North America triumphs in World Cup races
Canadian skier Emily Brydon has won the World Cup super-G in the Swiss resort of St Moritz, ahead of two Austrians.
There were no podiums for the Swiss on Sunday, with young talent Lara Gut saving the day for the women with a fifth place. In Val d’Isère, the best male skier, Daniel Albrecht only finished seventh in the super-combi race behind American Bode Miller.
Brydon, who had six podium places behind her in seven World Cup seasons, made the best of her speed skills on the lower part of the piste to win in 1:17.39 seconds.
“It’s like a dream I’ve had for years,” Brydon said. “I just let the skies go and I tried to create as much speed as possible.”
With this win, she was able to put behind her some of the frustration of coming fourth in Saturday’s downhill after dominating the training sessions.
The Canadian, whose career was interrupted by a terrible crash in the Austrian resort of St Anton in 2001, beat Elisabeth Goergl and Renate Goetschl, the defending super-G World Cup champion.
Goergl, winner of her first World Cup race in a giant slalom in Slovenia last month, was 0.25 seconds behind Brydon. Goetschl was a further 0.04 seconds off the pace.
Gut was once again the highlight for her team, the only Swiss to finish in the top ten and 0.09 seconds from a second straight podium finished. On Saturday, the 16-year-old managed a promising third place in her first World Cup downhill.
The teenager was in the hunt for much of the race, in what was only her third speed event at this level. Before the final section of the course, she was still 0.03 seconds ahead of Brydon
The rest of the Swiss team was less efficient despite having the advantage of skiing in front of a home crowd. Martina Schild finished 12th as she continues her comeback from a knee injury sustained in December.
Nadia Styger crossed the line in 14th position, while Monika Dumermuth managed to finish 19th ahead of Fränzi Aufdenblatten (20th) and Fabienne Suter (26th).
Miller dominates
In the French resort of Val d’Isère, the Swiss men were off the pace in the super-combi race, an event that combines the times from a short downhill and one leg of slalom.
Miller showed no mercy to win the event in a demonstration of his all-round skills. The American set up his victory in the downhill section, leaving his closest rival, Switzerland’s Didier Defago, more than 1.50 seconds behind.
Taking no risks in the slalom, he finally finished 0.38 seconds ahead of Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic.
Miller was sure to win the World Cup super-combi title after French rival Jean-Baptiste Grange failed earlier to finish his slalom run.
The best Swiss on the day was finally Albrecht in seventh place, ahead of Carlo Janka (eighth), Marc Berthod (11th), Défago (12th) and Didier Cuche (27th).
swissinfo with agencies
1. Emily Brydon (Canada) 1 minute, 17.39 seconds
2. Elisabeth Goergl (Austria) 1:17.64
3. Renate Goetschl (Austria) 1:17.68
4. Lindsey Vonn (United States) 1:17.69
5. Lara Gut (Switzerland) 1:17.77
6. Nicole Hosp (Austria) 1:17.80
7. Maria Riesch (Germany) 1:17.93
8. Andrea Fischbacher (Austria) 1:18.09
9. Kelly Vanderbeek (Canada) 1:18.15
10. Anja Paerson (Sweden) 1:18.19
1. Bode Miller (United States) 2:18.45
2. Ivica Kostelic (Croatia) 2:18.83
3. Natko Zrncic-Dim (Croatia) 2:19.44
4. Rainer Schoenfelder (Austria) 2:19.54
5. Ales Gorza (Slovenia) 2:19.63
6. Benjamin Raich (Austria) 2:19.74
7. Daniel Albrecht (Switzerland) 2:19.78
8. Carlo Janka (Switzerland) 2:19.81
9. Julien Lizeroux (France) 2:20.19
10. Mario Scheiber (Austria) 2:20.24
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