their strength and high level reaching seven medals: three gold, one silver and three bronzes. By now, three out of the six world champions proclaimed today in the Slalom are European.

Austrian Sabine Gasteiger and her guide Emil Gasteiger took the first position in the Women’s Visually Impaired competition, and Spanish Anna Cohí guided by Raquel García ended third. In the Men’s Sitting category, the whole podium was achieved by European athletes: Jurgen Egle from Austria took gold, Jean-Yves Le Meur from France, silver medal and Martin Braxenthaler from Germany got bronze. In the Men’s Visually Impaired competition, Jakub Krako and Miroslav Haraus from Slovakia took gold and bronze respectively, with their gudes Juraj Medera and Martin Makovnik.

The 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships continue through 1 March, with subsequent competitions in Giant Slalom, Super Combined, Super-G and Downhill races. The Team Event in the Giant Slalom race and the Closing Ceremony will take place on the final day. 160 athletes from 25 different countries are at the High 1 Ski Resort in Gangwon-Do, Korea for the World Championships, which are organized by the Korea Sports Association for the Disabled (KOSAD), the Korea Adaptive Ski Association (KASA) and the High 1 Ski Resort.