Lara Gut-Behrami nabs first giant slalom of the season in Killington, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde wins downhill in Alberta
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Updated 26/11/2022 at 23:02 GMT
Gut-Behrami was third in the opening run on the course in Killington, but edged out Marta Bassino by 0.07 seconds. Defending Olympic champion Sara Hector, finished third, 0.20 behind Gut-Behrami. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde managed to start his downhill season off with a win, his first ever in Lake Louise. Stream the 2022-23 Alpine Skiing season live on Eurosport and discovery+.
'A picture of confidence!' - Gut-Behrami takes victory in Killington
Lara Gut-Behrami won her first giant slalom World Cup since 2016 in Killington, Vermont, on Saturday.
It was the Swiss skier's fifth giant slalom victory and her 35th career World Cup victory. She managed to just sneak first place after finishing in third place in the first race, ahead of second-placed Marta Bassino, winning by 0.07 seconds from the two runs. Sweden’s Sara Hector managed third place.
"I'm really happy," said Gut-Behrami after her win.
"The last two years, I have been getting better in GS. I won a title, but I was improving my GS every race. Here, I think my best place [before] was in 19th, and I usually struggle a little bit with the wind [which leads to me] not having a great feeling on the snow.
"Today I was free, and I am happy that at the beginning of the season, I am able to ski this way."
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Gut-Behrami 'so happy' to break GS World Cup drought and secure Killington win
In front of a home crowd in Vermont, Mikaela Shiffrin, who had placed second, third, fourth and fifth in Killington giant slaloms in previous years, finished 13th after winning the season’s first two races, slaloms in Levi, Finland, last week. She will be aiming for her sixth-straight Killington slalom win tomorrow, which would be the 27-year-olds 50th World Cup win in the discipline.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde took top spot in the men's downhill, marking his first ever podium finish at Lake Louise, Alberta.
The Norwegian, who is the defending champion of both the downhill and the super-G events finished with a time of 1:47.98. Austria's Daniel Hemetsberger came in second, falling short by 0.06 seconds, while Marco Odermatt managed his second podium of the season with a time of 1:48:08.
"It was definitely nerve-wracking sitting here," said Kilde after his win on waiting for the skiiers after him.
"I have been in that position before and it's always the same. You see people ski fast, and you want them to be behind you. Such a tight race, and it's more nerve-wracking here then at the start. But it's part of the game."
When asked about finally making the podium at Lake Louise, in his fourteenth time racing downhill at the mountain, he replied: "Starting with a victory here couldn't be better. Now I can just lower my shoulder, and do my skiing and keep on trying to fight for the victories again."
The downhill that was scheduled for Friday in Lake Louise was called off because of weather and rescheduled to Saturday, which replaced one of two planned super-G races. The super-G is now set to take place on Sunday.
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Stream the 2022-23 Alpine Skiing season live on Eurosport and discovery+.
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