Featured Image: Lara Gut-Behrami holding her 5th super-G Globe. Credit: GEPA

The women headed into the last super-G race of the 2024 season at the World Cup Finals in Saalbach, Austria. With the super-G title remaining undecided, the trio of women in contention did not hold anything back, and that energy inspired the rest of the field to push their limits.

Before today’s race, Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland had already grabbed onto the overall World Cup Title but only led the World Cup super-G standings by 69 points in front of Austrian Cornelia Hütter and 74 over Italian Federica Brignone.

Thereby, Gut-Behrami had immense pressure to finish eighth or better to secure the Crystal Globe, and the other two racers had to get second or victory to become the new title winners.

Lara Gut-Behrami was able to pull off the title victory, but the calculators were out as it was a close race when Federica Brignone came down with a 2nd-place result. Nevertheless, Gut-Behrami clinched her 5th super-G Globe with 576 points, Brignone with 546, and Hütter with 516.

She stated, “I am so happy and super proud about that and super-G is a discipline I really love. To win the Globe again is unbelievable,” She continued, “I am so proud of that and I am so proud of what we have done. I am really thankful to have an amazing family with me, they are helping and supporting me all the time. It will be nice to share this moment with them.” 

The snow conditions on the track required the women to be light on their edges, ski strategically, and be confident through each section of the track.

Ester Ledecká showed the field how it was done, coming through with the win. It marked her first World Cup victory this season and her second podium. She moved into 6th in the super-G World Cup 2024 standings.

The Czech athlete impressively competes in alpine ski racing and snowboarding at the elite level. Wearing bib-8, she came through each section inveiling confidence and finished with almost half a second lead, which put her in a strong position for the podium.

The three contenders for the globe came down after her. Gut-Behrami ran bib-9 and was aiming for another Globe victory. She was skiing strategically but lost some speed off the first jump and through the mid-section. She tried to make up for lost time but came through +0.52 behind the lead.

Cornelia Hütter wore bib-11 and was attacking from top to bottom. She had the fastest time on the top, establishing her lead early. She lost a little speed through the pitch but was gunning it in the final section.

However, the Austrian blasted one of the last gates, which twisted and threw her outside the line and almost out of the course. She managed to pull it back and complete her run with her pole out of her hand. She concluded the day in 5th place.

Federica Brignone came into the super-G with confidence, as she has won the last three out of the four races she has competed in. She assured everyone that she had her eyes set on just another podium, but with her attack from the start, it was apparent she was fighting for a chance at the World Cup super-G title.

The Italian was nailing the line through the upper sections of the course but continued to trail Ledecká’s time. She carried speed into the last part of the track, which brought her closer, but she concluded in 2nd place, +0.28 behind the victory.

Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway rounded the podium with a strategically solid run. She achieved her third super-G podium and fourth podium of the season. She moved up to rank fifth in the World Cup super-G standings.

Another highlight from the event was the celebration of Ragnhild Mowinckel’s final race of her alpine ski racing career. She did not hold back on her final run, producing speed through each panel. She concluded in 8th place and wore a smile ear-to-ear in the finish arena. After waving to the crowd, she took her final bow before exiting the corral.

Lauren Macuga Representing North America

Lauren Macuga, an athlete from the Stifel US Ski Team, secured her spot in the World Cup Finals with an outstanding performance this season, particularly in the super-G discipline.

The 21-year-old achieved seven top-30 finishes, and three top-10 results. Her best finish was 5th in the final regular season race in Kvitfjell. Coming off the 5th-place result, Macuga had confidence coming into Saalbach. 

She came out of the start pushing and looking for her aerodynamics immediately. She came off the first jump a little off the line, but she continued to push from gate to gate. She was a little hard on her edges through the final section in the soft snow, which also cost her a little time. However, she came through the finish +0.71 behind Weidle. 

As she raced into the finish corral, her teammates, including Mikaela Shiffrin were cheering loudly. 

Macuga concluded the day in 14th place, a milestone for the young racer. 

Final Results

Top 3 Analysis

North American Analysis