HEAD double victory in sensational Lindsey Vonn comeback in St. Moritz

The HEAD World Cup Rebels celebrate a brilliant double victory by Cornelia Hütter and Lara Gut-Behrami on Saturday at the Super-G in St. Moritz. An equally spectacular comeback sees Lindsey Vonn finish 14th after almost six years away from racing. In the men's Downhill in Val Gardena on Saturday, two HEAD World Cup Rebels podium with Franjo von Allmen in second place and Ryan Cochran-Siegle third.

"The women's event was another perfect race. Cornelia Hütter did a superb job. You can see what the level of performance and the equipment set-up she has developed over the last few months is all about. This is Cornelia at her very best," is how HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber analysed the result. "Lara Gut-Behrami is on the same level, apart from making one mistake. All the athletes in the women's team delivered a strong performance. Four in the top six - that's great. With Lindsey Vonn, you can see that she is on top of the sport. When you listen to her interviews, you can see that she has a strategy. She knows that she has to build up in steps, and has now taken the first giant step. Reaching the top 15 with a very good run, and knowing that more is possible, this is a very strong performance from the best of the wildcard athletes so far. The Downhill in Val Gardena was also an amazing race for us, especially when you see how much time both Franjo von Allmen and Ryan Cochran-Siegle left behind on the course. If things had worked out better for Franjo von Allmen in Beaver Creek, he would have had even more confidence here in Val Gardena, and that is something you need lots of on this run. Ryan Cochran-Siegle is doing very well with the new service team. And it was also great that HEAD had the fastest Austrian athlete with Stefan Eichberger in sixth place. He has produced three strong performances over the last three races. That should also motivate the other young athletes."

Second victory this season for Cornelia Hütter

In St. Moritz, Cornelia Hütter continued her run of success this season. The Austrian athlete won the first Super-G in St. Moritz on Saturday 18 hundredths of a second ahead of her HEAD teammate Lara Gut-Behrami. Following her victory in the Downhill in Beaver Creek, it was the Austrian's second win of the season, her fifth in a Super-G and her eighth overall. The 32-year-old finished fourth in the first Super-G of the season in Beaver Creek. "I skied the last section very well from a tactical point of view and kept up a lot of speed. After watching the first few competitors I realised that it was a difficult run and changed my plan. It's cool that it worked out so well," said a delighted Cornelia Hütter at the finish.

Four HEAD World Cup Rebels in the top 6

Lara Gut-Behrami also put a stamp on her positive development in St. Moritz. The Swiss athlete finished second behind Cornelia Hütter despite making a serious mistake, putting the 33-year-old at three podium finishes this season following her third place in the Downhill in Beaver Creek and second place in the Super-G in Beaver Creek. The overall team performance by the HEAD World Cup Rebels was awesome, with the two Italian athletes Elena Curtoni and Laura Pirovano in fourth and sixth place, there were four of the HEAD team in the top six, and with Corinne Suter from Switzerland finishing tenth, five were among the top ten.

Lindsey Vonn: "I achieved everything I wanted to achieve"

Lindsey Vonn's comeback was one of the highlights of this event. The US athlete put in a sensational performance after almost six years away from racing. The 40-year-old finished in 14th place, just 1.18 seconds behind the winner. "It was an exciting race. I was nervous at the start and didn't quite find my rhythm. It was super cool and I skied well. I didn't risk too much, because I wanted to make sure I finish today. I achieved everything I wanted to achieve. It was very good. But I also know that I can ski even faster," says Lindsey Vonn. World Cup points were also bagged by Emma Aicher from Germany and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway in 16th place, Stephanie Venier from Austria who finished 19th, Delia Durrer from Switzerland 21st, Ariane Rädler from Austria 24th, Tricia Mangan from the USA 25th, Lisa Grill from Austria 28th, and Keely Cashman from the USA who finished in 30th place.

Best result so far by Franjo von Allmen

The HEAD team also had reason to celebrate at the men's Downhill in Val Gardena/Gröden. Franjo von Allmen finished second to achieve his best World Cup result so far. The Swiss athlete already stood on the podium once before when he finished in third place at the Super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in January 2024. His best previous performance in the Downhill was fifth place in Kvitfjell in February 2024. Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished in third place, one-hundredth of a second behind Franjo von Allmen. It was the third podium for the US athlete following second place in the 2020 Downhill in Val Gardena and victory in the 2020 Super-G in Bormio. Stefan Eichberger finished in a surprising sixth place with bib number 56. This is the Austrian athlete's best World Cup result, just missing his first podium by six-hundredths of a second. The US athlete Erik Arvidsson also scored points in 23rd place, as did Justin Murisier from Switzerland and Simon Jocher from Germany in 29th place.

Val Gardena Super-G with four HEAD World Cup Rebels in the top 15

Four HEAD World Cup Rebels finished among the top 15 in the Super-G in Val Gardena on Friday: Vincent Kriechmayr from Austria in twelfth place, James Crawford from Canada 13th, Stefan Babinsky from Austria 14th and Justin Murisier 15th. World Cup points were also picked up by Nicolo Molteni from Italy in 16th place, Matthieu Bailet from France 19th, Ryan Cochran-Siegle 20th, Franjo von Allmen 23rd and the two Austrian athletes Stefan Eichberger and Lukas Feurstein who finished in 27th and 28th place.