Schmidhofer pulls off Lake Louise downhill double

LAKE LOUISE, Alta. — A woman who waited more than a decade for her first World Cup victory in ski racing won her second in as many days on Saturday.

Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria doubled up on downhills in Lake Louise, Alta., skiing faster on Saturday than she did to win Friday’s season-opener.

“It’s unbelievable for me,” the 29-yearold veteran said. “I’m excited and a little bit surprised that I started the season so great.”

Schmidhofer, who raced her first World Cup for Austria in 2007, was more than four-tenths of a second quicker Saturday, posting a time of one minute 47.68 seconds.

Her teammate, Cornelia Huetter, who won a downhill here in 2017, was .44 of a second back in second.

Friday’s runner-up, Michelle Gisin, of Switzerland was third just under half a second behind Schmidhofer.

Defending overall World Cup champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. was fourth. Roni Remme of Collingwood, Ont., was the top Canadian in 36th.

Sunny skies made for better visibility than on Friday.

In both downhills, Schmidhofer nailed a section of the course where the rest of the field struggled — Fall Away into Gun Barrel — with cleaner, higher lines that allowed the five-foot-two skier to carry speed into the bottom section.

Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec, the last woman to win both downhills in Lake Louise in 2016, was 14th.

Today’s super-G race concludes the World Cup.

In Beaver Creek, Colorado, Ottawa’s Dustin Cook was the top Canadian in a men’s super-G finishing 21st.