All Things Lara Gut!

[jbotti]

I said this in a post on Dec 12 after Courcheval: "I will make one prediction from watching the race, I think Laura Gut will win a SG or two this year. Her second run today was really strong and very much like the Gut pre injury. As well the conditions and the visibility were pretty brutal today. Racers that are still unsure of themselves due to previous injuries never race well in these conditions and Gut would have put them sideways often on a course like this last year or the year before. She must be healthy and able to trust the knee."

She has met my prediction and then some, pretty much dominating the Women"s WC since mid January or so. Besides her two golds and a bronze at the Worlds (one of those in GS!) she has also won 4 SGs and 2 downhills in 2021 and she has taken the lead past Vhlova in the overall race. Vhlova has more tech events left (vs only one more speed race left before the WC finals in Lenzerheide), but Gut is racing so well I don't think anyone will bet against her to win the overall title this year.

One thing I will also mention, its a shame that Anna Veith did not heal from her injuries completely like Gut has. Seeing the two of them Duke it out in speed, GS and for the overall would have been amazing to watch.

Next year with a fully engaged and healthy Mikaela, a healthy Sofia Goggia (hopefully) and a returning cast of female skiers that have broken through this year or in the past couple (Leinsberger, Gisin, Vhlova, Brignone, Bassino) we can say for the first time in years that the women's circuit is just as competitive as the men's now. Should be very fun to watch next year!

[B.Mulligan]

One thing I will also mention, its a shame that Anna Veith did not heal from her injuries completely like Gut has. Seeing the two of them Duke it out in speed, GS and for the overall would have been amazing to watch.

Next year with a fully engaged and healthy Mikaela, a healthy Sofia Goggia (hopefully) and a returning cast of female skiers that have broken through this year or in the past couple (Leinsberger, Gisin, Vhlova, Brignone, Bassino) we can say for the first time in years that the women's circuit is just as competitive as the men's now. Should be very fun to watch next year!

Turns out this prediction was pretty spot on...and you can add the absolute beast Sara Hector and a revived Tessa Worley to the mix as well.

[B.Mulligan]

And Now a little well-deserved olympic Bling for Mrs. Gut Behrami.

[jbotti]

I enjoyed watching both the Men's and Women's SG. Those 5 GS turns 3/4 of the way down were really fun and you could clearly see who carved them and who scrubbed them. Many women got low on the line going through there as well, which really cost time. Coming out of those turns everyone needed absolutely perfect speed skiing tucks on that super flat section. Lindsey Vonn pointed out the exact moment that cost RCS the gold, where he stood up/opened up out of his tuck momentarily heading into the flat. He skied those 5 turns better than anyone. Mayer actually scrubbed a little, but Mayer was perfect in his tuck. Gut skied the 5 turns as clean or cleaner than anyone and was perfect in her tuck coming out.

Super fun to watch!

[B.Mulligan]

Another GS Victory over a talented field at Killington. She's quietly been the second best women's racer in two generations. In spite of a few serious injuries s across her career she has: 35 WC Wins, 2 World Championship golds (SG, GS), Olympic Gold (and few bronzes), 3 time discipline winner (SG), and one overall...and still looking great on and off the snow.