Laura Good-Behrami earned her little crystal ball with a seventh-place finish at the World Cup Super-G in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. It wasn't enough on Friday for fifth-ranked Cornelia Hütter and second-ranked Federica Brignone, who were still hoping for it. Austrian Stefanie Venier, top seed in the alpine ski final at the 2025 World Cup venue, was fourth, 0.35 seconds behind winner Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic.
After heavy rain the previous day, thanks to intensive preparation activities with salt, the girls found a good slope, although after a few runs the tracks were already covered in spring snow. Good-Behrami came in nine, Hutter eleven and Brignon 15, but still finished on the podium (+0.28 seconds behind). Norway's Kajsa Wickhoff Lee finished third (+0.30).
Fifth ball in life
For Good-Behrami, it was the fifth Super-G Ball of her career and third crystal this year after the overall World Cup and giant slalom. “I wanted to go full speed. I said I would try to win this match. These are the conditions I usually struggle with: soft ice, straight track. It was important for me that I was able to fully commit. That I was able to get the ball was another story.” Next year he will tackle the World Cup. He told SRF that he wants to, but his career will end in 2026. “You don't know how the World Cup will be next February. I have one more year. The second is barely included because it is impossible to prepare for the Olympics in Cortina.
For Ledecka, who turned 29 on Saturday, it was her fourth World Cup win in alpine skis and her first in more than two years. In parallel snowboarding, he finished first three times in three individual starts this winter. “I was sick for two months in the winter and it took a while. I'm proud now,” Ledecka said.
Loss of time and pain for Hooter
Hutter caught his right arm in a goal and tore the post, which cost him time and caused pain. She was glad her shoulder hadn't dislocated or dropped, but the muscle felt like a rock. Styrian said a thousand times such a mistake would happen to her. “It's annoying that this happened today. Victory would have been difficult, but the podium would have been. I firmly believe that.” He reached his season goal by coming third in the discipline standings. Looking back, the only thing she's angry about is Cortina. She wrote zero there. “Can't let you do that.”
In a close race, Venier missed the podium by 5/100ths of a second. “It was better than expected, the downhill was good. Downhill is really my strong discipline, but in Super-G I made really strong strides and I have a lot of confidence in myself.
