Swiss ski champion Lara Gut-Behrami has made a triumphant return to winning, just ahead of next month’s world championships. In the final super-G before the World Championships, she clinched her first victory of the season, despite tough course conditions, while Lindsey Vonn finished 13th.
Gut-Behrami tackled the challenging turns in the middle section of the Kandahar course, earning her 46th career victory, which places her tied for fifth among all-time female winners. “It feels great,” said Gut-Behrami. “I’ve been skiing well for some time, but I was still missing something, so it’s wonderful to get the win.” She added, “The slope was tough, not ideal conditions for me—slippery and soft. But sometimes when the conditions aren’t perfect, you just stop overthinking.”
The World Championships will be held in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria from February 4 to 16, with the first individual race, the women’s super-G, scheduled for February 6.
Gut-Behrami, known for her technical precision, excelled in a particularly tricky section of the course that posed difficulties for many other competitors. This section included a jump followed by a sharp left turn, where Gut-Behrami showcased her skill and maintained a clean run.
Lara Gut-Behrami finished 0.35 seconds ahead of Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, who claimed her first super-G podium finish in Garmisch-Partenkirchen four years ago. Italy’s Federica Brignone took third, just three hundredths of a second behind, after winning the downhill on the same hill the day before.
Sofia Goggia, who was the runner-up to Brignone in Saturday’s race, came in fourth, followed by Italian teammates Laura Pirovano and Marta Bassino. The Italian team had an impressive showing, with four racers finishing in the top six.
American skier Keely Cashman earned a career-best result, sharing sixth place with Bassino. This achievement was particularly significant for Cashman, who had suffered severe brain and knee injuries in a traumatic downhill crash in 2021 on the same course. Reflecting on the incident, Cashman acknowledged that while it had been four years, the emotional impact was still present. This was only her second top-10 finish in 68 World Cup starts.
Keely Cashman shared her excitement about starting the race with a new mindset, aiming to achieve her personal best. Coming in sixth place, she felt great about the result, especially on a course like Garmisch, where she had previously suffered serious injuries.
Lindsey Vonn, who had missed her last two races, finished 13th, 1.4 seconds behind the leader, just behind her teammate Lauren Macuga. Vonn had skied out of Saturday’s downhill after missing a gate but avoided falling. She made her return to ski racing in December after nearly six years of retirement, now with a new titanium knee. Vonn also shared that she plans to retire once again after next year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Meanwhile, Lara Gut-Behrami, the defending overall World Cup champion, had a slow start to the season after missing the opening race in October. She struggled initially but managed to find her confidence and pushed herself forward. Despite the rough beginning, Gut-Behrami went on to rack up three second-place finishes in Super-G before securing her first win of the season on Sunday. Reflecting on her journey, she noted that it was a challenging start, but regaining confidence and finding her rhythm on the skis was key to her success.
Last year, Gut-Behrami overtook Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall standings after Shiffrin was sidelined with a knee injury.
Lara Gut-Behrami has now won at least one World Cup race in 11 of the last 12 seasons, with the 2018-19 season being the only exception. Her victory has brought her to within 70 points of overall season leader Federica Brignone.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who has been sidelined for two months due to an abdominal injury requiring surgery, is expected to return to racing in a night slalom in France on Thursday. This will be the final women’s race before the World Championships.
Sunday’s race saw a 15-minute delay at the start as organizers needed extra time to prepare the course after overnight snowfall and rain.
Ariane Raedler, the Austrian skier, experienced a hard fall when she lost her balance on a patch of softer snow after coming off the course. Fortunately, she quickly got up and seemed to have avoided any serious injuries.
