The injured Shiffrin even fears for the Crans race: Gut-Behrami’s golden opportunity

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Lara Gut-Behrami (32) set the indicator. Not only that, she’s already in the fast lane! 95 points separate her from leader Mikaela Shiffrin (28, USA) in the overall World Cup. If the Ticino woman wins the giant slalom in Soldeu (And) on Saturday, she will take over the red number from the American star – then Gut-Behrami would be 5 points ahead. This is because Shiffrin is still injured and will suit up in Andorra. “My knee can’t handle the load yet,” she says.

Gut-Behrami has a golden opportunity to win the big crystal ball for the second time after 2016. At almost 33 years old – her birthday is April 27 – she would be the oldest person (male or female) in the history of the World Cup to achieve this feat. ‘I don’t think about that. There are still so many races left, so much can still happen. We will know more at the beginning of March,” she says.

“Mikaela mainly wants to get healthy”

Now some will object: slowly, slowly! Even if Gut-Behrami were to win in Soldeu – she won’t be competing in the slalom on Sunday – she would ultimately only have a small lead over Shiffrin. In addition, 14 more races are scheduled on the World Cup calendar. Everything is good. But: Gut-Behrami is in phenomenal shape, she is riding on cloud nine. In the last ten races she has been on the podium six times and won three times – most recently the Super-G in Cortina and the giant slalom at Kronplatz.

With Shiffrin the picture is reversed. She is the best skier in history, but this winter she is losing more and more skin. Three weeks ago he was still 420 points ahead of Gut-Behrami. The shocker followed in Cortina: she fell, overstretched her outer ligament and suffered a bone bruise.

“Unfortunately, her knee did not develop as Mikaela would have liked,” says Patrick Riml. The Austrian was alpine boss at the American association until the end of 2023 and alpine boss at Red Bull since January 1. He says: “Of course Mikaela wants to win the overall World Cup, but above all she wants to get healthy. There’s no point in forcing anything; that would be dangerous.”

First training in Crans on Wednesday

Shiffrin is currently working on her comeback in the sports therapy practice Huber and Mair in Innsbruck (Austria). Physiotherapist Regan Deewhirst, who knows her body exactly, is always by her side. This begs the question: should Shiffrin also miss the speed triplet in Crans-Montana USA? First, she should be pain-free – only then can she undergo stress tests on snow. This means: The race against time is in full swing.

The first downhill training on the Valais plateau is scheduled for Wednesday. For Riml it is clear: “If Mikaela misses these three races, it will be difficult for her in the overall World Cup. Because Lara simply drives sensationally. She has an advantage right now.”

Commemoration of “a massacre”

In addition, Shiffrin has not raced at Crans-Montana since 2017. At that moment she had decided not to start in the first combination after a number of heavy falls. “I don’t want to hurt myself,” she said. And: “This wasn’t a show, it was a bloodbath. It’s terrible.”

Although the second combination won shortly afterwards, she does not have only positive memories of Wallis. Riml: “That is not crucial. If Mikaela feels good, she will travel – otherwise not.” The latter case would open the door for Gut-Behrami in the overall World Cup.

Source : Blick