Huetter claims Friday super-G for drought-breaking Austrian win
Jan 13, 2024·Alpine Skiing)
Finally, a win for Austria's women's team — and on home snow to top it off.
Cornelia Huetter (AUT) won the sprint super-G in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee on Friday to give traditional powerhouse Austria their first victory on the women's World Cup tour this season in the 17th race of the campaign.
The 31-year-old skied the perfect line all the way down the shortened course in an error-free run to win in 1:13.17, finishing ahead of Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR, +0.09s) and Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI, +0.21s).
"I can find in every run something to get better, but I think it was close to perfect," Heutter said. "It's nice to see the green lights in the finish and for sure when you're in Austria it's on the top."
In addition to breaking Austria's duck this season, Huetter also became the first Austrian woman to win a World Cup race on home snow in seven years and the first to do so in super-G since the great Renate Goetschl in Reiteralm in 2006.
The win was the culmination of Huetter's excellent start to the season, as she had finished in the top four in all four previous speed races, with two podiums — lacking only a victory as a reward for her top form.
That triumph, the fifth World Cup win of her career and fourth in super-G, came on Friday as she took advantage of Mikaela Shiffrin's (USA) absence through illness and Sofia Goggia's (ITA) wild run that finished with a fall and last place.
Huetter was sublime up and down the course, gliding smoothly on the top section and carving faultlessly through the technical turns of the middle section before posting the fastest split in the final sector.
Lie, Gut-Behrami and fourth-placed Federica Brignone (ITA) were all ahead of Huetter's clubhouse-leading time at the last intermediate split, but none of them mastered the lower section leading up to the final jump the way the Austrian did.
"The last part I tried to be a little bit higher (in the racing line) than the other girls because then you have enough space between the gates to go with the ski and try to find the limit and also the speed down there, because these turns are really turny," Huetter said.
Norwegian Lie, who was also second in the Val d'Isère super-G in December, is knocking on the door of her first victory in the discipline after winning her maiden World Cup race in the Kvitfjell downhill last March.
"I'm getting closer and closer but it's OK to lose behind an Austrian in Austria — then everyone's happy," Lie said.
"I just really feel confident, especially now it's nice to get it confirmed that you know you can do it. I'm in a good place."
Gut-Behrami looked set to reach dual milestones of 40 World Cup wins and 20 in super-G after an excellent middle section, but a wobble lower down disrupted her balance, and she was only 14th-fastest in the final split to drop from first to third.
"I'm happy to start the weekend with a podium," said Gut-Behrami, who recorded the 80th top-three finish of her stellar World Cup career.
"The skiing was OK, the upper part was fine," she said. "I had nice timing and this is what I'm looking for in speed, (but) I'm still not there where I'd like to be."
With Saturday's downhill and Sunday's full-length super-G still to come this weekend in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Gut-Behrami will have more chances to find her best form on the long skis.
But with Huetter now on top of the super-G standings and having had a taste of victory at home, she will not relinquish her spot on top of the podium without a fight.
"I've never done that before (winning a World Cup race at home)," Huetter said. "It's the first time and I hope I can feel that in the next races too."
