Swiss Malorie Blanc delighted her home crowd in Crans-Montana with her maiden World Cup win on Saturday. Blanc topped the super-g race with the best time of 1 minute 17.
Swiss Malorie Blanc delighted her home crowd in Crans-Montana with her maiden World Cup win on Saturday.
Blanc topped the super-g race with the best time of 1 minute 17.34 seconds, beating Olympic champion Sofia Goggia of Italy by 0.18 seconds.
Third place went to Breezy Johnson of the United States.
US star Lindsey Vonn was not competing after a crash in the downhill on Friday.
The last women's downhill before the Olympics was cancelled after Vonn became the third skier from the first six to crash.
Organizers said that snowfall and poor visibility led to the cancellation.
Discipline World Cup leader Vonn, who had won two of the previous five races and also made the podium in the other three, lost control after a jump in a turn and slid into the safety nets.
Vonn, 41, managed to ski down on her own but she seemed to have hurt her left knee.
She was forced to miss Saturday's super-g, but said on Instagram that "my Olympic dream is not over."
Vonn came out of retirement last season with a partially artificial right knee in a bid to medal at the Winter Games.
The Crans-Montana races, which also include a men's downhill on Sunday, are the last before the Milan/Cortina Games which open in a week's time.
They are also rehearsals for next year's world championships in Crans-Montana.
The races come one month after 40 people died and more than 100 were injured in a bar fire during a New Year's Eve party in Crans-Montana.
While investigations are ongoing it was agreed to stage the ski races as planned but in a much more sombre atmosphere, with all activities limited to the slopes and the finish area.
Governing body Swiss Ski said the supporting programme would be discreet, with moments of silence and remembrance. All planned events in the centre of Crans-Montana are cancelled.
Category: General Sports
