Gut outdoes Vonn for World Cup Super G win in Zauchensee

Young Swiss star Lara Gut (19) earned her second career World Cup win today  in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria(Jan. 9) by blasting down the super G course just more than half a second faster than her nearest competitor – yesterday’s downhill winner, American Lindsey Vonn.

In the 24 bib, Gut led the entire way down the 36-gate Kaelberloch course and crossed the line with a time of one minute, 12.82 seconds, 0.53 seconds faster than second place Vonn who had grabbed the lead three skier earlier. 

“I had time to watch all the others. I saw where they made mistakes so I knew where to be careful,” Gut told the Associated Press. “It was not perfect, but I went out attacking and had just a few errors.”

For Gut, who missed last season with a hip injury, it was her second trip to the top of a World Cup podium, her first victory came in 2008 when she won a super G in St. Moritz at just 17 years of age. Later that season, she garnered even more attention by winning a pair of World Championship silver medals (downhill, super combined) in Val d’Isere.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” Gut said. “After the last two years, this is really good for me.”

Gut was joined on the podium today by Swiss teammate Dominique Gisin, who finished 0.72 seconds back in third for her second podium of the season following a third-place result in a Lake Louise downhill. It was her fifth career World Cup podium.

“I’m just happy I was able to let myself go today and take risks. I’m on a good path – our whole team was great today,” Gisin told Fisalpine.com. “It was really tricky – you always took speed into every gate, then there was another edge. I’m just so happy about this run.”

Vonn, who won the season-opening super G in Lake Louise in early December, had yet another mid-course save after nearly being taken out by a tight right-hand turn. She finished with a time of one minute, 13.35 seconds.

“I’m happy with second. I made a couple mistakes today, I almost fell on the bottom, the same problem I had yesterday,” said Vonn, who has been on the podium here five times and pulled off high-speed recoveries in the last four speed races . “I just got some soft snow and almost went on my hip but thankfully I finished  so second place is better than DNF for sure. First and second is a great weekend and I’m really, really happy.”

With today’s podium, Vonn climbed another 40 points closer to overall
leader, German Maria Riesch (sixth today) who leads Vonn 923-827. It was Vonn’s 71st carer World Cup podium.

Austrian racers Elizabeth Goergl (1:13.73) and Nicole Hosp (1:14.13) took advantage of the home snow finishing fourth and fifth, respectively. Hosp, who also missed last season with an injury, was the last to really threaten Gut’s lead with several faster split times, but lost the line at the bottom of the course and slipped 1.31 seconds back.  

Gut, who was landed her first World Cup podium in two years in December with a third-place finish in the Val d’Isere downhill, made headlines off the snow that month when she was suspended for two races by Swiss-Ski after she made what federation leaders called critical comments about the team’s head coach in an interview with a Swiss newspaper.

“I’ve put that whole story behind me now,” Gut told reporters. “That’s the past and it’s useless to think about it any longer.”

Canadian Britt Janyk notched her season-best finish with a ninth-place result to follow up her 15th in yesterday’s downhill. Teammate Marie-Michele Gagnon secured the last scoring position in 30th.

“It was a good race, I’m really happy,” said Janyk, whose brother Michael also had good day, taking fifth in the Adelboden slalom. “It was a tight race and I’m definitely going in the right direction as I am now counting the hundredth of seconds and not the seconds between me and the leader.”

The U.S. Ski Team had two more scorers today in Julia Mancuso (16th) and Laurenne Ross (23rd). Stacey Cook, Leanne Smith and Chelsea Marshall just missed the mark, finishing 31, 32, 34.

A total of 12 women failed to finish the tricky 1900-meter course today. Austrians Anna Fenninger (third yesterday) and Andrea Fischbacher both crashed in the same technical area of the course while yesterday’s second-plce finisher, Swede Anja Paerson was one of several women to miss a particularly sneaky left footer in the middle of the course.  

The women’s World Cup now shifts to nearby Flachau for a night slalom race Tuesday Jan. 11.

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Women’s World Cup super G, Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Jan. 9, 2011
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Gut, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
3 Gisin, Dynastar/Lange/Marker
4 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
5 Hosp, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
6 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
7 Fanchini, Dynastar/Lange/Look
8 Mader, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
9 Janyk, Volkl/Lange/Marker
10 Altacher, Head/Head/Head

Women’s World Cup super G, Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Jan. 9, 2011. … It is the 17th event of the women’s 2011 World Cup schedule and 16th held. … It is the third of seven scheduled super G’s and the second held. … It is the 26th Cup race at Altenmark-Zauchensee and eighth super G. … No one person has won two super G’s at the site. … Austrian women have won four SG’s and Swiss two, Germans once.

