Blue skies smile on Tina Weirather in La Thuile super G

The end of the season for ski racers is a time of both exhaustion and opportunity – some athletes are able to find their groove as spring approaches while others struggle to hold onto the early season energy that initially pushed them to the top of the podium.

Lichtenstein’s Tina Weirather found her groove in the La Thuile super G, skiing to her first win of the season and her first super G victory since 2013. The technical course, which resembled a GS more than a downhill, played to Weirather’s strengths. She has had a strong season in giant slalom, earning three podium finishes in that event this winter, and her success in the discipline likely helped her secure Sunday’s super G win as well. 

“I was happy that we have a super G like this because you really have to turn and close the turns, which is cool because most of the time the course setter tries to stay on the downhill line,” Weirather explained. “So they often do just small turns and then one big turn again, so there’s no rhythm in the course, but this time it was different and I thought it was really cool to ski.”

Behind Weirather were the two women currently in a heated battle for the overall title. Lara Gut and Lindsey Vonn have tirelessly fought back and fourth, gaining and losing leads over each other often by very small margins. On Sunday, Gut was able to beat Vonn by 0.07 seconds, putting the Swiss athlete into second place and leaving Vonn to round out the podium.

“It’s skiing, so we’re lucky we have many chance every weekend,” Gut said. “Yesterday, I didn’t ski the way I could and today I just took a chance and tried to do what you can. The course was nice. Well, the snow wasn’t easy to ski. It was really slippery, but it was a nice course setting, so it was a nice super G to ski and sure I am happy to podium. I am two time on the podium in super G in a row. I hope I can keep going like that.”

So, where does that leave them in the overall points perspective? Vonn still holds the lead thanks to yesterday’s second-place finish, but only by 23 points. Her total raises to 1200 points, while Gut boasts 1,177 points. The closest competitor behind them is Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg, who did not finish the race, with 878 points.

For the American team, only one other athlete had a strong day: Laurenne Ross, who seems to be enjoying the La Thuile track. After her fifth-place finish in Saturday’s downhill, she skied to ninth place in the super G, matching her second best finish ever in the event from Garmisch, Germany, in 2013. Ross’s fellow countrywomen, Anna Marno, Alice Mckennis, Abby Ghent and Jacqueline Wiles, all finished outside of the top 30, and Stacey Cook did not finish.

The World Cup men and women next come together on Tuesday, Feb. 23 to compete in the city event in Stockholm, Sweden. The night event begins at 5 p.m. CET.

The Scoop
by Hank Mckee

1. Weirather, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Gut, Head/Head/Head
3. Vonn, Head/Head/Head
4. Suter, Dynastar/Lange/Dynastar
5. Miradoli, Dynastar/Lange/Dynastar
6. Brignone, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
7. Curtoni, Head/Head/Head
8. Worley, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
9. Ross, Volkl/Lange/Marker
10. Marsaglia, Volkl/Fischer/Marker

• Women’s World Cup super G, La Thuile, Italy, Feb. 21, 2016. … It is the 29^th of 41 races on the women’s schedule. … The fifth of eight super Gs. … It is the third World Cup race hosted by La Thuile.
• It is the fifth World Cup victory for Tina Weirather, her third in SG and her first in SG since 2013. … It is her first victory of the season. … Winning margin is .57 of a second. … The top six are within the same second. … Top 12 within two seconds.
• It is the 30^th career World Cup podium for Lara Gut. … Her tenth of the season.
• It is the 126^th career World Cup podium for Lindsey Vonn, her 23^rd in super G and her 13^th podium of the season.
• It is the 15^th career and her fifth straight World Cup top 10 for Laurenne Ross. … Her sixth of the season
• Vonn maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1200-1177 over Lara Gut. … Viktoria Rebensburg is third overall with 878 pts.
• Vonn leads the super G standings 420-341 over Gut with Weirather third at 266 pts. … Laurenne Ross is now 10th with 117 pts.
• Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 3406-3073 over Italy. … Switzerland is third with 2807 pts. … The U.S. is fourth at 2462 and Canada eighth at 948 pts.

Official Results