Semmering GS

[jbotti]

For those that missed it, I think this run below may be Mikaela's best GS run ever and she made a mistake in the bottom quarter of the course. I think her lead was around .72 after the first run and it would have been more than a second had she not make the mistake. She is clearly quite comfortable on this hill (as she won all 3 races, 2 GS and 1 Slalom). After her win at Zagreb in the slalom, that makes 5 wins in a row over 3 disciplines (she won the last SG at St. Moritz). It also brings her to 81 WC wins. 1 behind Lindsey Vonn for most wins ever by a female and she only needs 6 more wins to break Stenmark's record.

For those that thought the competition had finally caught up to her, she is proving this season, that the bulk of her issues (and lack of dominance similar to previous years) were about the loss of her father. The competition is clearly better but her head is finally right as some healing has clearly occurred after that huge blow. Having said that several women are not skiing well with Gisin, struggling with her new equipment and Liensberger looking somewhat lost (at least vs her former self). Vhlova, has also clearly taken the foot off the gas pedal and I knew she would have fewer wins this year when she said over the summer that she had nothing else to prove or shoot for in ski racing. No way you win big and often when you are saying things like this!

I think Shiffrin has a great shot to pass Stenmark this year. She has 7 wins and needs 6 more this season.

But this is a great GS run below. So nice to see her racing in top form again, and I think her GS (at least on this hill) is better than I have ever seen it before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2V69uhzEAU

[dougtee]

i was worried about her so seeing this return to form has been immensely satisfying. fun rooting for an all time great that also happens to be immensely likeable as a person. downhill always fun, but very exciting for super g this weekend.

[thatguy_onthehill]

Very cool to watch great skiing. I especially enjoyed how many " white pass" turns she usedcto stay on line in that challenging set.

DH today was pretty sweet too!

[tigernbr]

Where are you watching? Is it still on Peacock?

[jbotti]

Only events from Austria and the US are on Peacock this year. All the rest are on skiandsnowboardlive.com