'It's unbelievable': Gut-Behrami wins in Sun Valley to clinch record sixth Super G globe

Before the final speed showdown of the season, newly crowned Overall champion Federica Brignone (ITA/Rossignol) called Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI/Head) the best Super G skier she has ever seen.

On Sunday's evidence, which delivered a record sixth Super G globe for the Swiss star at the expense of her Italian rival, Brignone was more right than she had hoped to be.

Gut-Behrami produced one of the greatest performances in a glittering career at the World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, destroying the field to win by 1.29 seconds and overtake Brignone for the Super G title.

Trailing the Italian by five points in the discipline standings entering the contest after a difficult season, Gut-Behrami put down a masterclass from start to finish to win her 47th World Cup race and 24th in Super G.

The only woman to have won more often in Super G, Lindsey Vonn (USA/Head, 28 victories), came second at age 40 for the first podium of her comeback, with Brignone in third to complete a star-studded top trio.

Gut-Behrami's record sixth Super G globe broke a tie with Vonn, Katja Seizinger (GER), Aksel Lund Svindal (NOR) and Hermann Maier (AUT), but it's not trophies that she has been seeking this season.

After a dominant campaign a year ago that produced three Crystal Globes, Gut-Behrami had managed only one win before Sunday in a 2024/25 season in which she has had trouble finding joy in her craft — until now.

"Since I'm here (in Sun Valley) I finally found the happiness again of skiing, so it was just fun to ski and everything is easy when you're enjoying what you're doing," the 33-year-old said.

"I've been struggling a lot to find, not the motivation, but the meaning of skiing. I was skiing but not enjoying what I was doing — always finding problems, and not solutions."

The solutions came on Sunday as Gut-Behrami was light years ahead of the rest of the 22-strong field, finishing with the fastest time in three of the four sectors of the Challenger course, and the second quickest in the other.

As the first of the eventual podium skiers to make her challenge, the Head star built her advantage over provisional leader Conny Hütter (AUT/Head) at every split with a spectacular run, despite a couple of wild moments.

Gut-Behrami finished 1.66 seconds ahead of the Austrian, and while Hütter was eventually pushed down to sixth, no one else challenged the lead — not even Vonn, despite her first podium in 2656 days, and over seven years, since she finished third in a Super G in Are on 15 March 2018.

"I finally put all the pieces together," a delighted Vonn said. "This season there's been glimpses of good skiing, but I always made a mistake here or there. But today it was enough to get on the podium.

"It wasn't a perfect run but at least I didn't make mistakes like I have this season. And this is where I knew I can be: I know I have the speed."

For Vonn, who returned to the World Cup tour earlier this season with a rebuilt knee after a hiatus of nearly six years, her 138th World Cup podium was vindication of her decision to embark on this comeback.

"It's really emotional because as much as I love this journey, it has not been an easy one," she said. "Today makes it all worth it."

Vonn, whose last podium in the USA before Sunday came in a Downhill in Aspen in 2017, said it was likely her final race on home snow as the women's speed tour doesn't often visit American resorts.

"Today I wanted to give everything I had for the home crowd," she said. "This is my last chance in my career to race at home and I just gave it everything I had."

The USA star's late charge pushed Brignone into third, her seventh consecutive World Cup Super G podium in a magical season that didn't quite have the ending it deserved.

The Italian, who sealed the Overall and Downhill crowns on Saturday and can still win the Giant Slalom title, knew she likely had to finish ahead of Gut-Behrami to keep her four-globe dream alive.

After a slim green light on the top section of the course, Brignone was out of rhythm the rest of the way down and Gut-Behrami's time — and the globe — quickly fell out of reach.

"I started good, I felt good, but from the middle part on I blocked myself completely and I wasn't able to do what I wanted," the Rossignol star said.

"I was too stressed maybe today."

Brignone, who had earlier said that Gut-Behrami "has been the best Super G skier, for me, ever," could only tip her hat to the rejuvenated Swiss No.1.

"I think it was almost impossible to beat her today," admitted Brignone, who finished second in the Super G standings to Gut-Behrami for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

With Brignone coming off a historic season, Gut-Behrami back in form and Vonn showing that she is still a podium threat, the women's Super G will be one of the most hotly anticipated races at the Olympic Winter Games in February, as thoughts turn to next season.

For now, however, Gut-Behrami's goal for 2026 is less grand than defending her Olympic Super G title in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

"I hope next year I can again ski with fun," she said.

Click here for full results from Sunday's race.