Weirather takes emotional victory in Aspen super-G
Competition heated up in the final women’s World Cup super-G this season. Athletes and spectators were treated to stereotypical spring conditions in Aspen, Colo., as Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec and Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather battled it out for the super-G globe. The set was fairly technical and six of the 21 athletes did not finish the race often falling victim to the consequences of running a late line.
Stuhec started the day with a 15-point lead in the discipline standings, but at the end of the day, Weirather walked away with the small globe thanks to her victory in Thursday’s race. Stuhec had to settle for a second-place finish on the day and in the discipline standings, just five points behind Weirather.
Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom
“I was so nervous,” said Weirather, holding back tears. “I knew there was a lot on the line. I don’t know what to say. It’s just incredible.”
Her mother Hanni Wenzel claimed seven crystal globes in her career while Tina’s father Harti Weirather earned one. They became the first mother-daughter pair to both win crystal globes. Weirather is also the third skier from Liechtenstein to ever win a crystal globe.
Stuhec, who had already won the alpine combined and downhill globes coming into the super-G, missed earning her third small globe by 0.35 seconds.
“It’s definitely amazing what’s been going on for a whole season,” Stuhec said. “Today was another day to really enjoy the race, to show my best. It’s great conditions and super weather. Nothing to be upset about with second place today.”
Rounding out the podium in third place was Federica Brignone. The Italian really found her flow in the second half of the season, earning five podium results in three disciplines between Jan. 24 and March 16. She was just one hundredth of a second behind the Slovenian.
Only two Americans pushed out of the start gate in the super-G, Lindsey Vonn and Laurenne Ross. Vonn, wearing bib 17, crashed after taking too straight of a line and getting hooked on a gate. She was able to ski away on her own. Ross, wearing bib 20, also did not finish, slamming to the ground in the middle of a long left-footed delay and was also able to ski down on her own.
At the end of the race, Vonn restated her plans to ski another season after the 2018 Winter Olympic Games to give herself more time to chase Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time wins record.
“My goal is just to be healthy,” Vonn said. “Sometimes, I’m really impatient and try to bite off more than I can chew, which ends up making me more frustrated because I don’t accomplish what I want to accomplish. And this year, I’m just going to be really patient, really focus on the Olympics. Not so much the World Cup record, just mainly the Olympics because I’ve decided to ski another year after the Olympics as well, so I’m going to give myself a little more time to get that World Cup win record.”
In the hunt for the World Cup overall title, the U.S. Ski Team’s Mikaela Shiffrin has a 198-point lead over Stuhec heading into the tech races. If an athlete has accumulated more than 500 World Cup points in the current season, they can enter any race at World Cup Finals. Stuhec plans to race in the giant slalom, but is undecided about racing in the slalom.
World Cup Finals racing continues on Friday with the Team Event.
Fans can stay up to date on World Cup by downloading the U.S. Ski Team – Ski Racing app for iOS and Android.
Top 10
- Tina Weirather (LIE) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
- Ilka Stuhec (SLO) – Stoeckli / Lange /Atomic
- Federica Brignone (ITA) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT) – Fischer / Fischer / Fischer
- Elisabeth Goergl (AUT) – Head / Head / Head
- Ricarda Haaser (AUT) – Fischer / Fischer / Fischer
- Christine Scheyer (AUT) – Head / Head / Head
- Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker
- Tessa Worley (FRA) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
- Elena Curtoni (ITA) – Head / Head / Head
Official Results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | Diff. | FIS Points | WC Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 355050 | WEIRATHER Tina | 1989 | LIE | 1:11.66 | 0.00 | 100.00 | ||
| 2 | 7 | 565360 | STUHEC Ilka | 1990 | SLO | 1:12.01 | +0.35 | 5.27 | 80.00 | |
| 3 | 13 | 297601 | BRIGNONE Federica | 1990 | ITA | 1:12.02 | +0.36 | 5.43 | 60.00 | |
| 4 | 3 | 55970 | SCHMIDHOFER Nicole | 1989 | AUT | 1:12.40 | +0.74 | 11.15 | 50.00 | |
| 5 | 18 | 55576 | GOERGL Elisabeth | 1981 | AUT | 1:13.00 | +1.34 | 20.20 | 45.00 | |
| 6 | 8 | 56174 | HAASER Ricarda | 1993 | AUT | 1:13.04 | +1.38 | 20.80 | 40.00 | |
| 7 | 12 | 56198 | SCHEYER Christine | 1994 | AUT | 1:13.12 | +1.46 | 22.00 | 36.00 | |
| 8 | 19 | 205218 | REBENSBURG Viktoria | 1989 | GER | 1:13.31 | +1.65 | 24.87 | 32.00 | |
| 9 | 15 | 196928 | WORLEY Tessa | 1989 | FRA | 1:13.36 | +1.70 | 25.62 | 29.00 | |
| 10 | 9 | 297910 | CURTONI Elena | 1991 | ITA | 1:13.49 | +1.83 | 27.58 | 26.00 | |
| 11 | 14 | 516319 | SUTER Corinne | 1994 | SUI | 1:14.00 | +2.34 | 35.27 | 24.00 | |
| 12 | 1 | 56177 | VENIER Stephanie | 1993 | AUT | 1:14.10 | +2.44 | 36.77 | 22.00 | |
| 13 | 10 | 425929 | MOWINCKEL Ragnhild | 1992 | NOR | 1:14.33 | +2.67 | 40.24 | 20.00 | |
| 14 | 16 | 297702 | MARSAGLIA Francesca | 1990 | ITA | 1:14.76 | +3.10 | 46.72 | 18.00 | |
| 15 | 21 | 516185 | HAEHLEN Joana | 1992 | SUI | 1:15.01 | +3.35 | 50.49 | 16.00 | |
| Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
| 20 | 538573 | ROSS Laurenne | 1988 | USA | ||||||
| 17 | 537544 | VONN Lindsey | 1984 | USA | ||||||
| 11 | 298323 | GOGGIA Sofia | 1992 | ITA | ||||||
| 6 | 516248 | FLURY Jasmine | 1993 | SUI | ||||||
| 4 | 296427 | SCHNARF Johanna | 1984 | ITA | ||||||
| 2 | 197383 | GAUTHIER Tiffany | 1993 | FRA | ||||||
About the Author: Gabbi Hall
