Weirather Wraps Up Lake Louise With A Win

By Published On: December 3rd, 2017Comments Off on Weirather Wraps Up Lake Louise With A Win

If there was a theme song for Sunday’s World Cup super-G race at Lake Louise, it would be “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash. The athletes could see clearly, and the snow had gone. The ladies could see all the obstacles in their way.

It was a picturesque way to end the first speed races of the season, and Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather took advantage to win her first race of the season.

“It was great,” Weirather said of her run. “I mean it was a bit difficult because the snow was so different. There were gates where it was really hard and icy and bumpy and others were pretty soft, so you had to be ready for anything and that made it pretty tricky.”

Author’s note: I recommend listening to this song while reading this article.

Weirather gets to keep her red bib after winning last season’s super-G globe. She beat rival Swiss athlete Lara Gut by 0.11 seconds. The two athletes have a healthy competition between them.

“Well, it’s always great if she’s second and I’m first,” Gut said jokingly. “No, I’m kidding. It’s cool. I think this is what we need on the World Cup circuit… Skiing with Lindsey or Fenninger or all those athletes, well, it helps you, brings you farther.”

Weirather, who often trains with the Swiss team, shared her competitor’s sentiments.

“We’re for sure competitors, and we like those battles because like the last two years she was beating me by a couple hundredths,” she said. “Today I beat her by a couple hundredths, and I’m sure we both want to be faster, but also, we can lose. Then when you’re a couple hundredths back, of course you’re a bit mad at yourself, but then you really congratulate her from the heart. I think it’s really important to have those natural and honest competitors.”

While the World Cup super-G globe winner knows the importance of these types of competitors, Weirather admitted she’s never been a fan of competing against people.

“…I’m the person who is more like, not in competition with others, but more with myself because I used to play tennis when I was younger, and I always hated to play against someone and play the shots that the other one didn’t like,” she explained. “I always preferred skiing, where I could have my battle with the hill and then in the finish area know how fast the others were, but I don’t like to fight anyone else.”

The pair was joined on the podium by 2017 Super-G World Champion Nicole Schmidhofer. The Austrian stands just over five-feet tall, but that doesn’t stop her from being one of the fastest women around. The third-place finisher prefers super-G because its lacks training runs.

“You have only once chance,” Schmidhofer shared. “It’s high speed. In the downhill, you have two or three  training runs and this is a lot different from super-G. It’s more turny than the downhill, so I think super-G is a more interesting competition.”

The headliner for the weekend, American Mikaela Shiffrin, finished just off the podium in fifth place. There were only 0.84 seconds between her and the win, and she was pleased with her run.

“There was a little bit of a tricky section coming into the shade in the middle part, where I think quite a few girls made a little bit of a mistake there, and I definitely made a pretty big mistake there,” she recalled. “I could feel myself slowing down, but all in all, the run was really aggressive, and I sort of took the same mindset that I had from the downhill and put it in the super-G today. So, I still have some things to learn about switching my timing and my rhythm from downhill to super-G, but generally speaking, I’m really excited and really happy with the mentality I had all weekend.”

Shiffrin was the only American in the top 20. Breezy Johnson skied to 25th while Alice McKennis also scored World Cup points, coming in 29th. Stacey Cook, Jacqueline Wiles and Alice Merryweather were all outside the top 30, earning 32nd, 35th and 39th, respectively. Lindsey Vonn did not finish after her skis slid out from under her, and she slid to a stop. The American ski star was able to ski down on her own.

The women now head to St. Moritz, Switzerland, for two super-G races and an alpine combined from Dec. 8-10.


Top 10

  1. Tina Weirather (LIE) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  2. Lara Gut (SUI) – Head / Head / Head
  3. Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT) – Fischer / Fischer / Fischer
  4. Tessa Worley (FRA) – Rossignol Look / Rossignol
  5. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  6. Johanna Schnarf (ITA) – Fischer / Fischer / Fischer
  7. Jasmine Flury (SUI) – Stoeckli / Lange /
  8. Cornelia Huetter (AUT) – Voelkl / Marker Dalbello
  9. Sofia Goggia (ITA) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  10. Corinne Suter (SUI) – Head / Head / Head

