Emma Aicher narrowly missed out on her fourth World Cup victory of the season on the descent in Val di Fassa. That’s why she hasn’t taken the lead in the discipline ranking yet.
On the not particularly demanding and not particularly long course in Italy, Aicher had to admit defeat by just 0.01 seconds to local hero Laura Pirovano, who made it to the top of the podium for the first time in her professional career. In the last few meters Aicher had lost the crucial milliseconds. She lacked the necessary speed shortly before the finish line, so she lost her lead and was a blink of an eye slower than Pirovano.
Small crystal ball within reach for Aicher
Quite annoying for Aicher, but the competition brought her very close to another goal. The 22-year-old received 80 World Cup points for her second place and has the best chance of winning the small crystal ball with two remaining downhill races (on Saturday again in Val di Fassa at 10.45 a.m. and at the World Cup final on March 21st in Kvitfjell). Lindsey Vonn, who was seriously injured before and during the Olympic Games, is still leading with 400 points, but Aicher is only 14 points behind.
And she no longer has much competition in the fight for the downhill crown. Pirovano is in third place with 336 points and is already well behind. Sofia Goggia has no chance after a botched competition on Friday and had to pull out. Behind Pirovano, Kira Weidle-Winkelmann is the biggest opponent of her DSV colleague.
Weidle-Winkelmann also very strong
The 30-year-old also excelled in Val di Fassa. With start number seven, she initially took the lead and celebrated at the finish – but she was only allowed to stay in the leader box for a very short time because Pirovano conjured up her victory run in the snow immediately after her. Weidle-Winkelmann was 0.32 seconds slower in front of her and was followed by only one athlete, Olympic champion Breezy Johnson (+0.29 seconds), who was faster.
Kira Weidle-Winkelmann from Germany cheers in the finish area
In fourth place, Weidle-Winkelmann narrowly missed the podium, but scored 50 points in the World Cup. In total she has 306 points and is 80 points behind Aicher. It wasn’t enough for a German victory in Val di Fassa on Saturday, but the path to the little crystal ball is still almost clear. Theoretically, Aicher, who took second place in the overall World Cup and is still 139 points behind Mikaela Schiffrin, could win on Saturday with a win and, at best, fifth place from Pirovano.
