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Ski globes for Kriechmayr, Gut-Behrami as weather chaos continues
By Sim Sim Wissgott
Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria (L) and Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland (R) hold their World Cup crystal globes in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 18, 2021. /CGTN montage of Getty photos

Vincent Kriechmayr of Austria (L) and Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland (R) hold their World Cup crystal globes in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 18, 2021. /CGTN montage of Getty photos

The weather continued to wreak havoc at ski World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland on Thursday, forcing the cancellation of two more races but with little impact on the super-G crystal globes, which went to Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr and Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami.

Wednesday's downhill races already had to be canceled due to bad weather, and unexpected heavy snowfall overnight, coupled with thick fog, caused organizers to delay the women's and men's super-G on Thursday before scrapping them altogether.

Under International Ski Federation (FIS) rules, canceled races during finals are not rescheduled.

As a result, Kriechmayr, who was leading in the super-G standings with 401 points, was awarded the season's World Cup trophy in the discipline.

Gut-Behrami had already secured hers over two weeks ago thanks to her unassailable point lead that meant none of her challengers could catch up with her.

Read more:

Downhill crystal globes go to Goggia and Feuz, after races cancelled

Freshly crowned ski world champ Gut-Behrami nabs super-G globe

This marks the third super-G globe for the 29-year-old Swiss and crowns a stellar season in which she also won three world championships medals, including two gold. 

The crystal globe confirms Gut-Behrami as the season's uncontested super-G queen, with four wins and one podium in six races. Her absolute dominance in the discipline was evident from her final tally of 525 points, a whopping 202 points ahead of her closest rival Federica Brignone of Italy.

Fog forced the cancellation of the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women's and men's super-G races in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 18, 2021. /Getty

Fog forced the cancellation of the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women's and men's super-G races in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 18, 2021. /Getty

Kriechmayr's trophy was somewhat less certain ahead of Thursday's cancellation, but his sole challenger, Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, would have had to make up 83 points to snatch it away.

This is the first crystal globe for the 29-year-old Austrian, who had an uneven season before turning it around with super-G wins in Kitzbuehel and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. At world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo in February, he then kicked it up a notch, delivering sensational performances to crush the competition and win gold in both the downhill and super-G.

The World Cup globe, on 401 points, now caps the best season yet of his career.

Ski mathematics

While Gut-Behrami will be glad to take home the small crystal globe, the canceled races on Wednesday and Thursday throw her plans to win the overall globe in disarray.

The Swiss trails Slovakia's Petra Vlhova by 96 points in the overall standings and was hoping to overtake her by taking maximum points in the speed races. Instead, the Slovak now has two chances in her preferred disciplines – the slalom and giant slalom – to extend her lead on her Swiss rival.

For France's Alexis Pinturault, chasing his first-ever overall globe, the canceled races come as good news as they prevented his closest challenger Odermatt from gaining extra points. The Swiss currently stands 31 points behind Pinturault with 1,100 points.

Slalom and giant slalom races are scheduled for the weekend, after the team event on Friday. 

World Cup crystal globes decided so far:

Women:

Downhill – Sofia Goggia (ITA)

Super-G – Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI)

Giant slalom – Marta Bassino (ITA)

Men:

Downhill – Beat Feuz (SUI)

Super-G – Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT)

Slalom – Marco Schwarz (AUT)

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