Large ball with a special touch
“Old Lady” Gut-Behrami races towards a rare four-pack
March 17, 2024, 1:27 p.m
Olympic champion Lara Gut-Behrami writes ski history with her second triumph in the overall World Cup and her first small crystal ball in the giant slalom. The Swiss woman was crowned the oldest winner of the big crystal ball at the World Cup final six weeks before her 33rd birthday
The Swiss ski racer Lara Gut-Behrami won the overall World Cup early. A 10th place in the giant slalom in Saalbach-Hinterglemm was enough for the 32-year-old to mathematically secure the big crystal ball. In addition, the athlete also won the discipline ranking in the giant slalom – in downhill and super-G, Gut-Behrami can even put together a historic four-pack of balls next weekend. The “Old Lady” Gut-Behrami is now the oldest winner of the big crystal ball.
Only Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn (both USA) and Tina Maze (Slovenia) won four balls in one winter. “That’s unbelievable, I was really very nervous, I really wanted to do it,” said Gut-Behrami: “I skied so badly, but sometimes you have to be on the safe side.”
The last remaining rival in the battle for the ratings was Federica Brignone in Austria. She won the giant slalom ahead of Alice Robinson from New Zealand (+1.36 seconds) and Thea Louise Stjernesund from Norway (+1.67). In the end it wasn’t enough for the Italian to intercept Gut-Behrami. Given the deficit in the overall and discipline World Cup, the Italian had hardly expected any chance of winning the coup before the season finale.
The only German starter, Lena Dürr, came in 21st place. “I really haven’t trained much in the giant slalom, so it’s really a task down there,” she said. Nevertheless, it was “fun” on the 2025 World Cup slope: “The slopes are great, they have it all.”
Meanwhile, Gut-Behrami crowned a strong season with her second overall World Cup after 2016. The Swiss consistently scored points in four disciplines and also benefited from the injury absence of top favorite Mikaela Shiffrin in recent weeks. The American missed several races in which Gut-Behrami overtook her in the overall standings. Shiffrin recently got fit again and promptly won the slaloms in Are last week and in Saalbach on Saturday. She then skipped the giant slalom a day later and will not take part in the final two speed races next weekend.