First World Cup victory for Emma Aicher

Emma Aicher finally reaches the best in the world in Kvitfjell. The 21-year-old German athlete stands on top of the World Cup podium for the first time on Saturday in the second Downhill event in Kvitfjell. Cornelia Hütter is in third place. The day before in the first Downhill in Kvitfjell, Cornelia Hütter and Emma Aicher celebrate a double victory for the HEAD Worldcup Rebels.
Lara Gut-Behrami defends her lead in the discipline ranking finishing in second place in the Super-G on Sunday.

"Emma Aicher's performance is incredible. On the first day she came second with a super run, and on the second day she went all in and won. That is sensational," said HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "It is a win that makes everything worthwhile for the team. There was some discussion about whether or not she should focus on the speed disciplines. She already skied superbly at the World Championships and now it is clear that this is the right way to go. Emma Aicher is still very young, so if she is already winning races at this age, then she has a very bright future ahead of her. She has also performed very well in the Slalom and can ski at the highest level in all disciplines. She is also very down-to-earth. I can envisage her following in the footsteps of the German athlete Maria Riesch. Cornelia Hütter had completely different expectations in Saalbach, but that was a very special Downhill race at the World Championships. Bagging first and third place in Kivitfjell is yet another move up the table in the Downhill World Cup. She was also skiing very well again in the Super-G, but then unfortunately made a serious mistake. Lara Gut-Behrami had a sensational run, although she lost too much time in one section. While that put her back 20 points in the overall World Cup, it was a great performance and we are very happy that she is leading the Super-G ranking."

"I'm very happy with the way I'm skiing at the moment"

All eyes are on Emma Aicher who has already delivered many top performances this season. In Kvitfjell, the German athlete finally joined the ranks of the best skiers in the world. Previously, the 21-year-old's personal best was fifth place in the Super-G in Kvitfjell in 2023. In the second Downhill event, she celebrated being on top of the podium for the first time. "That is mega, I am extremely satisfied with my run. I try to focus only on my skiing, because I have no influence on anything else. It's unbelievable, I didn't think it would happen here now. I thought it would be more likely that I would do well in the Slalom. I'm very happy with the way I'm skiing at the moment. I hope that I can repeat this many more times," said a delighted Emma Aicher at the finish.

Five HEAD World Cup Rebels in the top nine

Third place on Saturday went to Cornelia Hütter. The 32-year-old Austrian athlete, who won the Downhill on Friday, is now just 16 points behind Federica Brignone in the discipline ranking. "Being in the top 5 is always good, being on the podium is mega. It was another exciting race, it's fun and I hope it continues like this," said Cornelia Hütter. A total of five HEAD World Cup Rebels finished in the top nine in this race: Laura Pirovano from Italy came fifth, Lara Gut-Behrami and Corinne Suter from Switzerland were eighth and ninth. World Cup points were also won by Lindsey Vonn from the USA in 16th place, Magdalena Egger from Austria 18th, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie form Norway 20th, Delia Durrer from Switzerland 22nd, Nadine Fest and Ariane Rädler from Austria in 23rd and 26th place, Laura Gauche from France 26th, and Elena Curtoni from Italy in 29th place.

"All in all, it was a really cool run"

Cornelia Hütter claimed her ninth World Cup victory in the first Downhill in Kvitfjell on Friday, her fourth in this discipline and third this season following the Downhill in Beaver Creek and the Super-G in St. Moritz in December. "It was at the limit, and I skied some sections of the run really well. The middle section was not what I expected. All in all, it was a really cool run. I had the confidence I needed at the start, and kept that for 95 per cent of the race. Emma made it extremely exciting once again, and we've seen over the past few weeks that her skiing is pretty neat," said Cornelia Hütter. "I enjoyed a really cool start to the season, then I was ill, didn't have the flow and perhaps put too much pressure on myself. Saalbach was like a total reset for me, which is why I said that the second half of the season starts now, and I want to keep skiing like this until the end."

First World Cup podium for Emma Aicher

Just 15 hundredths of a second behind Cornelia Hütter, Emma Aicher was delighted with her first World Cup podium finish in second place. Starting with bib number 27 made the race for victory even more exciting. "I had a really good feeling from the training sessions and did what I set out to do. But I wasn't at all sure that things would turn out this well," explained Emma Aicher. Laura Pirovano also finished in the top 15 on Friday in sixth place, Lara Gut-Behrami was twelfth, Lindsey Vonn 13th, and Corinne Suter 14th. World Cup points also went to Kajsa Vickhoff Lie in 16th place, Ariane Rädler 18th, Delia Durrer 20th, Elena Curtoni 22nd, and Nadine Fest and Stephanie Venier from Austria in 25th and 26th place.

55 points in the lead in the Super-G ranking

The Kvitfjell weekend was rounded off on Sunday with the Super-G. Lara Gut-Behrami has retained her lead in the discipline ranking with her second place, 55 points in the lead. She just missed victory by six hundredths of a second. It was the 33-year-old Swiss athlete's fifth super-G podium this season following her victory in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in January and her second places in Beaver Creek and St. Moritz in December and Cortina d'Ampezzo in January. "It's great to be on the podium. The run wasn't that great though. I am skiing well, but I keep making big mistakes. I would like to gradually stop doing that. When I'm at the start, I am just focusing on doing my best. If you start doing the maths, you've already lost," said Lara Gut-Behrami. The top 15 included Kajsa Vickhoff Lie in fifth place, Stephanie Venier eighth, Elena Curtoni ninth, Nadine Fest eleventh, and Corinne Suter in 15th place. In the top 30 were Lindsey Vonn in 16th place, Laura Pirovano 17th, Ariane Rädler 19th, Laura Gauche 21st, and Cornelia Hütter in 23rd place.

Lukas Feurstein clocks fastest run

In the men's Giant Slalom in Kranjska Gora on Saturday, Joan Verdu was the best HEAD World Cup Rebel in ninth place. The Andorran athlete was in third place after the first run. Anton Grammel from Germany finished the race in 15th place, Lukas Feurstein from Austria 21st, Bridger Gile from the USA 24th and Loevan Parand from France finished 26th. Lukas Feurstein clocked the fastest time on run two, while Bridger Gile and Loevan Parand notched up World Cup points for the first time. On Sunday, the best HEAD World Cup Rebel in the Slalom was Atle Lie McGrath from Norway in eighth place. Armand Marchant from Belgium came 13th, Albert Popov from Bulgaria 14th, and Dave Ryding from Great Britain 24th.