Brignone on verge of World Cup glory with La Thuile super-G triumph / Photo: © AFP
Brignone on verge of World Cup glory with La Thuile super-G triumph
Federica Brignone put one hand on the alpine skiing World Cup after winning Friday's super-G in front of delighted home fans in La Thuile.
A sensational run from Brignone gave her victory in the Italian alps by just 0.01sec over her compatriot Sofia Goggia.
It extended her lead in the overall standings on Lara Gut-Behrami to 382 points.
It was a near-perfect display from the 34-year-old who was raised nearby in the Aosta Valley and virtually guaranteed her a second World Cup title after also claiming giant slalom gold at this year's world championships.
"I said yesterday that I wanted to get to the finish on my piste with the green light and that was my goal for today, I wasn't thinking about anything else," Brignone told broadcaster RAI.
Brignone can consider herself World Cup champion as only four races remain this year, at the season finals in Sun Valley which start next weekend.
And one of those four will be the final slalom of the campaign, a race that neither Brignone nor Gut-Behrami would normally run.
It would take a miracle for Swiss Gut-Behrami to retain the crystal globe, and she is also at risk of losing her super-G title after finishing 0.35sec off the pace in fourth.
Brignone's 10th win of the World Cup campaign has put her five points ahead of Gut-Behrami in the super-G standings with one race left in the discipline this season.
And she will also head to Sun Valley with a chance to win the giant slalom title as she trails New Zealand's Alice Robinson by just 20 points.
L.Johnson--TNT
Featured