Brignone gives up against Gut-Behrami: ‘Lara will win all four balls’

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In Are (Sd) winter is still okay. Cross-country skiers and snowmobilers take their laps on the lake next to Störtloppsbacken, where the best giant slalom skiers conjure up turns in the snow. Unlike Switzerland, the crocuses here are far from blooming and minus 14 degrees are expected next week anyway. This makes Sara Schelin happy. She is community director of Ares and says: “This is great for our tourism. This winter we have rarely had more snow. And the cold is wonderful too.”

Not only is the weather frosty this Saturday, but so is the mood of Lara Gut-Behrami (32) – at least immediately after the race. “It irritates me how I rode in the second run,” she says. Indeed, some mistakes creep in during their journey – Gut-Behrami only manages the 16th best running time. Overall, she falls from second place at halftime to third place at the end. It’s not the end of the world, you might think. But simply: Gut-Behrami is made of special stuff – she is not only interested in the bare result, but also in her driving style. “I had trouble finding the right timing and could never really accelerate,” she says.

Brignone: “I gave up a long time ago”

Contrary to many expectations, Gut-Behrami has not yet cleared the giant slalom ball. Federica Brignone (33, It) flew from 3rd to 1st place after a brilliant second run and reduced her gap in the discipline rankings from 135 to 95 points. This means: The decision will be made during the World Cup final. Gut-Behrami doesn’t care much about that, she claims. “I always said that the bullets would only be distributed in Saalbach.” Sounds down to earth. The fact is: she would have liked to enforce the provisional decision in Are. This ball is especially important to Gut-Behrami because it is her favorite discipline. She would win the prize for the first time at the age of almost 33.

Maybe something else is going wrong? “I can reassure all Lara fans. I won’t overtake them again,” says Brignone. In fact, 15th place in one week is enough for Gut-Behrami – no matter what. “I gave up this fight a long time ago. Lara rides so strongly and consistently, there is nothing you can do about it.” Everything has also been decided in the general World Cup, where Brignone (286 points behind) still has theoretical chances. So would she congratulate Gut-Behrami with the big crystal ball? “In each case!”

That leaves the downhill and super-G ratings. In these disciplines, Gut-Behrami has a buffer of 68 and 69 points respectively. This is also comfortable. Brignone is convinced: “Lara will win all four balls. It is impossible to intercept them anymore.” Her brother and coach Davide thinks the same way. «The way Lara is currently riding, she would have to destroy herself for it not to work. We don’t want that and it won’t happen. ”

Holes? No view? Gut-Behrami is also convincing

Back to the Swedish winter. While superstar Mikaela Shiffrin (28, USA) makes her return to the slalom on Sunday, her colleagues have to fight hard in the first run. It snowed five centimeters last night and there was a biting wind. The sun never rises, but it beats and shakes like crazy.

“There are holes in it,” says Valais Camille Rast (25) after the first run. “You don’t see anything,” says local hero Sara Hector (31, Swede). “It is very difficult,” summarizes Michelle Gisin (30). And Lara Gut-Behrami? Different laws seem to apply to them. She masters the pitfalls of the course in a playful way. She doesn’t push the boundaries, and she doesn’t have to. Paradoxically, in the second run, when the sun is shining, things don’t go so well.

Mocked, pitied, egged on

After the award ceremony, some time later, Gut-Behrami’s greatest anger disappeared. “Even though I didn’t ride well, the podium place is great. I haven’t really had much success here in the past.” Gut-Behrami is right. The low point was the 2019 World Cup, when she finished 21st at the World Giant Slalom, 3.07 seconds behind. Almost no one believed at the time that she was the things could change.

The conventional wisdom was: Gut-Behrami is fed up, she has other priorities after marrying Valon Behrami, and she will resign soon. Then-Swiss alpine director Markus Wolf criticized her solo effort with her father and coach Pauli Gut. Wolff: “Lara has never won a gold medal at major events. To put it bluntly, she doesn’t know how to do it. And we employ many coaches who have guided athletes to gold.”

Dismissal? Gut-Behrami is already looking ahead

Those times are long gone. Gut-Behrami has prevailed and is a two-time world champion (2021) and Olympic champion (2022). And the relationship with Swiss-Ski is also relaxed, just as she is taking things slower. “I’m enjoying the last few races I have left,” she says. How many more are there? SRF expert Tina Weirather (33) recently speculated that Gut-Behrami, contrary to her announcements, could quit after this winter. Gut-Behrami made it clear that this was not a problem when she was asked about Brignone: “Fede is currently riding at an incredible level. It’s nice to see that. Maybe I can do it the same way next year.”

When Gut-Behrami says this, the clouds over Are have disappeared. Winter no longer only shows its hard side, but also its most beautiful side. And Gut-Behrami can laugh again.

Source : Blick