USA leads Global Cup after February, Austria wins Alpine Skiing Worlds
February was a busy, hotly contested sporting month, featuring a spate of tournaments ranging from the men’s Football Asian Cup to
world championships in a plethora of Snow & Ice sports (Alpine and Freestyle Skiing, Snowboarding and Speedskating).
The monthly ranking (see table below) was won by Russia, runner-up to the Netherlands in the Speedskating Single Distance World Championships, fifth in the Freestyle Skiing World Championships and winner of the Bandy World Championship.
Global Cup – February 2019 monthly ranking
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
1
|
Russia
|
275
|
8.0%
|
2
|
Japan
|
273
|
8.0%
|
3
|
United States
|
265
|
7.7%
|
4
|
Netherlands
|
241
|
7.0%
|
5
|
Austria
|
228
|
6.6%
|
6
|
Norway
|
197
|
5.7%
|
7
|
Switzerland
|
194
|
5.6%
|
8
|
Canada
|
190
|
5.5%
|
9
|
Italy
|
182
|
5.3%
|
10
|
France
|
163
|
4.8%
|
11
|
Qatar
|
160
|
4.7%
|
12
|
Germany
|
128
|
3.7%
|
13
|
Sweden
|
97
|
2.8%
|
14
|
United Arab Emirates
|
88
|
2.6%
|
15
|
Iran
|
88
|
2.6%
|
16
|
China
|
86
|
2.5%
|
17
|
Australia
|
79
|
2.3%
|
18
|
South Korea
|
72
|
2.1%
|
19
|
Slovakia
|
61
|
1.8%
|
20
|
Slovenia
|
57
|
1.7%
|
21
|
Kazakhstan
|
49
|
1.4%
|
22
|
Belgium
|
41
|
1.2%
|
23
|
Vietnam
|
40
|
1.2%
|
24
|
Finland
|
40
|
1.2%
|
25
|
Czech Republic
|
32
|
0.9%
|
26
|
Great Britain
|
25
|
0.7%
|
27
|
Ukraine
|
21
|
0.6%
|
28
|
Belarus
|
19
|
0.6%
|
29
|
Spain
|
10
|
0.3%
|
30
|
Estonia
|
10
|
0.3%
|
31
|
New Zealand
|
9
|
0.3%
|
32
|
Poland
|
8
|
0.2%
|
33
|
Denmark
|
3
|
0.1%
|
34
|
Bulgaria
|
2
|
0.1%
|
|
Grand Total
|
3,431
|
100.0%
|
The monthly top three were very close, as Japan added a runner-up spot (behind surprising Qatar) in the men’s Football Asian Cup to a third place in the Speedskating Single Distance World Championships, and the USA won the Snowboarding World Championships and finished second in the Freestyle Skiing World Championships, after Canada.
It was enough for the USA to carve a slim, 39-point lead over Japan in the Global Cup’s year-to-date table. The USA was 123 points behind Norway in second place this time last year. The fight at the top is instead much more heated now, with 6 countries within 88 points.
In February’s biggest Snow & Ice sports tournament, the Alpine Skiing World Championships, the honours went to Austria (see table below), with an emphatic 21.2% share of the points, ahead of runner-up Norway (12.7%) and Italy (12.6%). Austria won the men’s ranking in the tournament, bagging 31.8% of the points on offer, was second in the mixed events and fifth in the women’s, won by the USA.
Alpine Skiing World Championships 2019
Place
|
Country
|
Points
|
Points %
|
1
|
Austria
|
182
|
21.2%
|
2
|
Norway
|
109
|
12.7%
|
3
|
Italy
|
108
|
12.6%
|
4
|
Switzerland
|
104
|
12.1%
|
5
|
France
|
91
|
10.6%
|
6
|
United States
|
64
|
7.5%
|
7
|
Slovakia
|
53
|
6.2%
|
8
|
Germany
|
52
|
6.1%
|
9
|
Slovenia
|
44
|
5.1%
|
10
|
Sweden
|
33
|
3.8%
|
11
|
Canada
|
18
|
2.1%
|
|
Grand Total
|
858
|
100.0%
|