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It was a picture-perfect day at Saalbach, Austria, this morning on Thursday, February 6, and the Super-G course set by Team USA’s coach Alex Hödelmoser was fast and sporty. Victory at the 2025 World Championships went to Austria’s Stephanie Venier, who narrowly demoted Federica Brignone to second place by 0.10 seconds. Rounding out the podium were two skiers in equal third with USA’s Lauren Macuga tying with Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie.
Opening the race in bib 1 was France’s Laura Gauche, who was smooth and flawless on her run, setting the pace with 1:21.69 minutes. Sitting in bib 1 is always difficult as there is no benchmark, but Gauche’s time remained the fastest for the following four skiers. Laura Pirovano in bib 2 was faster than Gauche in the top section but gave back the lead on the mid-section and struggled with the steeper bottom section, finishing 0.50 seconds behind the French ski racer. Austria’s Ricarda Haaser in bib 3, unfortunately, crashed after a smaller jump but thankfully seemed without major injuries. Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin in bib 4 was fast on the top and was around a third of a second ahead of Gauche but, like Pirovano before her, gave back time on the mid-section and could not pick up the speed into the bottom section, finishing 0.42 seconds behind Gauche. Italy’s Marta Bassino, the defending Super-G champion from 2023 could not quite bring her form from two years ago and finished behind Gauche, a tenth of a second ahead of Gisin.
Then another Italian was in the gate, Federica Brignone in bib 6, who is the current overall leader in the 2024-25 World Cup season. Brignone was dominant from the start, mastering the top section almost half a second ahead of Gauche and skiing from the Panorama jump smoothly into the steep section, picking up even more speed for the bottom section and extending her lead on Gauche by an incredible 1.12 seconds.
Unfortunately, Brignone’s reign in the leader’s seat was not meant to last as Austria’s Stephanie Venier in bib 7 snatched the lead by 0.10 seconds. Venier seemed poised for second place but managed to pick up speed on Brignone in the bottom section of the course and unseated the Italian from the leader’s seat with a time of 1:20.47 minutes. Switzerland’s Corinne Suter in bib 8 could not endanger Venier’s lead, despite a strong top section, skiing across the finish 1.26 seconds behind Venier and 0.04 seconds behind Gauche. Likewise, her teammate Lara Gut-Behrami, who leads the Super-G standings for the 2024-25 season also failed to beat the rival from neighboring Austria, finishing 0.70 seconds behind Venier.
Competing in bib 10 was Norway’s Kajsa Lie, who had claimed third place at the World Championships in 2023. The Norwegian was strong on the top section and delivered a technically clean and fast run but gave back some time on the Panorama jump and skied into the big gap between Brignone and Gut-Behrami, claiming third just 0.24 seconds behind the leader. Italy’s Sofia Goggia in bib 11 came close to endangering the order with a strong finish but ultimately failed to ski into the top 3, finishing 0.06 seconds behind Lie in fourth place. Czechia’s Ester Ledecka in bib 12 delivered a fast and furious run with a fast start but could not keep her speed into the lower section of the course after some minor mistakes, finishing 0.63 seconds behind Venier and 0.07 seconds ahead of Gut-Behrami. Elena Curtoni in bib 13 was another skier with the potential to shake up the order but finished 0.06 seconds behind Gut-Behrami in seventh place.
Then it was time for the first skier from Team USA: Lauren Macuga in bib 14. The American had claimed her first World Cup victory in St. Anton, Austria, earlier this year and was certainly a force to be reckoned with today. Macuga had a strong start but gave back a little time on the mid-section. While many before her had lost time into the finish, Macuga managed to pick up speed, skiing into equal third with Norway’s Lie, 0.24 seconds behind the leader.
- Related: USA’s Lauren Macuga Claims Historic Super-G Victory at FIS Alpine World Cup in St. Anton, Austria
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Neither Cornelia Hütter from Austria nor Alice Robinson from New Zealand could shake up the podium order despite looking strong, finishing ahead of Gauche but behind Curtoni. Coming dangerously close to unseating Lie and Macuga from third place was Germany’s Emma Aicher, who delivered an aggressive run. After a strong start, she was just marginally behind Venier on the top section of the course but could not quite get the speed needed to unseat the duo, skiing across the finish 0.52 seconds behind Venier into what was ultimately sixth place.
Team USA’s skiers delivered a strong race, with Breezy Johnson in bib 23 finishing the World Championships in 19th place, while teammate Keely Cashman in bib 27 finished in 24th place. Lindsey Vonn in bib 30 recorded a DNF after getting her right arm caught in a gate on the mid-section of the course. Vonn had been struggling with the flu and admitted to not being in top shape. The collision with the gate looked painful, and the American was holding her elbow in agony on the side of the race course. We hope she suffered no fracture and can compete in the Downhill on Saturday, February 8. Mikaela Shiffrin opted to not compete and focus on her strongest disciplines: Giant Slalom and Slalom, instead. Shiffrin also chose not to compete in the Combined with Vonn as some had hoped.
The 2025 Alpine World Championships continue tomorrow, February 7, with the Men’s Super-G.
