Lara Gut-Behrami won the alpine skiing World Cup super-G at Cortina d’Ampezzo on Sunday, moving to the top of the discipline standings on another crash-hit day in the Italian Dolomites.
Olympic super-G champion Gut-Behrami claimed her fourth win of the season with a time of one minute and 20.75 seconds, 0.21sec ahead of Stephanie Venier who won Friday’s downhill on the same Olympia delle Tofane piste.
Swiss Gut-Behrami, 32, leads the super-G standings by just 10 points from Cornelia Huetter, one of a clutch of skiers not to finish their runs.
Sunday’s win was her third at Cortina and her 41st career World Cup win, her 21st in her preferred discipline.
“I’m happy with my solid run. I tried to stay safe and often to be safe means to be aggressive,” Gut-Behrami said.
“I tried to do my thing and found the lines I wanted, but today was not the day to risk too much.”
France’s Romane Miradoli completed the podium, while Saturday’s Cortina downhill winner Ragnhild Mowinckel finished fourth, over half a second off the pace.
“I’m really happy with my skiing and it has really progressed these past couple of days and weeks,” Mowinckel said.
“Right now I’m back to where I feel I should be, which is really nice.”
Gut-Behrami cut Mikaela Shiffrin’s lead in the overall standings to 195 points, taking advantage of the absence of the American skiing icon.
Shiffrin hurt her left leg crashing out of Friday’s downhill, and she will also miss the giant slalom at Kronplatz on Tuesday, the last race in this Italian swing of the World Cup season.
Gut-Behrami also finished second and fifth in the two Cortina downhills, gaining ground as Shiffrin nurses her wounds.
Sunday’s race was interrupted by another long stoppage when Gut-Behrami’s compatriot Stephanie Jenal smashed into the safety netting, while Canada’s Valerie Grenier also suffered a heavy fall.
Italian stars Sofia Goggia and Federica Brignone finished in the top 10 alongside compatriot Marta Bassino.
Speed specialist Goggia was 0.05sec behind Mowinckel in fifth after claiming podium spots in both downhill races at Cortina.
“Overall I’m happy with how this weekend has gone,” said Goggia.
“I earned two podiums and had a good super-G, it’s a long season and there’s plenty of time to get some good results.”
She remains locked on 24 World Cup wins with Brignone, who ended the day in ninth, as the pair battle it out for the title of Italy’s best ever woman skier.
