Linz, Dec. 28 (BUS): French giant slalom specialist Tessa Worley finally returned to the Women’s World Cup podium after 11 months, winning the final GS title of the calendar year on Tuesday in the absence of Olympic champion Michaela Schiffrin and world champion Lara Gutt. . – Bahrami.
Six days earlier, the two-time world champion missed her first top-three result since January by eight hundredths of a second on snow on her home ground, reports the Associated Press.
Racing in the flat lights at Schlossberg, Worley maintained the lead in the first round to beat defending champion Petra Flova by three tenths of a second.
Worley became only the third skater to have at least 15 World Cup wins in giant slalom, after Phryne Schneider (20) and Annemarie Moser-Brühl (16).
The win was only Worley’s second in the past three years, although she has been in the top 10 in her last 11 giant slalom races at the World Cup.
Sweden’s Sarah Hector, who finished second after the opening round, made two costly mistakes in her last career and fell to third, 0.38 behind Worley. It was the third consecutive crowning result for Hector, who won her first GS in seven years last week.
Shiffrin’s main contender for the overall title, Italian speed specialist Sofia Goggia, finished second with 1.72 in 12th and cut her deficit to 93 points. The American also remained at the top of the GS standings, leading Hector by 18 points.
Shiffrin announced Monday that she has tested positive for COVID-19, knocking America out of the GS and slalom on Wednesday, the last two races of the calendar year.
The Swiss ski team said Gut Bahrami completed a 10-day quarantine after testing positive on December 17, but her tests remained positive.
Race director Peter Gerdol and another FIS official were also absent from the event after positive tests.
Two elite riders who had sat in previous events with coronavirus returned on Tuesday: New Zealander Alice Robinson finished fifth after the opening round but missed the gate shortly before finishing her second round, and world slalom champion Katharina Linsberger of Austria finished 25th. .
Spectators were not allowed to attend the race in the Linzer Dolomites amid Austria’s strict anti-coronavirus measures.
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