SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria: Lara Gut-Behrami has accomplished half of her mission to win 4 crystal globes this Alpine snowboarding World Cup season.
And the Swiss star hasn’t even needed to present her finest snowboarding but.
Gut-Behrami secured the general and big slalom titles Sunday after ending 10th within the GS on the World Cup finals.
Her solely remaining challenger in each classifications, Federica Brignone, received the race however that was not sufficient for the Italian, who may solely overtake Gut-Behrami if the Swiss star had completed exterior the highest 15 and failed to attain factors.
“It’s unbelievable, the GS has always been so important to me,” stated Gut-Behrami. “I always knew, if I’m skiing fast in GS, then I’m skiing fast also in super-G and downhill.”
Gut-Behrami grew to become the primary feminine skier from Switzerland since Sonja Nef in 2002 to win the enormous slalom title, although she received the world title within the self-discipline in 2021.
“To win a globe 22 years after Sonja Nef, to keep like the tradition we have, such an amazing tradition of skiing in Switzerland, so I’m also proud about that,” stated Gut-Behrami. “I was really nervous today, because I really wanted to win that. I skied so bad, I was just nervous, so I’m not surprised about that.”
Gut-Behrami is a powerful favourite so as to add the season titles in tremendous-G and downhill subsequent week, which might make her the fourth feminine skier to win 4 classifications in a single season, after Lindsey Vonn, Tina Maze and, most not too long ago, Mikaela Shiffrin achieved the feat.
On Sunday, Gut-Behrami prevented dangers in each runs, posting solely the eighth and seventeenth quickest instances.
“What would you do? I learned that sometimes you just have to stay safe, try to cross the finish line,” she stated. “Of course, not the best way to end the GS season talking about skiing, but is the best way to end the season with a globe.”
It’s the second general championship for Gut-Behrami after profitable it in 2016, the final 12 months earlier than Shiffrin’s reign began.
A 5-time general champion, Shiffrin received the title the final two years and led the standings once more this season, however the American dropped out of the race when she sustained a knee damage in a crash throughout a downhill in Italy in January.
Shiffrin ended her season Saturday after profitable her second straight race after her six-week layoff.
Gut-Behrami handed Shiffrin after profitable a GS in Andorra in February earlier than crowning a constant season during which she has had eight wins and completed exterior the highest six simply 4 instances.
Gut-Behrami, who turns 33 subsequent month, is the oldest general champion and solely the second skier to win the game’s largest prize in her 30s, after fellow Swiss standout Vreni Schneider, who was 30 when she received the final or her three general titles in 1994-95.
Brignone dominated the season-ending occasion, profitable it by an enormous 1.36 seconds from Alice Robinson of New Zealand. Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway was 1.67 behind in third.
“(Winning the race) was my focus for today,” stated Brignone after her twelfth profession GS win and twenty seventh general. “I gave everything. In the second run I had a big mistake so I thought it was gone, but it was wonderful.”
The subsequent ladies’s race on the finals is the tremendous-G on Friday.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