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time Diff. FIS Points WC Points
 1  7  355050 WEIRATHER Tina 1989 LIE  1:18.52  0.00  100.00
 2  9  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:18.63  +0.11  1.51  80.00
 3  5  55970 SCHMIDHOFER Nicole 1989 AUT  1:18.79  +0.27  3.71  60.00
 4  1  196928 WORLEY Tessa 1989 FRA  1:19.35  +0.83  11.42  50.00
 5  14  6535237 SHIFFRIN Mikaela 1995 USA  1:19.36  +0.84  11.55  45.00
 6  6  296427 SCHNARF Johanna 1984 ITA  1:19.40  +0.88  12.10  40.00
 7  2  516248 FLURY Jasmine 1993 SUI  1:19.44  +0.92  12.65  36.00
 8  13  56128 HUETTER Cornelia 1992 AUT  1:19.46  +0.94  12.93  32.00
 9  11  298323 GOGGIA Sofia 1992 ITA  1:19.52  +1.00  13.75  29.00
 10  17  516319 SUTER Corinne 1994 SUI  1:19.77  +1.25  17.19  26.00
 11  43  56088 TIPPLER Tamara 1991 AUT  1:19.86  +1.34  18.43  24.00
 12  3  56177 VENIER Stephanie 1993 AUT  1:19.90  +1.38  18.98  22.00
 13  15  205218 REBENSBURG Viktoria 1989 GER  1:19.96  +1.44  19.81  20.00
 14  16  516284 GISIN Michelle 1993 SUI  1:20.05  +1.53  21.04  18.00
 15  10  425929 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  1:20.11  +1.59  21.87  16.00
 16  12  516185 HAEHLEN Joana 1992 SUI  1:20.21  +1.69  23.25  15.00
 16  8  296729 FANCHINI Nadia 1986 ITA  1:20.21  +1.69  23.25  15.00
 18  36  197641 GAUCHE Laura 1995 FRA  1:20.37  +1.85  25.45  13.00
 19  23  516219 NUFER Priska 1992 SUI  1:20.43  +1.91  26.27  12.00
 20  31  56087 SIEBENHOFER Ramona 1991 AUT  1:20.45  +1.93  26.55  11.00
 21  48  197295 PIOT Jennifer 1992 FRA  1:20.55  +2.03  27.92  10.00
 22  50  299466 DELAGO Nicol 1996 ITA  1:20.56  +2.04  28.06  9.00
 23  38  206460 WENIG Michaela 1992 GER  1:20.67  +2.15  29.57  8.00
 24  18  56174 HAASER Ricarda 1993 AUT  1:20.68  +2.16  29.71  7.00
 25  22  6535455 JOHNSON Breezy 1996 USA  1:20.75  +2.23  30.67  6.00
 26  29  107613 GRENIER Valerie 1996 CAN  1:20.78  +2.26  31.09  5.00
 27  42  56258 AGER Christina 1995 AUT  1:20.80  +2.28  31.36  4.00
 28  28  197383 GAUTHIER Tiffany 1993 FRA  1:20.92  +2.40  33.01  3.00
 29  45  565320 FERK Marusa 1988 SLO  1:20.94  +2.42  33.29  2.00
 29  35  538685 MCKENNIS Alice 1989 USA  1:20.94  +2.42  33.29  2.00
 31  52  296472 FANCHINI Elena 1985 ITA  1:20.97  +2.45  33.70
 32  32  537582 COOK Stacey 1984 USA  1:20.98  +2.46  33.84
 33  19  56198 SCHEYER Christine 1994 AUT  1:21.08  +2.56  35.21
 34  27  206668 WEIDLE Kira 1996 GER  1:21.17  +2.65  36.45
 35  26  197497 MIRADOLI Romane 1994 FRA  1:21.33  +2.81  38.65
 35  21  539536 WILES Jacqueline 1992 USA  1:21.33  +2.81  38.65
 37  41  107532 TOMMY Mikaela 1995 CAN  1:21.58  +3.06  42.09
 38  30  296431 STUFFER Verena 1984 ITA  1:21.84  +3.32  45.66
 39  40  6535600 MERRYWEATHER Alice 1996 USA  1:22.19  +3.67  50.48
 40  51  45331 SMALL Greta 1995 AUS  1:22.51  +3.99  54.88
 41  34  426257 LIE Kajsa Vickhoff 1998 NOR  1:22.70  +4.18  57.49
 42  49  298767 SOSIO Federica 1994 ITA  1:22.88  +4.36  59.97
 43  37  155563 KRIZOVA Klara 1989 CZE  1:23.14  +4.62  63.55
Did not finish 1st run
 53  515997 FEIERABEND Denise 1989 SUI
 47  107697 FLECKENSTEIN Stefanie 1997 CAN
 46  107583 REMME Roni 1996 CAN
 44  206652 PFISTER Meike 1996 GER
 39  375018 COLETTI Alexandra 1983 MON
 33  297195 HOFER Anna 1988 ITA
 25  155763 LEDECKA Ester 1995 CZE
 20  55947 VEITH Anna 1989 AUT
 4  537544 VONN Lindsey 1984 USA
Disqualified 1st run
 24  245066 MIKLOS Edit 1988 HUN

 

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About the Author: Gabbi Hall

A California native, Gabbi moved to Vermont to ski on the NCAA circuit for St. Michael’s College, where she served as team captain and studied journalism. Before joining Ski Racing, she worked as a broadcast TV producer and social media manager in higher education. She can be reached via email at gabbi@skiracing.com