The Albany Gazette - Huetter takes super-G lead as Goggia crashes out

On a morning when many leading skiers struggled to hold their lines, Huetter, skiing eighth, delivered a smooth run and a fast finish to cross the line in 1 minute 13.26 seconds for her fifth World Cup victory and fourth in the super-G.

"I can find in every run something to get better, but I think it was close to perfect," said Huetter, who is the first Austrian woman to win a World Cup race on home snow in seven years.

"It's nice to see the green lights in the finish and for sure when you're in Austria it's on the top.

"I've never done that before (winning a World Cup race at home). It's the first time and I hope I can feel that in the next races too."

Norwegian Kajsa Vickhoff Lie skied two slots later and finished 0.09sec slower than Huetter.

"I'm getting closer and closer but it's OK to lose behind an Austrian in Austria. Then everyone's happy," said Lie.

Swiss veteran Kara Gut-Berahmi was third at 0.21 seconds.

Italian Sofia Goggia, who started the day top of the super-G standings, came roaring out on the course but lacked the necessary control and slid off.

Her compatriot Federica Brignone was fourth and has now been overtaken at the top of the discipline standings by Huetter, who has shown tremendous consistency all season having finished in the top four in all four previous speed races, with two podiums.

The top two in the overall standings did not race on Friday. Mikaela Shiffrin, who is top on 929 points, is skipping the Austrian stage to nurse a cold and slalom specialist Petra Vlhova, second on 722, stayed away.

The women continue on Saturday with a downhill and Sunday with a second super-G.

(K.Lee--TAG)