Malorie Blanc’s sensational debut
At 34 years old, Brignone let out her joy and relief when she saw her lead at the finish but she was worried until the end by the young Swiss Malorie Blanc (21 years old), part number 46 and finally second to seven small hundredths for his second World Cup start. At 21, Malorie Blanc is the reigning Super-G world champion and vice-champion in junior downhill.
The Czech Ester Ledecka completes the podium (+18/100th). “It wasn’t easy today, I didn’t do the perfect run and the snow was difficult to ski, it was more like surfing than skiing,” commented Brignone. “But I tried to be relaxed and aggressive at the same time and I’m very proud of the result.”
“A good start” for Vonn
Behind the favorites, the public impatiently awaited the American superstar Lindsey Vonn, returning to the world circuit at the age of 40 and after almost six years of retirement. The American with 82 World Cup successes, eight world medals and three Olympic podiums, had already made a successful comeback last month by taking 14th place in the super-G in St. Moritz.
For the first race of her new career, she was delighted with her “great sensations” and the absence of discomfort or pain in her right knee, partially replaced in April by a titanium prosthesis. In Sankt Anton, she confirmed her thunderous return among the best by taking sixth place in the downhill, by far her favorite discipline. The spectators even believed for a time that the American was going to succeed in securing a podium: she first made up time on Brignone at the start of the course before letting the podium slip away at the end of the course.
“I love being back at the start, I feel a little more comfortable and confident in downhill than in super-G and I knew this track well,” said Vonn, very satisfied. “I still made a few mistakes but I think for a first downhill in six years it’s a good start, I wasn’t far from the podium. » Before starting, Vonn wrote on Instagram that she was having trouble getting into the race, tormented by the deadly fires in Los Angeles where she has a home.
“The start of my first descent in six years will take place tomorrow,” she wrote on Friday. “But with so many friends suffering in Los Angeles with their homes burning down, it’s honestly hard to stay focused.”
“My house was in the evacuation zone and just thinking that I could lose it was already difficult. I can only imagine what the people who have lost everything must be feeling,” she added, while the violent fires left at least eleven dead. She continues on Sunday with a super-G, still in Sankt Anton.
