Gut-Behrami: "Andorra is better than other venues that host World Cup competitions every year"
A double by Swiss racers in the Super-G competitions with Marco Odermatt and Lara Gut-Behrami, which cements their link with Andorra
On Friday, the first competition with Andorran involvement will be held: the Mixed Team Parallel
Frenetic Final in the Grandvalira ski area. Exceptionally, as many as five female skiers were competing to win the Crystal Globe in Super-G on the Àliga course this Thursday. In the end, it was the Swiss racer Lara Gut-Behrami who was the fastest (1: 26.70) in the race and this meant that she took the title for the discipline in 2023. The Italian Federica Brignone finished second in the race, only 22 hundredths behind her, which means she was unable to retain the title she achieved last season. This relegated her to second position in the discipline overall. The Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel finished the season with the third place overall in the discipline, after taking third place on the podium on Thursday.
For Gut-Behrami, current Olympic champion in SG and claiming her fourth Crystal Globe in the discipline, Andorra is not unfamiliar to her: in 2008, aged 17, she won her first and only GS European Cup race on the Avet course in Soldeu, one of her favourite courses, and in 2012 she was the ambassador for the first World Cup competition that Grandvalira hosted. Throughout her magnificent career, the Swiss racer has achieved 37 victories and 74 podiums in World Cups, and in 2016 she won the Overall Crystal Globe. The Swiss racer stated that "it would be great if Andorra were to host the 2029 World Championships" because snow conditions are better in February. In addition, she declared that "I would love to continue competing here more often, as you have a very good organisational set-up, much better than in many places where they host World Cup competitions every year."
World Cup overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin, who achieved the only Crystal Globe in SG in her sports career in the Grandvalira ski area four years ago, competed this Thursday despite it not being possible for her to win the category. In the end, she finished in 14th position, which dropped her one place in the standings for the discipline, finishing 7th overall. After the race, the American gave her assessment of the Àliga course: "It is a very enjoyable course to ski, and although it does not present significant challenges, it is difficult to achieve high speeds, as you have to be strong throughout all the sections."
For her part, the Italian racer Elena Curtoni, who led the Super-G ranking, could not reach the podium positions in the category as she finished 10th on Thursday.
Marco Odermatt cements his lead
The second day of competitions in the Finals ended with the men's competition, where Swiss Marco Odermatt imposed himself on the race in El Tarter with a time of 1:23.91.
The Swiss racer competed under no pressure with his trophy in the Super-G discipline guaranteed, a title that he wins for the first time and that he snatches from Aleksander A. Kilde, the winner in 2022. The skier still has the Giant Slalom race to compete in this weekend (he will also receive the Crystal Globe in this discipline), when he could beat the men's record for points achieved in a single season: surpassing Hermann Maier's 2,000 total. The athlete appeared to be very relaxed on this issue, saying that his priority is to execute a good race.
The race podium was completed by Austrian Marco Schwarz, who finished the season in second place in the discipline, and Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, followed by Vincent Kriechmayr, who was unable to finish the race on Thursday.
Guaranteed entertainment with the Mixed Team Parallel
On Friday, the lower part of the Àliga course will host one of the competitions that brings the most excitement to the World Cup Finals given its uniqueness: the Mixed Team parallel (MTP). This is a race between nations where racers compete two by two in parallel over a course that is only 356 metres in length and has a vertical drop of 100 metres. The teams from the 16 best-ranked nations on the World Cup circuit participate, with Andorra invited to take part given their role as the organising country of these Finals. The Andorran team will be formed by Xavi Cornella, Bartumeu Gabriel, Iria Medina and Carla Mijares.
The excitement will continue at L’Abarset on Friday at 19:00h with the public draw for the top 15 bibs for the competitions on Saturday on the Avet course. This is where ski lovers will be able to see the best male and female skiers in the world up close at a free and public event with lots of entertainment and surprises. Anticipation is high ahead of the last three days of the World Cup Finals, which is reflected by the fact that all the tickets for the stands for Friday, Saturday and Sunday have already sold out.
Agenda for Friday, 17th March:
- Mixed Team Parallel (12:00h, Àliga course, El Tarter)
- Public draw for bibs (19:00h, L’Abarset, El Tarter) and après-ski with Lunnas and Patricia Mantovani
