No one is better than Gut in super-G

Lara Gut Behrami (SUI) earned the victory in today’s Audi FIS World Cup super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen by a clear 0.68 margin.

It was fourth straight podium for Gut-Behrami and her third straight super-G victory. The win brought her career total victory tally to 29. The victory pulled Gut Behrami into second place in the overall World Cup standings behind Petra Vlhova. She now also has a commanding lead in the super-G season standings with a 140-point advantage over teammate Corrine Suter.

While it was a familiar face topping the podium the other two places went to big surprises. Making her debut in the top-three after 45 World Cup starts was Norwegian Kajska Vickhoff Lie, who put down a fast time as the second racer down the course, the nearly withstood the entire field. Lie is having a strong season after she earned her only other career top-five finish earlier this season in the Val d’Isere downhill.

The second surprise of the day came late in the race as veteran Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon, knocked Sofia Goggia off the podium wearing bib 29. It was the first career podium for Gagnon in the super-G and just the fifth of her career. The last time she landed in the top three was in the combined in Soldeu in 2016. Gagnon was 0.93 off the winning pace, edging Goggia by 0.07 seconds for the final podium place.

Soggy weather throughout much of central Europe wreaked havoc with the Garmisch organizers. A combination of rain and heavy, wet snow made it impossible to hold a downhill training the last two days, therefore today’s planned downhill was switched to a super-G. Today, slightly better conditions greeted the racers, but the weather was still less than ideal.

Tomorrow, a second super-G is on the schedule with the biggest question being: Can anyone top Gut Behrami, or will she make it four-in-a-row?