SOLDEU, Andorra (AP) — Emma Aicher dominated the first women’s super-G since the Olympics to earn her fifth career World Cup win Saturday as the fight for the season discipline title got fresh impetus.
The German allrounder posted the fastest split times in the first two sections of the Aliga course and became the first skier with multiple super-G wins this season.
“Feels pretty good, to be honest. I had really fun skiing today,” said Aicher, who won silver medals in the downhill and the team combined but didn’t finish the super-G at the Milan Cortina Games this month.
Aicher finished 0.88 seconds ahead of Alice Robinson of New Zealand. Robinson closed the gap to World Cup super-G leader Sofia Goggia to 20 points with three events left, including one on Sunday on the same hill.
The Italian came 1.32 seconds behind Aicher in sixth.
Robinson, who won the season-opening super-G in Switzerland last December, said she felt “really proud of myself for getting the most out of the sections I knew I could ski fast. It's really nice to be back on the podium."
Corinne Suter, who won Friday’s downhill, trailed by 0.98 in third and was the last skier to finish within a second of Aicher’s winning time.
Racing in perfect sunny conditions, Aicher had a near-flawless run on the challenging course, where only 37 of the 55 starters managed to complete their run.
Aicher celebrated by pumping her fist after crossing the finish line with a commanding lead, and said she was surprised by her huge advantage of nearly nine-tenths of a second.
“It felt good at the top, the flat part. The steep part, the super-G part where the turns were, I mean, it was OK but not ideal,” said the German, whose win saw her overtake Lindsey Vonn into third place in the super-G standings, 96 points behind Goggia.
Vonn is out since badly injuring her left leg in a frightening crash in the Olympic downhill.
Two-time Olympic champion Federica Brignone was more than two seconds off the lead.
The Italian, who returned from a broken left leg just before the Milan Cortina Games and then won gold in super-G and giant slalom, skipped Friday’s downhill and seemed to struggle with landing the many jumps in the course.
Saturday's race was interrupted following a nasty crash from Ricarda Haaser, who was transported off the hill on a rescue sled. The Austrian ski federation said Haaser fractured the tibial plateau in her left knee and was set to travel back to Austria on Saturday for treatment.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing