Suter leads Hütter and Mowinckel to triple victory in Lake Louise!

In the final North American race, the women's Super-G in Lake Louise on Sunday, the HEAD Worldcup Rebels celebrated a triple victory with Corinne Suter, Cornelia Hütter and Ragnhild Mowinckel. Nina Ortlieb made a remarkable comeback following a respite of almost two years by finishing in second place in the Downhill in Lake Louise on Saturday. James Crawford and Alexis Pinturault also celebrated podium finishes in Beaver Creek.

"The first triple victory this season is simply brilliant - especially in Lake Louise, where the equipment plays a crucial role," emphasized HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "In the Downhill events, we also had the opportunity to win. Unfortunately, the conditions with strong crosswinds were an influencing factor. However, if you take home 240 out of a possible 300 points in one weekend like Corinne Suter did, that's an awesome result. She has been working with Stefan Berthold, Kjetil Jansrud's service man, since the beginning of the season, and that teamwork is going very well. Nina Ortlieb's comeback was outstanding. She wanted to return to racing last season, but then gave her body more time to recover and that seems to have been the right decision. Atle Lie McGrath's performance was excellent. It was his first Super-G and his first World Cup race on this slope. This shows his great potential. It was the first time he has seen these sections of the run in competition, while the others have raced down them many a time. He invested ten days in the USA, and also competed in the Downhill. It's nice to see that his investment has paid off. The results in North America show that we are doing well with the equipment. And that is going to continue back in Europe!"

First, second and third place for Corinne Suter

Corinne Suter enjoyed an almost perfect weekend in Lake Louise. Her fifth World Cup win overall, the second in a Super-G, was preceded by a second-place finish on Friday and a third-place finish on Saturday in the two Downhill events. On Friday, the Swiss athlete missed victory by just four hundredths of a second.

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Cornelia Hütter finished in third place on Friday, missing victory by just six hundredths of a second. "My skis performed so well today, it was really cool to ski with them. I was a bit overwhelmed by the run because it went back and forth. We were really racing today," is how the 30-year-old Austrian athlete analysed her performance. She was unable to enter the second race on Saturday due to headaches, but followed it up by finishing in second place in the Super-G on Sunday - just two hundredths of a second behind Suter. The Norwegian athlete Ragnhild Mowinckel celebrated finishing in third place in the Super-G.

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Nina Ortlieb's comeback was impressive: The Austrian athlete finished sixth in the first Downhill event on Friday, and raced to finish second on the podium in the second Downhill on Saturday - her best result in this discipline. Nina Ortlieb was just 34 hundredths of a second behind the winner Sofia Goggia. "I'm a bit gobsmacked. The run went well, I gave it everything I had. I did a good job. Today I am proud of myself," said the delighted 26-year-old at the finish. A third-place finish in Crans Montana in 2020 was her best result in the Downhill before Lake Louise. Also in 2020, she won her only World Cup victory so far in La Thuile in the Super-G. In January 2021, Ortlieb suffered a serious knee injury during training ahead of the Downhill in Crans Montana. Since then, the Austrian athlete had not competed in any races.

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Among the top 15 on Friday were also Elena Curtoni from Italy in eighth place and Ariana Raedler from Austria in 15th place, on Saturday Ragnhild Mowinckel from Norway finished in ninth place, Elena Curtoni was 12th and the two Swiss athletes Delia Durrer and Lara Gut-Behrami finished with the same time in 13th place, and on Sunday Elena Curtoni finished in sixth place, Marie-Michele Gagnon from Canada was eighth and Laura Pirovano from Italy finished in ninth place.

James Crawford celebrates second World Cup podium

With his third place in the Downhill in Beaver Creek on Saturday, James Crawford has once again made his mark. For the Canadian athlete it was the second World Cup podium in his career - following a second place in the Super-G at Kvitfjell in 2022. At the Olympics, Crawford won the Bronze medal in the combined event. "This is very exciting to be on the podium so early in the season. The snow and wind conditions made it a tough day today and I'm glad I was able to hold on to third place. This is a huge milestone for me and it gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season," said the Canadian. Just behind him, the two Austrian athletes Matthias Mayer and Vincent Kriechmayr finished in fourth and fifth place. Ryan Cochran-Siegle from the USA finished seventh, Matthieu Bailet from France eighth, Beat Feuz from Switzerland ninth and the two Germans Dominik Schwaiger and Josef Ferstl finished 13th and 14th. The Downhill event on Friday had to be cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

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In the Super-G, the final race in Beaver Creek on Sunday, Alexis Pinturault bagged third place, his fourth podium in this discipline - 30 hundredths of a second behind the winner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. The French athlete last stood on a Super-G podium in December 2014, also finishing third in Beaver Creek. In 2014, the 31-year-old won his only victory in the Super-G so far, in Lenzerheide. "I like the Super-G here in Beaver Creek, it's good for technical skiers. It's not so often I reach the podium in this discipline," explained the French athlete. Starting with bib number 32, Atle Lie McGrath from Norway finished in a surprising fifth place in his first World Cup Super-G competition, despite not having skied a perfect run. Vincent Kriechmayr and Matthias Mayer finished in ninth and tenth place, James Crawford was eleventh and Henrik von Appen was 14th with bib number 40 - the best World Cup result for the Chilean athlete so far.

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