Kilde confirms his super-G dominance with 3rd straight World Cup victory
Vlhova wins women's World Cup slalom as Shiffrin misses 2nd race due to COVID-19
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde mastered a tricky course to win a World Cup super-G by a large margin on Wednesday in Bormio, Italy for his third straight victory in the discipline.
The Norwegian skier finished 0.72 seconds ahead of Raphael Haaser of Austria and 0.85 seconds ahead of another Austrian, world champion Vincent Kriechmayr.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle, the American who won this race last year, finished fourth, missing the podium by five hundredths.
Kilde's other super-G victories this season came in the second of two races in Beaver Creek, Colorado, and in Val Gardena.
No man had won three straight super-Gs since Kilde's injured teammate, Kjetil Jansrud, achieved the feat in 2016.
Kilde has never won a medal at a world championships or Olympics but his recent results set him up as the favourite for gold in super-G at the Beijing Olympics, which open Feb. 4.
It was the 10th World Cup victory of Kilde's career — six in super-G and four in downhill.
Throwing himself down the icy and dark Stelvio course on a straighter line than anyone else, Kilde soared 45 meters [yards] off the San Pietro jump midway down.
It marked the first podium result for the 24-year-old Haaser, who won three medals at the 2017 and 2018 junior world championships. Haaser's previous best finish was fourth in a super-G on home snow in Saalbach at the end of last season.
Seger finishes as top Canadian
Brodie Seger was top Canadian in 34th place, followed by James Crawford in 35th, Jeffrey Read in 44th, Riley Seger in 47th, Broderick Thompson in 48th and Trevor Philp in 50th.
Kriechmayr swept the super-G and downhill titles at last season's world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo but is still seeking his first victory of this season.
Austrian coach Sepp Brunner set the course and several skiers struggled with some tricky gate placements, including overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt, who nearly missed the penultimate gate.
Still, Odermatt finished eighth and maintained a comfortable lead of 276 points over Kilde in the overall standings.
For Cochran-Siegle, it marked another step in his return from a horrific crash on the Streif course in Kitzbuhel, Austria, in January, which left him with a fracture of the seventh cervical vertebra of his spine.
Cochran-Siegle was in position to finish on the podium until Haaser came down with the No. 25 bib — outside the top-ranked starters — and bumped him down a spot.
"It's good to be a goldfish and forget the past and really just focus on what's before you," Cochran-Siegle said. "I know I've done well here on this hill, so I know how to ski it well, you just have to go out and execute."
Swiss standout Beat Feuz finished fifth while Olympic champion Matthias Mayer came 13th and lost his lead in the super-G standings to Kilde.
Dominik Paris, the Italian who won Tuesday's downhill for his seventh victory in Bormio, finished 24th.
While no fans are allowed in the Bormio finish area because of anti-coronavirus measures, recreational skiers still watched from beyond the safety nets alongside the course.
Another super-G scheduled for the Stelvio on Thursday will mark the final race of the calendar year.
Vlhova claims 3rd World Cup win of season
Defending overall champion Petra Vlhova dominated a women's World Cup slalom on Wednesday to build a big lead over Mikaela Shiffrin in the discipline standings.
In the last event of the calendar year, the Slovakian skier held onto her first-run lead and beat world champion Katharina Liensberger by .51 seconds. The Austrian was cleared to race only two days ago after quarantining to recover from a coronavirus infection.
"It feels good because today it wasn't easy," Vlhova said. "It was really tough. We were so close [after the first run], a lot of girls."
Swiss skier Michelle Gisin finished .68 behind in third, ahead of Katharina Truppe of Austria, who climbed from 13th place after posting the fastest second-run time.
Shiffrin had to sit out the event following a positive COVID-19 test that also forced the American out of Tuesday's giant slalom on the same hill.
Shiffrin remains atop overall World Cup standings
Vlhova extended her lead over Shiffrin to 120 points after four of the nine slaloms scheduled this World Cup season. The American, who has won the slalom title six times, remained in the overall World Cup lead.
Vlhova and Shiffrin shared the top two spots in the previous three slaloms this season, with the Slovakian winning twice in Levi, Finland, before the American won in Killington, Vermont.
"I have big confidence in slalom right now," said Vlhova, who earned her 15th win in the discipline and 23rd overall.
The result marked the Slovakian's 50th career podium result.
Vlhova won the overall title last year after starting in all 31 events, but has been reducing her schedule so far this season to only slalom and GS. She announced before the season that becoming the first Slovakian skier to win a medal at the Beijing Olympics in February was her main goal, rather than defending the overall title.
On Wednesday, Vlhova held only a slim lead of .08 over Gisin after the opening run. In absence of Shiffrin, the Slovakian had expected to be further ahead.
"Honestly, maybe I didn't expect to have a race, like, really close but conditions were perfect and setting [of the gates] both runs was not easy — but easier than other races," Vlhova said.
Leading Liensberger by .27 seconds after the opening run, Vlhova lost more than two-tenths following a mistake halfway down her second run but accelerated in the final section for a clear win.
Liensberger was pleased with her first podium of the season, having missed several training days because of her quarantine.
"I am really mega happy it ended this way. I knew I had to push, I gathered all my strength and kept going until the finish," the Austrian said. "I just skied to have fun and it will be good to get back to 100% of my strength."
Dropped from second to third, Gisin was quick to take the positives. The Swiss skier suffered from glandular fever in the offseason and was still dealing with the aftermath of the disease.
"It was a difficult time, a dark valley. You feel like it never changes and then it slightly starts to improve," Gisin said. "It means a lot to me. I am very grateful for the improvement."
No fans were allowed at the event in the Lienzer Dolomites amid anti-coronavirus measures in Austria.
The women's World Cup continues in 2022 with a night slalom in Zagreb on Tuesday. It was unclear whether Shiffrin will be able to compete in the Croatian capital, where the American has won four times.
With files from CBC Sports
