From Lillehammer, NOR
(January 11, 2025) – Flavio Mendardi beat out a tight field in the second race of the 2024/2025 Para Sport World Cup to win his first gold.
Switzerland’s Jonas Frei led after the first heat, .06 ahead of Great Britain’s Corie Mapp and .07 ahead of Menardi. The top six were all separated by only .24.
In the second heat, Menardi took the lead from Austria’s Hermann Ellmauer by just over a tenth of a second. He then edged out Corie Mapp by just .03 with just Frei to go.
Frei’s second slide went well on the top half of the 1994 Olympic track, but fell back late to finish just .05 behind Mendari, but also .02 behind Mapp for bronze, with Mapp silver and Menardi gold
Menardi’s win was the first of his career. He’d previously won two silvers and a bronze in World Cup action, as well as a silver in the 2022 World Championships in Lillehammer.
For Mapp, the silver was the 36th World Cup medal, while Frei’s bronze was his 15th medal between World Cup and World Championships.
Ellmauer finished fourth, only .11 behind Menardi. Christopher Stewart was fifth, only .14 back, with Israel Blanco rounding out the top six.
Guillermo Castillo was eighth as the top American, two spots ahead of teammate Robert Balk in tenth. Austin Parker and Dan Rizzieri rounded out the American effort in 13th and 16th.
Results:
| Pos | Name | Nation | Bib | Start 1 | Start 2 | Run 1 | Run 2 | Finish |
| 1 | Flavio Menardi | ITA | 3 | 6.13 | 6.20 | 55.83 | 56.17 | 1:52.00 |
| 2 | Corie Mapp | GBR | 13 | 6.14 | 6.21 | 55.82 | 56.21 | 1:52.03 |
| 3 | Jonas Frei | SUI | 5 | 6.11 | 6.18 | 55.76 | 56.29 | 1:52.05 |
| 4 | Hermann Ellmauer | AUT | 16 | 6.13 | 6.20 | 55.88 | 56.23 | 1:52.11 |
| 5 | Christopher Stewart | SUI | 1 | 6.12 | 6.18 | 55.86 | 56.28 | 1:52.14 |
| 6 | Israel Blanco | ESP | 8 | 6.15 | 6.18 | 56.21 | 56.12 | 1:52.33 |
| 7 | Arturs Klots | LAT | 2 | 6.11 | 6.17 | 56.03 | 56.31 | 1:52.34 |
| 8 | Guillermo Castillo | USA | 10 | 6.12 | 6.17 | 56.00 | 56.37 | 1:52.37 |
| 9 | David Jennewein | ITA | 4 | 6.13 | 6.19 | 56.10 | 56.30 | 1:52.40 |
| 10 | Robert Balk | USA | 15 | 6.15 | 6.17 | 56.26 | 56.16 | 1:52.42 |
| 11 | Michael Stevens | RSA | 11 | 6.14 | 6.16 | 56.59 | 56.12 | 1:52.71 |
| 12 | Nikolai Johann | GER | 7 | 6.12 | 6.15 | 56.29 | 56.69 | 1:52.98 |
| 13 | Austin Parker | USA | 6 | 6.12 | 6.15 | 56.61 | 56.68 | 1:53.29 |
| 14 | Ziva Lavrinc | SLO | 14 | 6.15 | 6.18 | 56.78 | 56.92 | 1:53.70 |
| 15 | Gabriela Knapova | CZE | 12 | 6.08 | 6.09 | 57.23 | 56.74 | 1:53.97 |
| 16 | Dan Rizzieri | USA | 9 | 6.12 | 6.16 | 57.17 | 57.05 | 1:54.22 |