St-Anton: Colossal surprise from a young Valaisanne, 2nd with bib 46!

Amazing Malorie White! The 21-year-old Valaisanne took 2nd place in the St-Anton downhill, just 0”07 behind Federica Brignone.

We imagined the race completed and the podium completed. We thought it wasn’t Swiss women’s day in Austria. And then Malorie Blanc arrived with her bib 46. Third in the training alone, the Valaisanne who has just celebrated her 21st birthday had proven that she was at ease on this track, but from there to be confirmed in the race, there was a certain milestone to cross.

Without complexes, Malorie Blanc skied almost perfectly. She even allowed herself the luxury of setting the best time in the third sector. In the lead, she lost a bit of time at the end to finish just 0”07 behind Federica Brignone. Unreal. But not completely unexpected for this talent, junior world champion in Super-G last year and 2nd in the downhill.

Lara Gut-Behrami, one mistake too many

A mistake, a turn too wide and Lara Gut-Behrami (13th at 0”87) was able to say goodbye to a good result. The most frustrating thing for the Ticino woman was that she had bib number 11 and therefore saw that this passage had caused problems for a few competitors before her.

Without this fault, the skier from Comano would certainly have been able to claim a place on the podium and therefore follow the winner of the day Federica Brignone. The athlete from Val d’Aosta won the first downhill of his brilliant career and his 30th World Cup success. Behind Brignone and White, we find the Czech Ester Ledecka just 0”18 behind.

Fountain of Youth

And what about Lindsey Vonn’s extraordinary 6th place. At 40, the American proves that she is one of the legends of her sport. And even with a knee prosthesis, the “Speed ​​Queen” impressed with tight trajectories. In the end, it was only at the end that she lost 0”38. She finished 0”40 from the podium.

The overall result of the Swiss is correct, but nothing more. Corinne Suter took 15th place, also making a mistake in the same place as her compatriot. Michelle Gisin is still looking for herself with her 21st rank. The young guard seems to be pushing since Janine Schmitt finished 19th.

Both Delia Durrer (35th), Stephanie Jenal (36th), Jasmina Suter (37th) and Joana Hählen (38th) fell outside the top 30 and therefore did not score points.

Also note the exit of Sofia Goggia, guilty of a fault on the inside just before the “Eisfall”.