Weirather gains confidence in final St. Moritz training run

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland – Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather was the fastest in the second and final test under sunnier skies than the previous day. She improved upon her first training run by exactly four seconds, finishing in 1:45.01. Anna Fenninger, Elisabeth Goergl and Viktoria Rebensburg, who trail Weirather in the standings, struggled with the increased speed and missed gates.

Third in the first practice run, Weirather heads into Saturday’s race as a strong contender for the win, especially after she got her confidence back making her second podium finish of the season in the last super G race in Cortina d’Ampezzo. “My run went really well and I had a lot of fun,” explained Weirather. “I was quite lucky with the weather. I had sun all the way down while some others had some shade to deal with. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully I can show again how fast I can ski.”

Lindsey Vonn, who was fastest in the foggy training run on Thursday, made some small mistakes and finished 0.79 seconds off the leading pace. The American won the last time a downhill World Cup race was held in St. Moritz, on Jan. 28, 2012. But this year the ladies are racing on a new hill as a test for the 2016 World Cup finals and 2017 World Championships that will be staged at the Swiss famed resort.

“It’s nice to have a new course especially for the World Championships,” said Vonn. “It’s definitely different from the former course, you cannot really compare it. You can definitely make some dynamic turns. You have to be a good glider, but you definitely have to have some good tactics. I think it’s fun.”

Vonn can become the third woman to win multiple downhill World Cup races in St. Moritz after Renate Goetschl (3) and Moser-Proell (2). The downhill race is scheduled for Saturday at 10:15 CET.

Release courtesy of FIS

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