Gut won the first of two downhills at La Thuile on Friday, when Vonn fell, with Nadia Fanchini of Italy taking Saturday’s race.
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Vail’s Lindsey Vonn held onto her slim overall World Cup lead over Switzerland’s Lara Gut on Sunday, finishing third in a soft and sketchy super-G at La Thuile, Italy behind Gut in second and victor Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein.
And completing the podium was Vonn as the American – fresh from securing a record 20th crystal globe 24 hours earlier – was 0.64 off the pace. Vonn now leads the chase for her American record fifth overall title 1,200 points to 1,177 for Gut – a mere 23-point margin heading into the final month of racing.
After her right ski came off on a sharp turn and she slid out of the race, Vonn posted a video on Facebook showing her attacking the broken ski with a hammer.
“There’s a lot of jokes out now, but I did it to myself”, Vonn said, laughing, NBC Sports reports.
“Also, the snow changed a lot and you know, I was really disappointed after yesterday, so I just kind of pushed the reset button and just tried it from new, and I think that worked well”. “Can’t believe it!!!! Thanks to everyone who helped get me here!”
With bright sunshine, a crowd of almost 10,000 showed up, many of them young children clamoring for autographs, and Vonn and the other top skiers had to be escorted off the mountain by police officers on skis. There were so many kids and I love that.
“I made a mistake and everyone does that”. And I think it’s good that I don’t focus on it now because it’s something to distract my mind.
While Gut said she would travel to Sweden, Vonn was considering skipping the event over concern about a jump on the temporary course – potentially giving up points to her Swiss rival. The alpine skiing world cup’s parallel slalom will take place under lights, all but ensuring a spectacular event according to our expert Franck Piccard.
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The women’s circuit then travels to Soldeu, Andorra, for a super-G and Alpine combined next weekend.
