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Giant Slalom Rating and Overall World Cup: Check! 2 more crystal balls could follow for Lara Gut-Behrami. Federica Brignone won the day.
The ball decisions
Lara Gut-Behrami has probably never been as happy about her fourth place finish in her career as she was at the final giant slalom in Saalbach Hinterglemm. The Ticino woman thus definitely won the “giant” and at the same time the big crystal ball and thus ensured further Swiss moments of glory in alpine ski racing.
As 8th place after the 1st run, Gut-Behrami also left himself the necessary margin in the 2nd round and fulfilled the target with his head. 14th place would have been necessary, but it ended up being 10th place. After crossing the finish line, relief was the obvious dominant emotion. It is the first time since Sonja Nef in 2001/02 that the women’s discipline victory goes to Swiss-Ski.
The ball quadruple beckons
The starting position before the race was that if the last remaining competitor Federica Brignone won, 15th place would be enough for Gut-Behrami to win the giant slalom ball, 14th place would be enough for a definitive triumph in the overall World Cup, which seemed only a matter of time anyway. The best, most versatile driver of the winter easily jumped over these hurdles.
The 32-year-old can look back on a “huge” season of unprecedented consistency: 4 wins this season, 3 more podium places, until Saalbach never fell worse than 6th. Gut-Behrami is still on course to make history: as only the fourth athlete In addition to the big one, she could also win three small crystal balls in one season. Only Mikaela Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn and Tina Maze have achieved this so far. As the leader in downhill and super-G, the signs are good.
The podium
- 1. Federica Brignone (ITA) 2:20.05
- 2. Alice Robinson (NZL) +1.36 s
- 3. Thea Stjernesund (NOR) +1.67
Brignone was happy about the day’s victory on the Zwölferkogel. Gut-Behrami’s only real rival this winter did her homework conscientiously and drove to her 27th World Cup victory. But in the fight for the balls, the fact that she was in a league of her own and beat Alice Robinson in second place by 1.36 s didn’t help the Italian.
The other Swiss women
- 14. Michelle Gisin +3.68
- 15. Camille Rast +4.01
The other Swiss women missed a top result in the last giant slalom of the season. In the spring-like, soft snow, Michelle Gisin and Camille Rast each improved by one place in the decision and collected points.
This is how it continues
The World Cup year is coming to an end and the well-deserved holidays are coming up. The speed cracks still have to complete one last race weekend, if the spring temperatures allow it: If so, next week the Super-G on Friday and the downhill on Saturday will be the absolute end of the season.