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Gut wins season opener super-G at Lake Louise
Lake Louise, Canada – Switzerland's Lara Gut edged USA's Lindsey Vonn on Sunday to win the first World Cup super-G race of the season. The Swiss skier won her career 7th super-G race in a time of 1:18.46. Vonn crossed the finished line 0.37 seconds behind. Joining them on the podium was Slovenia's Tina Maze, 0.81 seconds back of the winner.
Gut won last year's super-G in Lake Louise as well as the last two super-G races of last season, making it three in a row with today's victory. The last woman to win three successive super-G races is Lindsey Vonn in 2011.
“It is the first time I am able to win at the same place twice”, said Lara Gut. “It is funny that it happened in Lake Louise.”
“The course set was kind of straight. You had to risk it all. Once in the finish area, when I saw the good lead I had, I thought this was cool.”
After an outstanding performance in Saturday's downhill Lindsey Vonn confessed she didn't know what to expect for the super-G race, considering the lack of training. Her second place in the super- G concluded a very impressive comeback week onto the World Cup tour.
“I felt I was skiing aggressively and felt I was pretty clean on the top”, explained Vonn. “Obviously my timing wasn't quite right. I was a little bit late on some turns, late with my pressure and got wide.”
Only 0.15 seconds off Lara Gut's best pace after the last split, the 30-year-old, who is known as an excellent glider and finisher, didn't manage to make up the time on the final and flat section.
“I think I carried a pretty good speed onto the flats, but again on the flats my timing was a little bit off in a couple gates”, she confessed. “For all the mistakes, I am exceptionally happy with the second place. It was a solid day and overall it's been a phenomenal weekend.”
Winner of the super-G globe in the season 2013/14, Tina Maze landed the 13th podium of her career on Sunday. The two podium finishes of the week were her first ones in Lake Louise.
“I am really happy about my week”, she said. “My skiing is great, although I didn't give it all today. I took a lot of risk in the downhill race yesterday and was a little bit calmer today.”
“I was sure my performance, coming down the course, was not going to be enough to win. I had a the feeling that there was much more to do on the hill, but I didn't manage to do that. I should have attacked a lot more, it was actually easier that I thought it would be.”
After an intense and long week of speed, Tina Maze now leads the World Cup overall standings with 380 points, followed by Austria's Anna Fenninger (263) and Kathrin Zettel (250). Lindsey Vonn sits in fourth with 212 points.
The ladies will now go back to Europe for two technical events rescheduled in Are (SWE) after the races in Courchevel were cancelled.
Gut won last year's super-G in Lake Louise as well as the last two super-G races of last season, making it three in a row with today's victory. The last woman to win three successive super-G races is Lindsey Vonn in 2011.
“It is the first time I am able to win at the same place twice”, said Lara Gut. “It is funny that it happened in Lake Louise.”
“The course set was kind of straight. You had to risk it all. Once in the finish area, when I saw the good lead I had, I thought this was cool.”
After an outstanding performance in Saturday's downhill Lindsey Vonn confessed she didn't know what to expect for the super-G race, considering the lack of training. Her second place in the super- G concluded a very impressive comeback week onto the World Cup tour.
“I felt I was skiing aggressively and felt I was pretty clean on the top”, explained Vonn. “Obviously my timing wasn't quite right. I was a little bit late on some turns, late with my pressure and got wide.”
Only 0.15 seconds off Lara Gut's best pace after the last split, the 30-year-old, who is known as an excellent glider and finisher, didn't manage to make up the time on the final and flat section.
“I think I carried a pretty good speed onto the flats, but again on the flats my timing was a little bit off in a couple gates”, she confessed. “For all the mistakes, I am exceptionally happy with the second place. It was a solid day and overall it's been a phenomenal weekend.”
Winner of the super-G globe in the season 2013/14, Tina Maze landed the 13th podium of her career on Sunday. The two podium finishes of the week were her first ones in Lake Louise.
“I am really happy about my week”, she said. “My skiing is great, although I didn't give it all today. I took a lot of risk in the downhill race yesterday and was a little bit calmer today.”
“I was sure my performance, coming down the course, was not going to be enough to win. I had a the feeling that there was much more to do on the hill, but I didn't manage to do that. I should have attacked a lot more, it was actually easier that I thought it would be.”
After an intense and long week of speed, Tina Maze now leads the World Cup overall standings with 380 points, followed by Austria's Anna Fenninger (263) and Kathrin Zettel (250). Lindsey Vonn sits in fourth with 212 points.
The ladies will now go back to Europe for two technical events rescheduled in Are (SWE) after the races in Courchevel were cancelled.
Source: fis-ski.com
