Skiing: Austria’s Schmidhofer barrels into a World Cup double at Lake Louise
LAKE LOUISE, ALTA.— A woman who waited over a decade for her first World Cup victory in ski racing won her second in as many days Saturday.
Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria doubled up on downhills in Lake Louise, Alta., skiing faster Saturday than she did to win Friday’s season-opener.
“It’s unbelievable for me,” the 29-year-old 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 over four-tenths of a second quicker Saturday posting a time of one minute 47.68 seconds.
Her teammate Cornelia Huet- ter, who won a downhill here in 2017, was .44 of a second back in second.
“I skied much better than yesterday,” Huetter said. “I like Canada. I was here in 2011 the first time and that impressed me so much. Every year when I come back, it’s so amazing.”
Friday’s runner-up Michelle Gisin of Switzerland was third.
Defending overall World Cup champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. was fourth. Roni Remme of Collingwood, Ont., was the top Canadian in 36th.
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-foottwo skier to carry speed into the bottom section.
“She told me today was better and that’s unbelievable,” Huetter said.
Sunday’s super-G race concludes the World Cup. Lindsey Vonn, who is currently injured, swept all three races in 2015, 2012 and 2011.
Valerie Grenier of St-Isidore, Que., was 37th and MarieMichele Gagnon of Lac Etchemin, Que., finished 40th.
In Beaver Creek, Colo., Ottawa’s Dustin Cook was the top Canadian in a men’s super-G finishing 21st.