Shiffrin sixth in super-G at Lake Louise

Mikaela Shiffrin of Edwards finished sixth in a World Cup super-G at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada on Sunday, grabbing a critical 40 points in a speed event in her quest for an American record-tying fourth overall World Cup title.

Italy’s Sofia Goggia won her third straight race Sunday after claiming both downhills at Lake Louise on Friday and Saturday. Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami was second (.11 seconds back), and Austria’s Mirjam Puchner was third (.44 back).

Shiffrin was a little over a half second (.58) back in an event she doesn’t specialize in and hasn’t had that much training in so far this season.

Shiffrin also picked up five points with her 26th-place finish in Friday’s downhill for a total of 45 over the weekend, padding her lead slightly over her nearest rival in the overall hunt, Petra Vlhova of Slovakia.

Shiffrin now leads the overall chase with 405 points to 340 for Vlhova. Goggia jumped up to third at 315 points with her three straight wins (worth 100 points apiece).

The women now head to St. Moritz, Switzerland for a pair of super-G races Dec. 11-12.

Here’s the full press release on Sunday’s super-G from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team:

Two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin made significant improvements in Lake Louise Sunday, finishing sixth overall and leading four American women into the super-G standings. The Italian speed powerhouse, Sofia Goggia, went three for three wins this weekend, followed by super-G specialist Lara Gut-Behrami, and Austria’s Mirjam Puchner.

Although Shiffrin finished the day in sixth, 0.58 seconds out from Goggia and 0.14 seconds out from Puchner, her run seemed the most threatening to Goggia’s win while on course.

Super-G involves a bit more technical prowess than downhill, and technical is where Shiffrin thrives. In the upper sections of the course, Shiffrin in fact posted faster splits than Goggia, leading her winning run into the final two splits. The tension was palpable in Goggia’s reaction, sitting in the leader seat as Shiffrin crossed the finish and Goggia realized she did not make up any time on Easy Street. Unfortunately for Shiffrin, she took a key turn towards the bottom a bit too straight and got pushed out of her line, sending her back behind Goggia by 0.58 seconds overall.

Other than that mistake, Shiffrin was incredibly happy with the improvements she made on Sunday and will walk away from the weekend in Lake Louise with a bit more confidence in speed.

“That super-G felt quite a lot better than downhill,” commented Shiffrin. “I’m actually pretty excited because I felt like I was skiing really well and executing my plan. I just got a little bit too straight on one turn in the course and got pushed a little bit. The skiing and all those pieces were there and I’m actually really excited about not having much training in the last few weeks. I was pretty concerned coming into this week.”

“Obviously the downhills were not super fast for me,” she laughed. “So I thought uh, oh, maybe I can’t really pull this off. But I still feel quite comfortable on a super-G ski so that’s really positive and makes me feel a little bit better about the weekend as a whole.” 

Breezy Johnson posted another solid finish to wrap up the first speed series of the season. On top of two second place finishes in downhill on Friday and Saturday, Johnson finished 11th in the super-G. Keely Cashman and Jackie Wiles also punched in point scoring finishes, earning 29th and 30th respectively.

Tricia Mangan finished 37th, and Isabella Wright did not finish. 

Next weekend the women’s tour will land in St. Moritz, Switzerland to compete in their second speed series of the season. Races will air on NBCSN and peacock.com. Times are yet to be determined. In the meantime, plan to get your alpine skiing fix with the men’s tech races in Val d’Isere, France.

RESULTS
Women’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH

*All times EST

Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021
3:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Giant Slalom, run 1 – LIVE, Val D’Isere, FRA, Ski and Snowboard Live
7:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Giant Slalom, run 2 – LIVE, Val D’Isere, FRA, Ski and Snowboard Live

Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021
3:30 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Slalom, run 1 – LIVE, Val D’Isere, FRA, Ski and Snowboard Live
7:00 a.m. FIS Alpine World Cup Men’s Slalom, run 2 – LIVE, Val D’Isere, FRA, Ski and Snowboard Live