First podium of the season for Stephanie Venier

Stephanie Venier hits top form with less than a month to go to the World Championships. Finishing fifth in the Downhill on Saturday, the Austrian athlete races to second place in the Super-G in St. Anton on Sunday, her first podium finish of the season. Lindsey Vonn continues her sensational comeback with sixth place in the Downhill and fourth place in the Super-G in St. Anton.

"Stephanie Venier's second place is a solid result with the World Championships on the horizon. This podium means she can practically already book her reservation,” says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "It was a very challenging Super-G with varying snow conditions. With five HEAD athletes in the top 8, it was another very good result for us. The same applies to our team in the Downhill. Lindsey Vonn's outstanding performance makes for a very special weekend. That's exactly what we were hoping for having seen the excellent way she kicked off in Beaver Creek. If you know her the way we do, then you know that she's not doing this for marketing reasons. It's all about her true passion for the sport. You can now see this in her results. In Adelboden, the men's team didn't get the results we hoped for. It was bitterly disappointing to see Atle Lie McGrath, who has been skiing at a very high level, drop out of both races. But you could see that the equipment works and that some of the younger athletes are continuing to ski very well."

"I let the skis run"

Stephanie Venier already produced an impressive result on Saturday in St. Anton with fifth place in the Downhill. In the Super-G on Sunday, the 31-year-old raced to second place, her first podium finish of the season and her sixth overall in this discipline. "My body language showed that I wanted to get down the run fast. I skied really well up until the icy section, when I then became more of a passenger, and I let the skis run. At one point I kissed the banners, which was pretty exciting for a moment," said Stephanie Venier at the finish.

Lindsey Vonn narrowly misses the podium

What she began in St. Moritz with a sensational 14th place in the Super-G, she continued even more spectacularly in St. Anton: Lindsey Vonn finished sixth in her first Downhill in six years. In the Super-G, the 40-year-old American athlete moved up yet again to fourth, just missing the podium by 32 hundredths of a second. "Coming fourth on this run gives me a lot of confidence. The atmosphere in the team is superb. I have nothing to lose, but I have the chance to have fun. That frees me up so I can ski down without any pressure, and I know I can ski even better," said Lindsey Vonn.

Lara Gut-Behrami stays number one in the Super-G

Five HEAD World Cup Rebels were among the top 8 in the Super-G, with Lara Gut-Behrami from Switzerland in fifth place, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway seventh, and Corinne Suter from Switzerland eighth. Finishing in fifth place, Lara Gut-Behrami maintains her overall World Cup lead in the Super-G. World Cup points were also bagged by Elena Curtoni from Italy in 13th place, Ariane Rädler from Austria 14th, Laura Pirovano from Italy 15th, Karen Clement from France 16th, Emma Aicher from Germany 17th, Laura Gauche from France 22nd, Cornelia Hütter from Austria 23rd, Keely Cashman from the USA 28th, and Nadine Fest from Austria in 29th place.

Cornelia Hütter keeps the red jersey in the Downhill

Cornelia Hütter also left St. Anton with the red jersey. The 32-year-old Austrian athlete finished seventh in the Downhill on Saturday to remain the overall leader in this discipline. Six HEAD World Cup Rebels finished in the top ten, with Laura Pirovano in fourth place, Stephanie Venier fifth, Lindsey Vonn sixth, and the Austrians Cornelia Hütter, Nina Ortlieb and Ariane Rädler in seventh, eighth, and tenth place. Lara Gut-Behrami was 13th, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie 14th, Corinne Suter 15th, Laura Gauche 16th, Elena Curtoni 19th, Nadine Fest 26th and Karen Clement 27th.

Joan Verdu eighth in the Giant Slalom in Adelboden

Joan Verdu from Andorra finished the Giant Slalom in Adelboden on Sunday as the best HEAD athlete in eighth place. Alexis Pinturault from France finished twelfth, Anton Grammel from Germany 16th, and in his comeback race, Lukas Feurstein from Austria finished in 17th place. In the Slalom in Adelboden on Saturday, Johannes Strolz was the best of the HEAD team in 15th place. Following the Austrian athlete was the Champion of Madonna di Campiglio Albert Popov from Bulgaria in 16th place. 19th place went to Armand Marchant from Belgium, 21st to Benjamin Ritchie from the USA, and 27th place to Dave Ryding from Britain.