O’Driscoll Fourth in World Cup Debut
The Stifel U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team is in Steinach am Brenner, Austria for the World Cup season opener, and rookie Kelsey O’Driscoll shone in her World Cup debut, finishing just off the podium in fourth place in alpine combined.
Steinach is a familiar stop for these athletes as they have kicked off the World Cup season in Austria for the last three years. Alpine combined in composed of one run of super-G and one run of slalom with athletes’ times combined to get their final placement.
After run one of super-G, Andrew Kurka was sitting in first place in the men’s sitting classification and O’Driscoll was in third. Audrey Crowley, Andrew Haraghey and Robert Enigl did not finish run one.
This season, Kurka, a known speed specialist, is also skiing slalom for the first time in years, with this event being his first World Cup attempt since 2019. This event was an excellent start for the speedster, where he finished sixth overall after placing 10th in the slalom run. O’Driscoll finished sixth in run two, giving her a fourth place finish. Nine U.S. athletes made it through to the second run, including Jesse Keefe, who finished eighth overall, a great start to his season in the standing classification, followed by Patrick Halgren in 11th, and Spencer Wood in 17th. Ravi Drugan finished in 12th in the men’s sitting category.
Tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 11th, the team will take on super-G, which is sure to excite following the run one placements in alpine combined. Tune in at 4:30 am ET on FIS.
