Switzerland
Lara Gut-Behrami mastered a tricky World Cup super-G on Sunday where several top racers were caught out at two jumps.
On a picture postcard minus-3 Celsius (27 Fahrenheit) day in the Swiss Alps, home favorite Gut-Behrami finished 0.93 seconds faster than Tamara Tippler. Federica Brignone, the defending overall World Cup champion, was 1.02 back in third.
Five of the top 20 highest-ranked starters skied out or were disqualified, including Sofia Goggia who won downhills on the Mont Lachaux slope the previous two days.
Gut-Behrami now has 14 of her 28 career World Cup wins in super-G, which demands speed, technical skills and an ability to improvise through unfamiliar gates. Unlike in downhill, racers do not train on the exact course-setting.
‘’In super-G when I feel great it makes everything easier,’’ said the winner, who is on track for a third career season-long title in the discipline. ‘’It’s not so easy as it looks.’’
Goggia, the 2019 world championship silver medalist in super-G, missed the second-last gate after nearly crashing out while landing the jump in sight of the finish line. She reacted to the error by putting her hands to her helmet in the finish area.—AP
