Shiffrin wins super-G World title as Vonn crashes hard

Editor’s note: Lindsey Vonn Tuesday night said she expects to race in Sunday’s downhill despite being banged up in the super-G earlier in the day. And Mikaela Shiffrin said she’ll skip the alpine combined on Friday and Sunday’s downhill to focus on the giant slalom and slalom next week.

EagleVail’s Mikaela Shiffrin won the fourth World Championships gold medal of her career on Tuesday, claiming the super-G championship as Vail’s Lindsey Vonn crashed hard in what may be the final race of her storied career.

Vonn got up and skied off on her own power and has yet to announced whether she’ll race in Sunday’s championship downhill in Are, Sweden. Vonn had already said Sunday would be the final race of her 18-year career that vaulted her into the pantheon of all-time greats in her sport.

“If adversity makes you stronger I think I’m the Hulk at this point….,” Vonn posted on Twitter after Tuesday’s super-G. Vonn is battling multiple knee injuries during her career.

“She has another race coming up but it’s whether she is still willing to take that risk,” Olympic gold medalist Bode Miller said on Eurosport TV, according to Reuters.

Vonn holds the record for the most wins by a female racer at 82 and is the only American woman to win downhill gold. She’s also the only American who’s ever won four overall World Cup titles, and she is by far the best female downhill racer of all time with 43 career victories in ski racing’s premier speed event.

Shiffrin, meanwhile, continues to rack up gold medals at the championships. Tuesday’s super-G win was her first gold, however, outside of her signature slalom event. Shiffrin, 23, also has a silver from giant slalom in 2017.

Vonn, 34, has claimed seven World Championships medal, including two golds, to go along with her three Olympic medals.

Here’s the latest U.S. Ski and Snowboard press release on Tuesday’s race:

Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) took some calculated risks and squeaked out her first gold medal of the 2019 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships, winning the super-G Tuesday in Are, Sweden.

“This is crazy,” a surprised Shiffrin said after winning her fourth career World Championships gold medal, just 0.02-seconds ahead of Italy’s Sofia Goggia in second, and 0.04-seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Corinne Suter in third. “It was a really tight race – seven-hundredths to fourth place, I mean, come, on.”

It was a tough day for Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.), competing in the final super-G of her 18-year career when she crashed hard after catching a gate and sliding into the safety nets. After a few minutes, Vonn was able to stand up and eventually skied to the bottom of the course where Shiffrin was waiting to give her a big hug.

Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.), competing in her first World Championship race, finished 22nd. Almost a one-third of the field didn’t finish Tuesday’s race, including Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.), who also caught a gate and slid into the safety net, but was OK and skied to the finish.

RESULTS
Women’s super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Wednesday, Feb. 6
6:25 a.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships men’s super-G, Are, SWE – NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

Friday, Feb. 8
5:00 a.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships women’s super combined downhill, Are, SWE – Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:00 a.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships women’s super combined downhill, Are, SWE – NBCSN*
10:00 a.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships women’s super combined slalom, Are, SWE – NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 9
6:30 a.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill – Are, SWE – Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill – Are, SWE – NBC*
6:30 p.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships men’s downhill – Are, SWE – NBCSN*

Sunday, Feb. 10
6:30 a.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill – Are, SWE – Olympic Channel-TV, NBCSN, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:30 p.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill – Are, SWE – NBC*
10:30 p.m. – FIS World Alpine Championships women’s downhill – Are, SWE – NBCSN*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/GoldandOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.