The Austrian Cornelia Hütter won her first Super-G of the season on Saturday in St. Moritz where the American champion Lindsey Vonn, 40, finished in a good fourteenth place for her comeback after five years of absence.
Hütter, who at 32 won the eighth victory of her career in the World Cup, was 18/100 ahead of the Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami (2nd) and 33/100 ahead of the Italian Sofia Goggia who won the first Super- G of the season, in Beaver Creek (United States) last Sunday. Two other Italians, Elena Curtoni and Federica Brignone, complete the Top 5.
But all eyes were on bib 31, the American star Lindsey Vonn, who is attempting a return to the highest level at the age of 40 after leaving the circuit in February 2019 at the World Championships in Are (Sweden), following numerous injuries.
In a first response to skeptics, the American with 82 World Cup victories, who underwent an operation in the spring to replace part of her right knee with a titanium prosthesis, succeeded in her race, finishing 14th at 1 sec 18/100th of Hütter.
Twenty years after her first World Cup victory, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion showed a broad smile as she received a standing ovation in the finish area.
Vonn will, however, still have to prove that her knee can hold up over time, and try to close the gap with the best current skiers.
Among them, Cornelia Hütter, already winner last weekend in the downhill at Beaver Creek. On Saturday, the 32-year-old Austrian took her revenge on Sofia Goggia (3rd), who won the Super-G in Colorado.
Olympic champion in the specialty and winner of the small globe in 2023-2024, Lara Gut-Behrami once again finished in 2nd place, as in Beaver Creek.
On the French side, the two best chances, Laura Gauché – first to start – and Romane Miradoli, fell.
Starting with a high bib (39), Camille Cerutti finished 23rd, 1 sec 95/100th behind Hütter, ahead of Karen Clément (31st at 2 sec 47/100th) and Loïs Abouly (44th at 3 sec 19).
