New Zealand ace Alice Robinson has continued her sizzling run of form with a breakthrough victory.
The Queenstown skier won her maiden super G world cup title, beating American great Lindsey Vonn in the process, in Switzerland yesterday.
Robinson, 24, who won the last two giant slalom rounds on the world cup circuit, stepped up to the faster discipline at St Moritz.
She showed all her speed and class as she claimed the first spot on a super G world cup podium by a New Zealand skier.
"I have always struggled in super G to feel the same nerves, energy, intensity and focus that I feel at giant slalom races.
"Today I was just telling myself ‘this is like a GS race, you’re a real competitor, you can do really well’.
"I think I was more focused than I usually am. I really wanted to nail the inspection, nail the warm-up, and I had such a clear plan of what I wanted to do."
The opening race of the FIS women’s super G world cup season was held on the Corviglia piste, which was in near-perfect condition following cold overnight temperatures in St Moritz.
Robinson, who was the sixth athlete on the course, reached speeds of more than 100kmh.
She faced a long wait in the leader’s chair in a tightly fought race in which the next 11 fastest racers finished within 1sec of her time.
However, as each athlete crossed the line, Robinson’s time remained unchallenged, confirming a historic victory.
"It’s my first super G podium and my first win, but I’ve been racing super G for a few years now and I’ve always wanted to crack it.
"I think today I had a really good mixture of the things I learned from the downhill trainings, and also the technical stuff that I’ve been so solid with in my GS.
"I was able to put it all together and have a really good run."
French skier Romane Miradoli finished second, 0.08sec behind Robinson, and Italian skier Sofia Goggia was third, 0.19sec off Robinson’s winning time.
The result marked Robinson’s seventh career world cup victory, adding to her six giant slalom wins, and the 21st world cup podium of her career.
— Allied Media
