Swiss ski ladies shine in downhill race

First an unusual podium in the men's race, now an unusual podium in the women's race, but from a Swiss point of view a highly gratifying one. The Olympics in Sochi have their own rules and their own special results. Just three days ago, this could be experienced at first hand in the men's downhill race, when in the end it was not the crown favorites who received the medals. Today, the Olympics in Sochi afforded a novelty: two Olympic champions in the same race. The feat was achieved by Switzerland's Dominique Gisin and Slovenia's Tina Maze, who both crossed the finish line fastest with the same time.

The circle of favorites
Before the race, Lara Gut, Maria Höfl-Riesch, Tina Weirather, Anna Fenninger and Tina Maze were all expected. Lara Gut, who was unfortunate to drop out of the Super Combined after her great downhill performance (2nd place) in the Slalom, wanted to shine all the more here and make up for the painful slip-up two days earlier. Maria Höfl-Riesch, the Olympic champion in the Super Combined, was considered the crown favorite, but top racers such as Tina Maze, who after a difficult start to the season at the end of January drew attention to her improved form by winning a downhill in Cortina, Tina Weirather and Anna Fenninger, who regularly lead the World Cup, were also among the most promising medal contenders.

The race course
It was therefore somewhat surprising when Dominique Gisin, after overtaking her leading teammate Fabienne Suter, was not ousted from the podium by any of the following ladies, especially because in the World Cup one often had to experience that she was regularly beaten by the favorites and a podium finish was always only a temporary racing phenomenon; her best finish was a 7th place in Val d'Isère. Julia Mancuso, who surprisingly won the combined downhill, was without a chance today, as well as Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden, who over-rotated in a passage and dropped out. Tina Weirather did not compete at all due to injury. So they waited for Lara Gut with bib number 18, who had a great run and was slightly ahead at the 2nd and 4th intermediate time. The last passage to the finish had to decide it and to the astonishment of many she was a tenth of a second behind Dominique Gisin at the finish, annoying for her, she grabbed her head with the motto "This can't be true". Maria Höfl-Riesch followed shortly after, but she fluffed significantly this time and finished +1.17 seconds behind. Immediately after Höfl-Riesch, Tina Maze entered the race. She had struggled all season with her mediocre results, she who had so dominated the entire World Cup a season earlier and only got up to speed in Cortina at the end of January. And from the first intermediate time she was in the lead: with -0.02 seconds at the 1st intermediate time, with -0.09 seconds at the 2nd intermediate time, with -0.13 seconds at the 3rd intermediate time and with -0.38 seconds at the 4th and last intermediate time, actually a clear thing that she would take the lead, but lo and behold, at the end the exact same running time lit up for Tina Maze as Dominique Gisin: Two leaders and Lara Gut slipped to third. Now Anna Fenninger, Austria's great hope, started, but oh dear, she slipped in a curve passage and was eliminated unhappily, bad luck for the Austrians. Then the podium was set: two Olympic champions with Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze and a well-deserved bronze medal for Lara Gut. From the Swiss point of view an excellent performance, two Swiss women on the podium, three Swiss women among the top 5, what a ski day for the Swiss ski ladies!

Ranking alpine skiing, women downhill, Olympics Sotchi 2014
12.02.2014

DNS= Did not start, DNF=Did not finish