The Nations Team Event competition at the 2011 World Championships ran on February 16 at 11:00 local time, the seventh race of the championships. Athletes from the best 16 nations in the FIS Overall Nations Cup ranking competed.

Rules

The 16 best nations in the FIS Overall Nations Cup Ranking were eligible to participate in this event. If one or more nations didn't start, they were not replaced. Each team consisted of 4 to 6 skiers, but at least two female and two male skiers.

The format was a K.O. round competition with the pairings being made according to the Nations Cup Ranking. In each pairing 2 female & 2 male skiers from each team raced a parallel giant slalom in a best-of-4 system. In the event of a tie, the faster cumulated time of the best male and the best female skier decides which team will advance to the next round.

FIS Overall Nations Cup standing (prior to the World Championships)

Rank Country Points 1 7662 2 4573 3 3734 4 3728 5 3230 6 3097 7 2487 8 1424 9 1346 10 1280 11 976 12 804 13 433 14 257 15 66 16 55 17 51 18 40 19 9 20 8 21 4

Participating teams

Country Skiers Anna Fenninger Michaela Kirchgasser Marlies Schild Romed Baumann Benjamin Raich Philipp Schörghofer Denise Feierabend Wendy Holdener Fabienne Suter Marc Berthod Beat Feuz Justin Murisier Taïna Barioz Anémone Marmottan Tessa Worley Thomas Fanara Cyprien Richard Gauthier de Tessières Federica Brignone Daniela Merighetti Johanna Schnarf Massimiliano Blardone Giovanni Borsotti Christian Deville Julia Mancuso Megan McJames Sarah Schleper Tim Jitloff Ted Ligety Bode Miller Lena Dürr Veronique Hronek Veronika Staber Fritz Dopfer Stefan Luitz Felix Neureuther

Country Skiers Sara Hector Anja Pärson Maria Pietilä-Holmner Axel Bäck Hans Olsson Matts Olsson Sofija Novoselić Tea Palić Tin Široki Natko Zrnčić-Dim – – Marie-Michèle Gagnon Britt Janyk Marie-Pier Préfontaine Michael Janyk Paul Stutz – Martina Dubovská Katerina Paulathová Andrea Zemanová Ondřej Bank Kryštof Krýzl Adam Zika Jana Gantnerová Kristina Sallová Jaroslav Babušiak Adam Žampa – –

Results bracket

(f) = In the event of a tie, the faster cumulated time of the best male and the best female skier decides which team will advance to the next round

Results

As Norway, Slovenia, Finland, Japan, and Liechtenstein chose not to participate, the 5 highest-placed teams (Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, United States) in the FIS Overall Nations Cup Ranking received a bye in the qualification round.

1/8 Final

Team 1 Score Team 2 Croatia 3–2 Canada Palić 27.04 B. Janyk 27.04 Široki 26.25 M. Janyk 26.18 Novoselić 26.73 Gagnon 26.78 Zrnčić-Dim 30.31 Stutz 33.77 Germany 4–0 Slovakia Dürr 27.23 Gantnerová 27.37 Dopfer 25.78 Babušiak 27.01 Hronek 27.08 Saalová 27.67 Neureuther 25.89 Zampa 29.01 Sweden 3–1 Czech Republic Pärson 26.88 Paulathová 26.98 M. Olsson 26.59 Kryzl 25.44 Pietilä-Holmner 26.46 Zemanová 27.93 H. Olsson 25.80 Zika 25.86

1/4 Final

Team 1 Score Team 2 Austria 2–2 Croatia Schild 27.16 Novoselić 26.69 Raich DNF Zrnčić-Dim 26.39 Kirchgasser 26.38 Palić DNF Baumann 25.74 Široki 25.98 United States 1–3 Italy Schleper 27.33 Merighetti 27.26 Miller 25.54 Deville 26.01 Mancuso 26.77 Schnarf 26.64 Ligety 26.72 Blardone 26.33

Team 1 Score Team 2 France 2–2 Germany Barioz 26.91 Dürr 26.89 Fanara 25.84 Dopfer DNF Worley 26.56 Hronek 26.89 Richard 25.99 Neureuther 25.69 Sweden 4–0 Switzerland Pärson 26.96 Holdener 27.24 M. Olsson 25.80 Berthod 26.31 Pietilä-Holmner 26.85 Feierabend DNF H. Olsson 25.81 Feuz 26.26

Semifinals

Team 1 Score Team 2 Austria 4–0 Italy Fenninger 26.71 Merighetti 26.88 Schörghofer 25.98 Blardone 26.09 Kirchgasser 26.56 Schnarf 27.38 Baumann 26.02 Deville 26.83

Team 1 Score Team 2 France 2–2 Sweden Barioz 27.21 Pärson 26.66 Fanara 25.69 M. Olsson 25.74 Worley 26.49 Pietilä-Holmner 26.46 Richard 25.54 H. Olsson 25.61

Finals

Team 1 Small Final Team 2 Italy 0–4 Sweden Brignone 28.53 Pärson 26.56 Borsotti 25.79 H. Olsson 25.65 Schnarf 26.93 Pietilä-Holmner 26.59 Blardone 25.73 M. Olsson 25.65

Team 1 Final Team 2 Austria 2–2 France Fenninger 26.41 Worley 26.51 Schörghofer 25.86 Richard 25.41 Kirchgasser 26.55 Marmottan 26.54 Baumann 25.69 Fanara 26.08

In the end France won the title with three 2-2 results, always with the faster total time of the best male and the best female racer.

And the final victory was decided by 1/100 of a second: if Kirchgasser had raced 0,01 sec faster (or Marmottan 0,01 sec slower) the result would have been 3:2 for Austria.

References