It is the second career World Cup win for Lara Gut, the first coming in SG at St Moritz, Dec. 20, 2008. … She missed last season to injury (Dislocated hip). … It is her second podium of the season having placed 3rd in DH at Val d’Isere.

It is the 71st career Cup podium for Lindsey Vonn. … Her 22nd in SG. … It is her seventh Cup podium this season and second in SG. … It is her fifth career Cup podium at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee and first at the site in SG.

It is the sixth career Cup podium for Dominique Gisin. … her third at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee. … It is her second career SG podium. … It is her second podium of the season the first also a third place scored at Lake Louise in DH Dec. 4.

It is the 26th career Cup top 10 for Britt Janyk. … her first at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee. … It is her first top 10 of the season in three scoring finishes, two of those three coming at Altenmarkt. … It is the 13th scoring result of the season for Julia Mancuso and her second straight 16th place finish. … It is the eight career Cup scoring result for Laurenne Ross. … All of them coming in the last calendar year, her first score Jan. 30, 2010 in DH at St Moritz. … It is her second SG score, the first coming this season at Lake Louise Dec. 5. … It is the second Cup SG score for Marie-Michele Gagnon, her first also tallied at Lake Louise Dec. 5. … It is her eighth score of the season.

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	24	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI	1:12.82	0.00
2	20	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	1:13.35	7.71
3	15	515747	GISIN Dominique	1985	SUI	1:13.54	10.48
4	21	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:13.73	13.25
5	31	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	1:14.13	19.07
6	19	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:14.15	19.36
7	7	296472	FANCHINI Elena	1985	ITA	1:14.18	19.80
8	27	55766	MADER Regina	1985	AUT	1:14.24	20.67
9	2	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:14.26	20.96
10	1	55806	ALTACHER Margret	1986	AUT	1:14.40	23.00
11	4	515806	KAMER Nadja	1986	SUI	1:14.50	24.45
12	8	515573	AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi	1981	SUI	1:14.54	25.04
13	26	195983	ROLLAND Marion	1982	FRA	1:14.56	25.33
14	5	296427	SCHNARF Johanna	1984	ITA	1:14.58	25.62
15	30	55970	SCHMIDHOFER Nicole	1989	AUT	1:14.61	26.06
16	13	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:14.64	26.49
17	38	55882	STAUDINGER Christina	1987	AUT	1:14.65	26.64
18	49	196968	BAILET Margot	1990	FRA	1:14.71	27.51
19	14	195671	JACQUEMOD Ingrid	1978	FRA	1:14.85	29.55
20	10	196460	MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie	1985	FRA	1:15.03	32.17
21	41	55913	MOSER Stefanie	1988	AUT	1:15.06	32.61
22	34	297910	CURTONI Elena	1991	ITA	1:15.12	33.48
23	35	538573	ROSS Laurenne	1988	USA	1:15.13	33.63
24	11	515849	DETTLING Andrea	1987	SUI	1:15.19	34.50
25	12	515560	SCHILD Martina	1981	SUI	1:15.28	35.81
26	40	297702	MARSAGLIA Francesca	1990	ITA	1:15.33	36.54
27	43	425880	SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth	1991	NOR	1:15.60	40.47
28	3	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO	1:15.65	41.19
29	44	515782	ABDERHALDEN Marianne	1986	SUI	1:15.67	41.49
30	36	105269	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1989	CAN	1:15.70	41.92
31	47	537582	COOK Stacey	1984	USA	1:16.05	47.02
32	25	538305	SMITH Leanne	1987	USA	1:16.25	49.93
33	37	297153	CIPRIANI Enrica	1988	ITA	1:16.49	53.42
34	42	538038	MARSHALL Chelsea	1986	USA	1:16.62	55.31
35	48	105920	SIMMERLING Georgia	1989	CAN	1:16.87	58.95
36	6	206175	STECHERT Gina	1987	GER	1:16.89	59.24
37	51	155563	KRIZOVA Klara	1989	CZE	1:18.02	75.69
38	53	695063	MATSOTSKA Bogdana	1989	UKR	1:24.22	165.94
Disqualified 1st run
	17	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO
Did not start 1st run
	45	296431	STUFFER Verena	1984	ITA
	39	297134	BORSOTTI Camilla	1988	ITA
Did not finish 1st run
	52	375018	COLETTI Alexandra	1983	MON
	50	225308	THORBURN Pamela	1986	GBR
	46	206323	STIEPEL Isabelle	1990	GER
	33	55978	VOGLREITER Mariella	1989	AUT
	32	296008	MERIGHETTI Daniela	1981	ITA
	29	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE
	28	205218	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1989	GER
	23	495318	RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina	1981	SPA
	22	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE
	18	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT
	16	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI
	9	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT