First victory of the season for Emma Aicher

The HEAD Worldcup Rebels yet again deliver a dazzling performance in the second Downhill event in St. Moritz on Saturday, with Emma Aicher taking her first victory of the season. Lindsey Vonn confirms her top form by finishing second, following up her sensational victory on Friday. As a result, the American athlete leaves Switzerland as the discipline leader in the Downhill World Cup.

"Emma Aicher's victory followed by Lindsey Vonn in second place in the Downhill was sensational. Everyone in the team skied at a very high level. The Super-G was a difficult race. For Lindsey, the podium was so close. Several younger athletes skied very well too, so it was a superb result overall in the Super-G as well," said HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "In the men's Slalom, Oscar Andreas Sandvik, Hans Grahl-Madsen and Matthias Iten were all in the top ten, which is a good result. It was a challenging race. Very little water had been used to prepare the run, which is why it deteriorated so quickly. The sun also disappeared during the second run, meaning that the first starters had an advantage. Atle Lie McGrath dropping out was a major setback, naturally. He had skied very well right up to that point. There were eleven of our athletes on the second run, and that's very satisfying."

"I just wanted to do my thing"

Emma Aicher started the summer break having won two victories in March: the Downhill in Kvitfjell and the Super-G in La Thuile. This season, the 22-year-old German athlete is continuing her run of success by again demonstrating her versatility: following her third place in the Slalom in Levi in November, Emma Aicher won her first victory of the season at high speed in the Downhill event in St. Moritz. "I wanted to have more confidence in myself this season, and I am happy that I have managed to do that. I just wanted to do my thing. I am satisfied with my performance, and it's getting better from one run to the next," said a delighted Emma Aicher at the finish.

Lindsey Vonn notches up 180 points in the Downhill World Cup

Just 24 hundredths of a second behind Emma Aicher, and following her dream result in the first Downhill event on Friday, Lindsey Vonn finished in second place in the second race. This means that with 180 points, the 41-year-old American athlete takes the lead in the Downhill World Cup. "I was too tight taking the jump in the middle. Reaching the podium though, I have to be happy with that. When I have got the speed then I know that everything is possible. I am very happy with my speed," said Lindsey Vonn.

Six HEAD World Cup Rebels in the top ten

With Laura Pirovano from Italy in sixth place and Magdalena Egger, Nina Ortlieb, and Ariane Rädler from Austria in seventh, eighth and tenth place, a total of six HEAD Worldcup Rebels landed in the top ten. World Cup points were also won by Cornelia Hütter from Austria in 16th place, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway, who was 18th, Keely Cashman and Allison Mollin from the USA 21st and 22nd, Delia Durrer from Switzerland 25th, Laura Gauche from France 26th, Elena Curtoni from Italy 28th, and Nadine Fest from Austria 30th.

Lindsey Vonn misses her next podium by eight hundredths of a second

The first Super-G event of the season rounded off the weekend of racing in St. Moritz. Even though there were no podium finishes for the HEAD team this time, the athletes put in an excellent performance. Yet again, there were six HEAD Worldcup Rebels in the top ten: Lindsey Vonn, who just missed the podium by eight hundredths of a second, finished fourth, Laura Gauche was fifth, Elena Curtoni sixth, Laura Pirovano eighth, Cornelia Hütter ninth, and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie tenth. Points were also bagged by Nina Ortlieb in 13th place, Keely Cashman 14th, Magdalena Egger 15th, Stephanie Brunner from Austria 19th, Tricia Mangan from the USA 21st, Ariane Rädler 25th, Nadine Fest 26th, and Cande Moreno from Andorra 28th.

Oscar Andreas Sandvik finishes fifth in the Slalom

On Sunday, in the men's Slalom in Val d’Isere, Oscar Andreas Sandvik reached an excellent fifth place. This is the best result in the World Cup for the 21-year-old Norwegian athlete so far; his previous personal best being two 15th places. Also delighted to celebrate their first World Cup points are Hans Grahl-Madsen from Norway who started with bib number 50 and finished in sixth place, and Matthias Iten from Switzerland with bib number 61 who finished tenth. Points also went to Laurie Taylor from Britain in 12th place, Albert Popov from Bulgaria who finished 19th, Armand Marchant from Belgium 22nd, Johannes Strolz from Austria 23rd, and Billy Major from Britain 24th. In the Giant Slalom on Saturday in Val d'Isere, Alexander Schmid from Germany clocked the fifth fastest time on the second run to finish 13th as the best athlete in the HEAD team. Atle Lie McGrath from Norway was 17th, and Alexis Pinturault from France finished 22nd.