Brignone wins second St Moritz super-G, Gut-Behrami crashes
St. Moritz (Switzerland) (AFP) – Italy's Federica Brignone edged teammate Elena Curtoni to win the second of two World Cup super-G races in St Moritz on Sunday as Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami crashed out.
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Olympic giant slalom bronze medallist Brignone topped speeds of 97km/h (60mph) as she clocked 57.81 seconds down the Engiadina course on a track shortened because of high winds.
It was the 31-year-old's 17th victory on the World Cup circuit and fifth in the super-G.
Curtoni was 0.11sec off Brignone's pace, while American Mikaela Shiffrin followed up on Saturday's podium showing with another third-place finish 0.32sec adrift.
Late starter Alice Robinson of New Zealand grabbed fourth (+0.52sec), just ahead of Austrian Ramona Siebenhofer.
In a remarkable day's skiing for Italy, Saturday's second-placed finisher Sofia Goggia, Marta Bassino and Francesca Marsaglia ensured five Italian skiers in the top nine.
There was early drama, however, as the winner on Saturday and home favourite Gut-Behrami suffered a heavy crash.
Leading the interval timings at the time, the Swiss skier skidded through two sets of safety netting.
After a lengthy period of on-piste treatment, Gut-Behrami was able to stand and walk away.
The weekend's racing was an unclassified success for Shiffrin in particular, the American slalom specialist honing her speed event skills in perfect timing ahead of February's Beijing Winter Olympics.
The four-time world slalom champion and double Olympic gold medallist won bronze in the super-G in the world championships in February this year and has said she wants to try to win more speed events this season.
Her two third-placed finishes see Shiffrin consolidate her place atop the overall standings on 525 points with Goggia in second on 435.
Shiffrin's slalom arch-rival Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, who opted out of St Moritz, lies third on 340 points.
© 2021 AFP