Mikaela Shiffrin wins her third super-G of the season
Jan 20, 2019·Alpine Skiing
Mikaela Shiffrin maintained her perfect record in super-G races entered in the 2018/19 season on Sunday as she claimed her third victory in the discipline at Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA). The World Cup Overall leader skipped the Val Gardena/Gröden race but has accumulated 300 points in all other super-Gs contested thus far and holds the discipline standings lead as well.
The American bested Tina Weirather by 0.16 seconds as the Liechtensteiner picked up her third podium finish of the winter. Austria's Tamara Tippler, who last stood on a World Cup podium in 2016, rounded out the top three in third place.
Sunshine and ideal racing weather greeted the skiers, but many big names encountered difficulty on the track and did not complete the run. There were several locations along the course that dashed the efforts of Ilka Stuhec, Lara Gut-Behrami, Lindsey Vonn, Ramona Siebenhofer, Michelle Gisin, and a number of others. Kajsa Vickhoff Lie made the most noteworthy move of the day from bib 35 into a tie for seventh place with her teammate Ragnhild Mowinckel – a career-best result and first top 10 for the young Norwegian born in 1998. Canadian Valerie Grenier also skied to a career-best finish in fourth place, just 0.30 seconds from the podium.
Lindsey Vonn ended up off course after carrying a low line and punching through a panel. She was emotional in the finish area and told reporters that this might have been her final World Cup race due to the pain she currently has while skiing.
The race weekend in Cortina marked a key milestone for the 2021 FIS Alpine World Ski Chmapionships, which the Dolomite resort will host. After more than two years of construction, it was the first time that the new finish area was used for the Audi FIS World Cup races. The bigger finish area drew rave reviews from athletes, media, teams and specatators alike.
The ladies' tour moves on to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) for more speed races 26-27th January 2019.
See complete results from today's race here.
