First victory for ÖSV

Ladies’ Downhill in Beaver Creek from 7 p.m. LIVE

Cornelia Hütter celebrates at the finish.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

A dream start for Austria's speed ladies: Cornelia Hütter was unbeatable on Saturday in the extremely difficult downhill in Beaver Creek! Thanks to a real hussar ride, the Styrian won ahead of the Italian Sofia Goggia (+0.16 seconds) and the Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami (+0.34). Hütter thus secured the first ÖSV victory of the current season.

The last division in the Alpine Ski World Cup to start the season on Saturday was the speed women. On the tricky "Birds of Prey" course, an Austrian woman made a big impression: At number eleven, Conny Hütter conjured up the best time in the snow with an uncompromising run and caught top favorite Sofia Goggia. The Italian speed queen had set the superior best time in the final training run.

Conny Hütter

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Sofia Goggia

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Cheers after a "wild as a bird" run
"Wild as a bird, that's how I skied down today. I kind of got there in parts, but the equipment went so well," beamed Hütter in the ORF interview after her triumph on the legendary US course. It was the 32-year-old's seventh World Cup victory in total, her third in the "supreme discipline". The downhill World Cup winner from last season thus made a perfect start to the winter. 

Hütter had to fear for the first Austrian victory in the Ski World Cup in the winter of the home World Championships for some time, because after the Swiss Michelle Gisin (+0.72), the Czech Olympic champion Ester Ledecka (+0.60) and, to the delight of the home fans, the US American Lauren Macuga (+0.52) also finished in the top ten, especially with start numbers 24 and 27. They all stayed ahead of the Italian co-favorite Federica Brignone (+0.87).

Haaser shows off with number 37
Ricarda Haaser (+0.56) also achieved a top result: With the high bib number 37, the ÖSV lady skied sensationally to fifth place. The Tyrolean had previously only been in the top ten in World Cup downhill races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, finishing tenth in 2017 and ninth in 2019. She rounded off a strong ÖSV result with the winner and another sextet in the top 23.

At the penultimate intermediate time, the 31-year-old was even 0.03 seconds ahead of Hütter. "But I can be happy with this place. I set out to show off my skiing, keep my skis on the ground and look for position wherever I could. I managed that very well," summed up the 2023 World Combined Championship bronze medallist.

Here is the final score:

Assinger: "Hütter has her skull under control"
ÖSV head coach Roland Assinger praised "his" two best skiers: "Rici (Haaser) can keep up in the steeps, she did a great job. Fifth place, that's her best speed performance ever." When asked about Hütter, the Carinthian "struggled with the emotions. Gut and Brignone presented themselves very well in training, but she (Hütter) shows that she is very experienced, has her head under control on race day and then she attacks 'all in'. That is simply a brutally strong performance." The woman so praised said it was "an honor" to win on the "Birds of Prey".

Super-G on Sunday
The other Austrians had nothing to do with the top places. Mirjam Puchner (+1.47), Stephanie Venier (+1.53), Christina Ager (+1.75), Nina Ortlieb (+1.86) on her comeback after breaking her tibia and fibula and Ariane Rädler (+1.98) were in 15th to 22nd place after 40 racers. A super-G will follow in Beaver Creek on Sunday (7 pm/live in the sportkrone.at ticker).