Brignone closes gap on super-G leader Gut-Behrami in race won by Germany’s Aicher

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LA THUILE, Italy (AP) — Federica Brignone closed the gap to leader Lara Gut-Behrami in the World Cup super-G standings to 45 points in a race on a shortened course won by German prodigy Emma Aicher on Thursday.

Earning her second career win, Aicher edged Sofia Goggia by 0.06 seconds.

Racing close to her Italian hometown in the Aosta Valley, Brignone had a wild ride to finish third, 0.39 behind Aicher but 0.08 ahead of fourth-placed Gut-Behrami.

Lauren Macuga, the American bronze medalist from last month’s world championships, was 0.55 back in fifth.

Val Grenier, of St. Isidore, Ont., finished 23rd.

Brignone almost lost her balance early on but got upright again using her left hand in the snow, then hooked a gate with her right arm later.

The Italian was seen cooling her right hand with ice in the finish area.

“I wanted too much … in front of my crowd,” said Brignone, who knew she “had no speed” after her near-fall.

“I tried even harder to go wild. And, actually, the mistake with the gate, it went really good because it could have been really worse for me. I don’t know how I didn’t crash.”

Gut-Behrami still led Brignone at the final split but lost 0.17 on the Italian in the finish section.

The Swiss standout criticized organisers for staging the race on a softened course after days of heavy snowfall.

“Everyone is just trying to have a race, the condition doesn’t matter or how the slope is. In the end, not the best race to watch and not the best race to ski,” Gut-Behrami said.

“Sometimes it’s a little bit hypocrite, because everyone is talking about safety and then we race in these conditions.”

Two super-Gs remaining

There are two super-Gs remaining this season: One on Friday, followed by the season-ending race at the finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, on March 23. A race win is worth 100 points.

Gut-Behrami has won five career World Cup super-G season titles, including three of the last four in a series interrupted only by Brignone in 2022.

Brignone, who is close to wrapping up her second career overall World Cup title, has finished in the top five in the last 16 World Cup races she completed, though she had two DNFs in giant slaloms in that period.

Lindsey Vonn fell early in her run but appeared unhurt. The American lost balance on her inside ski in a left turn, slid through a gate and lost her left ski, but stood up after a few seconds and later skied down the hill.

Vonn returned to World Cup racing this season at 40 with a titanium knee after six years away from the circuit.

Aicher’s victory came less than two weeks after the all-event skier triumphed in a downhill in Norway.

Aicher had only one previous top-10 finish in a super-G this season, and her win on Thursday was the first for a German skier in a super-G in six years.

“Better than I thought it was going to be,” Aicher said about her season.

The German was the third starter in the race and said she benefited from racing early.

“I was a bit lucky with the bib, because it’s dark and soft and slow now,” Aicher said. “The bib was a big help today.”

Downhill canceled

A downhill race initially scheduled for Thursday was canceled after the mandatory training runs could not be held as the upper part of the 3 Franco Berthod course was unusable following the snowfall.

The super-G used a reserve start point lower down the mountain, reducing run times to around 58 seconds for the fastest racers.

The race was interrupted for half an hour after Brignone’s run as a course worker needed medical attention and was lifted off the hill by helicopter.

Cornelia Huetter had a nasty tumble when her left ski seemed to catch a bump, causing the Austrian to twist around, lose balance and slide into the safety netting. Huetter, who is the defending World Cup downhill champion, got up quickly and seemed to have avoided injury.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing