Suter wins in Austria as the Swiss dominate proceedings
When things all go well, they go well. Fabienne Suter has endured
years of misery and hardship but she is not one to give up and when
she saw her name lit up in green, the clenched fist was restrained
but the relief and joy was there for all to see. This was Suter’s
first win in nearly three years since she had an incredible weekend
in Bansko. Tina Maze must have thought that the illness affecting
Lindsey Vonn would mean that it would be her standing on the top
step of the podium but the Slovenian ace had to settle for second
ahead of Austrian, Anna Fenninger.
Anna Fenninger took her fifth career Super G World Cup podium in Bad
Kleinkirchheim with a gutsy performance. With new snow on the course
being cleared away early on in the morning, the Franz Klammer course
was a challenging proposition for the field. Fenninger was deprived
her first win in the Super G World Cup by Fabienne Suter in first
and Tina Maze taking second.
Fenninger used the disappointment of her tenth place in the downhill
on the same slope the previous day as motivation and felt unusually
relaxed in the start, she admitted.
“Usually I am really nervous in the start,” she explained,
“today I was not.” Fenninger’s run was very positive and for the
first two splits at the top of the course she led the field. A
slight error coming into the long turns leading into the finish and
her lead was gone yet she was still challenging for the podium. By
the time that the 22 year old cross the line, Maze’s time was still
in front of her but many of the talents that adorn the Women’s World
Cup had been beaten. Fabienne Suter came down not long after the and
posted the fastest time of the day.
For Lizzi Goergl, one of the expected challengers for the race
having won the downhill the day before, ninth place was the reward
for her efforts. “My run was clean and tidy but the last bit of
fight was just not there,” she admitted afterwards. Goergl likes the
hard slopes but today was just not her day.
The Swiss team not only took the win with Suter but also saw Fraenzi
Aufdenblatten in fourth and Lara Gut in fifth as well as Dominique
Gisin in seventh; four racers in the top seven! The Austrians could
‘only’ post four in the top eleven after Steffi Koehle came down
from bib 43 to post 11th best time.
With World Cup Super G leader Lindsey Vonn still struggling with the
flu virus that has seen her struggle since the New Year, this was
the first time since 2009 that she has not been on the podium in a
World Cup Super G. Vonn finished in 18th place.
“I didn’t have the self-confidence, I didn’t have the power I
normally have,” Vonn said. “I’m still not myself. I’m just going to
try to rest up the next couple of days and try to get my form back
for the next races.”
All being well Maria Hoefl-Riesch and Lindsey Vonn should both be in
better health for the next speed races in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
(14 – 15 January, 2012). Lindsey Vonn still leads the Overall and
Super G World Cup standings after this, the third race in the season
long event. Anna Fenninger moves up to second in the Super G
standings with her third place.
Results
1.
Fabienne Suter (SUI)
2.
Tina Maze (SLO)
3.
Anna Fenninger (AUT)
