St. Moritz (Switzerland) (AFP) – New Zealand’s Alice Robinson stole the limelight in the women’s World Cup super-G in St. Moritz on Sunday as Lindsey Vonn placed fourth while Mikaela Shiffrin failed to finish on her return to speed racing after almost two years.
On an undulating and technical surface, Robinson, the best giant slalom skier this season, edged out France’s Romane Miradoli by 0.08 seconds to claim her first super-G win, with Italian star Sofia Goggia third at 0.19 seconds. “Crazy, I was not expecting this today,” said Robinson, 24, whose previous best super-G finish was fourth. “What a day, it’s just incredible. I think I had a really good mix of clean skiing but pushing where I could and letting the skis run. I always felt like I was holding back in Super G a bit (before), but not a part of me was scared today – I just wanted to go for it.”
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Vonn finished 0.27 seconds off the pace to take fourth place on what has been a successful weekend for the veteran on the Corviglia piste in the Swiss Alps. The 41-year-old became the oldest skier to win a World Cup race in Friday’s downhill, her first victory since 2018 — and first in her comeback with titanium implants in her right knee. On Saturday, the American narrowly missed out on a second straight World Cup downhill win at St. Moritz, finishing second behind German Emma Aicher.
For US pair Vonn and Shiffrin, it was their first World Cup race together since 2019. Vonn lost time on the technical second section and was just behind Goggia in the final podium spot. Shiffrin was racing in a speed event for the first time since her heavy crash in January 2024 on the downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy damaged her left knee. Starting with the number 31 bib, the record holder of 104 World Cup titles missed the last gate after a run where she was less than a second off the pace. The 30-year-old was heading for a potential top 10 finish but missed the penultimate gate and registered a DNF.
Shiffrin will next head to Courchevel in France on Tuesday, when she will bid for her fifth slalom win in a row as the two-time Olympic gold medallist builds towards the Milan-Cortina Games from February 6-22.
© 2024 AFP
