Miradoli Wins Lenzereheide Super G, Brignone Secures Title, Paris Wins 2nd Kvitfjell DH,
Italy and France have reason to celebrate today in Lenzereheide, where the most demanding women's super-G of the season was held.
The race went to a fabulous Romane Miradoli: on a very tough slope made even more complicated by Mauro Pini's course, Petra Vlhova's coach, the 27-year-old transalpine, showed all her technical skills to get on the podium for the first time and immediately on the top step.
Her win in Lenzerheide also ended a long wait for France, whose last female Super G World Cup winner was Carole Montillet in 2004.
Although there was no Italian podium, Federica Brignone was the first Italian ever to win the Super-G World Cup. With the exit of Elena Curtoni, the success became arithmetic for Fede, and she goes down in history not only for the first Super-G title but also for being the first Italian to win three titles in 3 different disciplines (Giant, Alpine Combined and Super-G).
On the challenging Beltrametti slope, Mikaela Shiffrin, second at 38 hundredths from the winner, and the new Olympic champion Lara Gut Behrami, third at 88 hundredths, showed their technical skills.
Shiffrin finished 0.38 seconds behind France’s Romane Miradoli in first to earn her best result in the super-G discipline so far in the 21/22 season. Super-G Olympic gold medalist, Lara Gut-Behrami, finished third, 0.88 off the pace.
For the American champion, it was a crucial day, both in terms of spirit and for the Overall. With her second-place, she gained 80 points and she's now 67 ahead of Petra Vlhova in the race for the Big Globe.
“I tried not to think about everything else, just today, just the super-G skiing,” Shiffrin reflected after the race. “I got to the finish line, and thank gosh, I survived. After the last couple of weeks, I really appreciate this.”
Shiffrin DNFed in three technical events at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, more than she has throughout the last four seasons of her career on the World Cup circuit. In addition to battling the emotional tolls of her first major ‘failure’ on the world stage, the soon-to-be 27-year-old has been reconciling with her ability to move forward in her father Jeff’s absence and pursuing sport amidst war in Europe.
“It’s just been heavy,” she said. “Not just because of the Olympics, but of course, that’s a part of it. Everything has felt heavy on my mind and on my heart, and I’m just really grateful and lucky for the people around me that are always trying to stay positive and help me be positive and help me keep focusing on the sport that I love.”
There has been no lack of action in the men’s downhill races this season in Kvitfjell (NOR). With a tied 1st place finish between Cameron Alexander (CAN) and Niels Hintermann (SUI), the anticipation for today’s race was high.
The Olympiabakken track once again proved to be a fair course, where any man could punch their way into the top of the field no matter their starting position. Similar to Friday’s downhill competition, multiple racers snagged top 10 finishes from high bib numbers.
Olympic downhill champion, Beat Feuz (SUI), was leading the race until Norwegian, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde finished 0.26 seconds ahead of him. Sitting at the top of the leader board, Kilde was hoping that no one would surpass him, at it would’ve been his first downhill World Cup victory in Kvitfjell.
Unfortunately for Kilde, Dominik Paris (ITA) where bib 9 sped down the hill and finished 0.55 seconds ahead to claim the victory. It was the Italian’s third downhill victory in Kvitfjell making him the only men’s racer to have won more than twice on the hill. Paris had previously won the downhill race in Bormio earlier this season, but since was having trouble finding his feet. With today’s victory, he places himself back in the race for the downhill crystal globe with only the finals to be raced.
Dominik Paris skied back into the race for the overall FIS Downhill World Cup title with a perfectly timed return to winning form in Kvitfjell, Norway today, leading home a rare four-man podium. Here is all you need to know:
Italian Paris won his home race in Bormio earlier in the season, but has struggled to find his best form since then. He rectified that in Kvitfjell. Leaving the start hut ninth, Paris skied a perfect race to beat home favourite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde by 0.55-seconds, finishing with a time of 1m 43.92s.
This was Paris’s third downhill victory in Kvitfjell, making him the only male racer to have won more than twice on the mountain.
The timely victory also moves Paris right back in the race for the downhill crystal globe with only the finals in Courchevel, France, to be raced on March 16. He currently sits in fourth place on 482 points, but lays only four points behind third place Matthias Mayer and still within striking distance of the top spot, which is currently held by Kilde.
It has been a remarkable World Cup event so far for Hintermann as he claimed his first downhill World Cup victory yesterday. He had all eyes on him in today’s race to see if he would be able to claim back-to-back victories. Nonetheless, the Swiss skier didn’t have the legs needed to beat Paris’ time but managed to clock in the same time as Feuz. Both Swiss skiers finished in third with a time of 1:44.73. The last time two Swiss male skiers finished tied was when Carlo Janka and Beat Feuz finished 3rd in the downhill race in Lake Louise (CAN) back in 2019.
Finishing second, Kilde managed to hold onto his lead in the downhill World Cup standings, however, the battle is tight leading into the finals. Feuz is currently in 2nd, only 3 points behind the leader and Matthias Mayer (AUT) in third, 28 points behind the leader.
Today’s race also closes the chapter on one of the most legendary and iconic alpine racers, Kjetil Jansurd (NOR). After a long and very successful career, the Norwegian decided it was time to hang up his racing boots and focus on his next chapter. Click here to have further insight into Jansurd’s career.
