An Austrian in form, an unsinkable legend: the super-G of Saint-Moritz offered a double sensation on Saturday, with the victory of the Austrian Cornelia Hütter and the very good 14th place of the American Lindsey Vonn, for her return to World Cup at 40, after almost six years of absence. Among the favorites, the speed queens already in sight last week at Beaver Creek kept their promises: Hütter, already crowned in downhill in Colorado, achieved her eighth success on the world circuit, the first in the resort grays. Very clean on a tricky course, the holder of the downhill globe supplanted the Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami by 18/100th: victorious in the general classification and the globe of the discipline last year, the Ticino paid a small mistake before approach the bottom of the Engiadina. The Italian Sofia Goggia, who won the Beaver Creek super-G on Sunday upon her return from injury (double tibia-malleolus fracture in training on February 5), completes the podium at 33/100th after a race that was wiser than 'as usual.
“A first step” for Vonn
In the general ranking, which is very fluid at the start of the season, the three skiers fall respectively to 2nd place for Hütter, 37 points behind the Swiss Camille Rast, and to 4th tied for Gut-Behrami and Goggia, before the 2nd super-G Sunday.
But while the atmosphere usually calms down after the first fifteen bibs, the Grisons public was in turmoil at the announcement of bib 31: the American Lindsey Vonn, who left the world circuit in February 2019 after the World Championships. 'Are (Sweden) and chose St. Moritz to make his return.
The “Speed Queen” with 82 World Cup successes, eight world medals and three Olympic podiums, attacked Engiadina too cautiously to get involved in the fight for victory (56th time in the first section), but scored a fine 14th. place 1 sec 18 from Hütter.
“This is the first step,” commented Vonn, all smiles under her famous double-pompom hat, explaining that she had mainly sought “to reach the finish line” with a “solid result”.
“Today, I didn't take any risks at all, I just went down quietly and that's all I needed,” she said, after being cheered for a long time.
“Phenomenal class”, greets Goggia
At 40, she was especially delighted by her “great sensations” and the absence of discomfort or pain in her right knee, partially replaced in April by a titanium prosthesis.
On the second (4th time) and the last (5th time) sections of the track, the American legend showed that she could already compete with the best, while waiting to fully regain her marks at a high level.
Praising her “phenomenal class”, Sofia Goggia came to join her in the mixed zone to congratulate her: “With all the injuries we suffered during our careers, we can just say one thing: we must rejoice every day to be able to be on skis,” said the Bergamo woman, hugging Vonn.
The reigning Olympic downhill champion, Switzerland's Corinne Suter, also welcomed Vonn's return: “We were often in contact. She also wrote to me just after the accident (her serious injury to her left knee in January, editor's note) and she was very positive […] She hasn’t changed,” said the skier, 10th on Saturday.
On the French side, the two best chances had to abandon: Laura Gauché, first to start, fell spectacularly just before the finish, and Romane Miradoli missed a gate.
