Another super-G wrapped on March 14, 2025, and nothing but disappointment came for America. And while Lindsey Vonn is back on the snow, is she really back? With 82 World Cup wins, nobody questions her caliber. But she has yet to land a podium finish since her return. On Friday as well, the American failed to reach the top ten mark as she finished 13th. On the other hand, the number 1 spot was snatched by Italian Federica Brignone, who was right at home in La Thuile, Italy. She got emotional after her win. But what did the winner have to say?
Well, talking to Eurosport after the race, the athlete said, “I have no words; my dream was to come to La Thuile and see the green [timing] light in front of my people, and I did it.” To win a word title that too in front of your family in your own backyard, pretty dreamy, no? But that’s not it. Federica further continued, “I’m in front of the race, and this was one of the dreams of the season. It’s kind of crazy emotions right now.”
This was one when she had just had her moment on the snow. Sixth to race down the hill and chasing early leader (and first racer) Romane Miradoli, Brignone was quick through the first three sectors but seemed to lose a bit of time off the final jump, and yet she was the fastest with her 57.95 seconds. Hard luck for Lindsey Vonn, though. It’s been nearly 4 months since the 40-year-old chose to return to her prized downhills, but she seems like a shadow of her old self.
Her best performance came in January when she secured a fourth-place finish in a Super G at St. Anton, but other than that? 14th in a Super G race in St. Moritz. In another downhill race back in December, she finished 27th; the American has yet to claim a podium finish after her 13th position in the second super-G at La Thuile. This, in turn, has given many fans as well as fellow skiers to take shots at her.
But Lindsey’s finish wasn’t the only surprise that the fans saw on Friday. One of them was Super G standings leader Lara Gut-Behrami dropping three-tenths of a second in the third sector to finish joint fourth. But this begs the question: if so many big names failed to finish in the top ten, was the Italian course that tough? Well, for that, we might need to look closer at the race.
It’s a win for Italy as Lindsey Vonn finishes 13th
The start of the race didn’t go in Italy’s favor, as it was German Emma Aicher who led the Super G on day one. She had an advantage of 0.06 seconds ahead of Italian Sofia Goggia. Fellow Italian and soon-to-be champ Federica finished 3rd. However, the champ decided to turn things around on day two. She admitted after day one that she had tried too hard en route to her third finish.
But on Friday she looked more in her element as she claimed the first finish. The Italian’s 57.95 was only challenged by her very own teammate, Sofia Goggia. But the Pyeongchang 2018 gold medalist was 0.01 second short. On the other hand, Aicher had a 0.14-second lead over Federica in each of her two opening sectors. But a miscalculation on her part led to Emma missing a gate.
Because of this, her attempt was counted as a did not finish. This led to French Romane Miradoli claiming the third finish with a 0.05-second difference. The win was also important for the 34-year-old because it was in front of her family. Not only that, it has also put Brignone at the top of the Super G standings, five points ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI/Head), who came tied fourth with teammate Corinne Suter.
Again, disappointment hit America as Vonn was 13th. This raised the question of whether the skier with the second most World Cup wins in history would be able to reach what she used to be before the winter Olympics. The veteran has claimed that she would be there next year for the 2026 event. But fans are yet to see any indicator of that.
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