Shiffrin wins Super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland
The FIS Speed weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland, December 16-18, 2022 consisted of two downhills on Friday and Saturday and a Super-G on Sunday. The downhill was dominated by the Italians, with Italy’s Elena Curtoni winning on Friday and Italy’s Sofia Goggia on Saturday. However, the winner on Sunday was not Italian, but Mikaela Shiffrin from Team USA.
Sunday’s second place went to Italy’s Elena Curtoni, Friday’s winner, and third place to France’s Romane Miradoli, marking her second podium of her career. Breezy Johnson finished 34th, Keely Cashman 40th and Lauren Macuga 41st. Isabella Wright and Tricia Mangan both received DNFs for missing goals on this very technical Super-G course. A total of 17 skiers – almost a third of the field – did not finish Sunday’s course, the vast majority due to a lack of gates.
The St. Moritz Super-G track is known for its technical difficulties, which suits Shiffrin. It’s one of her favorite events on the Alpine World Cup circuit and she’s had five podiums in St. Moritz in the past, and in 2018 she also won gold in the Super-G at the Swiss circuit.
Sunday’s Super-G win is Mikaela’s third FIS Alpine World Cup win of the 22/23 season and her 77th podium of her World Cup career. It’s only Shiffrin’s fifth Super-G win as she’s usually stronger in the giant slalom and slalom technical events.
“I love speed, it’s so exhilarating” Shiffrin said in a post-race interview: “If I drive well, I’ll finish and smile every time before I even see how I did it. It’s just so much fun. For me it’s not a mental break, but a kind of reset. It’s challenging in a different way than the tech events. I really get some energy from it.”
Shiffrin not only demonstrated her riding skills on Sunday, but also in the downhill events on Friday and Saturday, where she finished sixth and fourth respectively. The high placings, while not winning podiums, do contribute to the skier’s overall standings in the Alpine World Cup. Mikaela Shiffrin now sits well ahead of the rest of the field in total points and leads with 575 points, 105 points ahead of Sofia Goggia. Most points come from slalom events and she is currently tied with Wendy Holdener of Switzerland for the small crystal globe for slalom.
Shiffrin said she plans to spend Christmas in Austria and hopes to spend some time with partner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde before the World Cup resumes. The next event on the World Cup circuit will be a double giant slalom and slalom event at Semmering on December 27-29, replacing the canceled races from Sölden, Austria earlier in the year, which could not take place due to poor visibility .
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