Swiss Gut wins season-opening GS in Soelden
Print Edition
Switzerland’s Lara Gut won the World Cup season-opening giant slalom race in Soelden yesterday, taking her first ever victory in the discipline.
Gut, who led after the first run, finished with a total time of 2 minutes, 25.16 seconds, ahead of Austria’s Kathrin Zettel at 2:26.00 and German Viktoria Rebensburg at 2:26.44.
“It’s the first race of the season and already a win, it’s amazing. I’m happy to bring a giant slalom win to Switzerland again,” she said.
The 22-year-old’s best result in the World Cup giant slalom so far had been third places in Semmering in 2008 and in Lenzerheide in March. Her three World Cup wins had been in the speed disciplines, in the downhill and super-G.
“The last years I was used to skiing fast but I was also used to making a lot of mistakes. In training this summer we really practiced skiing clean and this is what I did in the first run, just try to ski clean and push to the limit.”
Gut’s nearest rival Zettel, who came second here last year, took her fifth podium in Soelden, where she won in 2008. Rebensburg won here two years later.
“I’m really happy today with second place, it’s quite a good beginning to the season,” said 2009 super-combined world champion Zettel.
For Olympic champion Rebensburg, a podium place was not even a goal
“It’s a tough course, tough snow and pretty steep. And it’s the first race of the season so nobody knows where they stand,” said the 24-year-old. “I didn’t really have any expectation of a result, I just wanted to ski good and to have fun.”
The overwhelming favorite to win yesterday, giant slalom and overall World Cup winner Tina Maze of Slovenia, produced a rare poor performance, finishing 18th, 3.05 seconds behind Gut.
Maze won here last year and had been chasing a record fourth win in Soelden.
On the other hand, young American star Mikaela Shiffrin — who broke through last season, winning the slalom crystal globe and world championship title — impressed with two smooth runs, to finish sixth.
Her compatriot and four-time overall champion Lindsey Vonn, Maze’s biggest rival, sat out the first race in Austria following a knee injury suffered in a horrid fall at the world championships in February.
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