Schmidhofer surprises herself with super-G crown
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland: Aus t r ian out sider Nicol e Schmidhofer admit ted she surprised even hersel f after coming back from injury to score a memorable victory in the women’s super- G at the World Ski Championships on Tuesday.
There was drama down the Engiadina piste as American star Lindsey Vonn and Austrian Anna Veith, both multiple medal winners, both failed to finish.
Schmidhofer was an unlikely frontrunner for victory given that she has notched up just two World Cup podiums in eight seasons.
But she kept her nerve to clock 1min 21.34sec to finish ahead of Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather, with Swiss favourite Lara Gut taking her fifth world medal in third.
For Schmidhofer, the former world junior champion, the victory came after a long six months of rehabilitation following a crash in Cortina in January 2016.
“I’m now skiing in no pain,” the 27-year- old said.
“People are telling me that I’m even skiing better now than before my crash.”
Schmidhofer said she had fancied her chances as a rank outsider on the 2km-long St Moritz slope.
“In the summer I thought about skiing in St Moritz, I knew the slope was not so fast and the jumps not so big,” said the Austrian whose best previous world performance was fourth place in the Beaver Creek downhill two years ago.
“I thought in the morning it was possible to medal if I showed my best skiing.
“I knew that my best skiing today was very important, it was a very technical course.”
Starting in bib number eight, she also admitted to some nerves watching bigger names come down.
“When I crossed the finish line and saw the green light I thought ‘Yes, this could be a medal!’, not necessarily gold.
“Then I saw Lindsey go out, and the first 20 went through.
“It was surprising for me, but I enjoyed the day. I’ve been very close to the podium in recent races and it came good today.”
Weirather’s silver was also an exceptional performance given she skied with a broken bone in her hand.
“It happened while racing last Tuesday,” she said.
“I then skied in Cortina and had a lot of pain. I had a scan and it turns out I have a broken bone in my hand.
“But it’s not in plaster!” Gut was left licking her wounds somewhat in third, with many backing the Swiss star to have bagged a first world gold.
“It’s cool to have a medal, you come to the world champs to win medals,” she said.
“In Schladming (worlds in 2013) I had a medal in the first race, it’s a good way to start a world champs at home.
“It’s also my first run since my crash last week so I’m just happy I could still ski!”
Gut predicted the course would only improve ahead of Friday’s alpine combined and Sunday’s blue riband downhill.
“The track is going to get harder for the next races,” she said.
“Next week wi l l be even better.”
Vonn, meanwhile, vowed to come back stronger after a run in which she lost her pole due to lack of grip in her right hand caused by a broken arm late last year.
“Sometimes it just doesn’t work, that’s ski racing and I can’t let it get me down,” the 32-year- old American said.
“I just have to keep focusing on tomorrow and try to build my confidence and try to get the timings for the downhill right.
“I think I’ll be in good shape for Sunday.”