Cornelia Hütter pulled off a big surprise in the fight for the Downhill World Cup in the last race of the season. The Austrian overtook the favorite Lara Gut-Behrami in the rankings and grabbed the small crystal ball for the 2023/24 season. Kira Weidle finished what was a rather disappointing season for her in eighth place.
In an exciting final, Cornelia Hütter won with a lead of 0.17 seconds over the Slovenian Ilka Stuhec and the Italian Nicol Delago (+0.49s). “It’s still going to work out somehow,” said Hütter, happy about the ball and the motivation for the upcoming home World Cup. The success on Saturday in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, was also made possible by Lara Gut-Behrami, who was recently leading in the World Cup and did not show her best downhill race. She ended up in 17th place and was no longer able to prevent the Austrian from winning the overall ranking.
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Only Vernier and Hütter were able to stop Gut-Behrami
Vernier turned a strong time in the snow in 1:45.08 minutes and, to the cheers of the fans, delivered a final challenge to Gut-Behrami, who started the race four starting numbers later. Cornelia Hütter also ensured that the pressure on the Swiss increased with her fastest running time. She had to be at least in the top 15 in order to collect crucial points. However, the Swiss woman was not in top form and was 1.89 seconds slower than Hütter. As a result, she missed the number of points required for overall victory. Since no other driver was able to push Hütter out of first place, the ball deservedly went to the Austrian.
Dreeßen is excited
Former speed professional Thomas Dreeßen was also a spectator of the final speed spectacle: “It’s nice to see it from the other side.” said the retired best German ski racer. When he looks up, it hurts, but “I’m absolutely at peace with the decision because my body wouldn’t cooperate anymore.”
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Weidle’s conciliatory end to a difficult season
He was also able to follow the journey of his former teammate Kira Weidle on the Zwölferkogel route. After sixth place the day before in the Super G, the Starnberg native had also aimed for a good placement in the downhill. However, there wasn’t going to be a podium finish in the last race of the season either. Weidle came eighth. “It was actually a good ride,” Weidle said. But the external circumstances and the wind weren’t right for them. “You have nothing to blame yourself for.” The focus for her is now on the wedding coming up in the summer and her bachelor’s thesis. With a view to the new season, every stone will now be “turned over, what worked, what didn’t,” added the Starnberger.
Overall, it wasn’t a good season for the DSV in the speed area: “It wasn’t a season that satisfied us,” said Alpine director Wolfgang Maier on the sidelines of the season finale.