Colorado was the center of the ski racing universe this past weekend, when Swiss men dominated the World Cup alpine ski races at Beaver Creek and Copper hosted a slate of women’s FIS speed races, including the return of Lindsey Vonn.
Swiss men claimed four of nine podium spots at Birds of Prey: Thomas Tumler won yesterday’s giant slalom, superstar Marco Odermatt won Saturday’s super-G, and Justin Murisier won Friday’s downhill with Odermatt in second.
Odermatt, the reigning Crystal Globe winner for GS, has never won his marquee event at Beaver Creek. He was the clear favorite all three days this weekend before skiing out of the GS gates, clearing the way for Tumler to win his inaugural World Cup.
Bouncing back after a rough start to the season was Vail’s own River Radamus. At one point he was fastest on the GS course before slipping to seventh place. He finished eighth at super-G, making him the fastest American in both races.
Bryce Bennet claimed sixth on the downhill track, his best finish ever at Birds of Prey.
Feel-good story of the weekend was 24-year-old Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, a former Norwegian ski racer now competing for Brazil. He finished just 0.12 seconds behind Tumler for second in GS – the first World Cup alpine ski racing medal ever for the South American nation of 216.4 million.
Macuga for the win
Copper gave race fans a preview of the upcoming women’s Birds of Prey races with two days of FIS speed races. All the big names were there, including Lindsey Vonn, making her return to professional ski racing at 40 years old.
Vonn didn’t stand on the podium at Copper. She finished outside the top-20 in all four races.
Instead, U.S. teammate Lauren Macuga set the tone with a sweep of both super-G races. She beat a pair of Italian veterans, Marta Bassino and Federica Brignone, a onetime overall Crystal Globe winner.
Macuga remained the fastest American on track all weekend at Copper. She was top-10 at Saturday’s downhill behind Austrian winners Mirjam Puchner and Cornelia Huetter.
World Cup women now head west on I-70 to Beaver Creek for their turn on the Birds of Prey course. Training opens tomorrow. Downhill racing starts Friday.