Vonn goes head-to-head with Gut in St Moritz

American star Lindsey Vonn enters the world championships in St Moritz recovering from a b
AFP

St. Moritz (Switzerland) (AFP) – American star Lindsey Vonn and Swiss hope Lara Gut will set up a thrilling   world championships in St Moritz when they go head-to-head in the women’s opening super-G on Tuesday.

Both Vonn and Gut come into the race on the back of a couple of crashes on the World Cup circuit, but the pair have both vowed that nothing would be left in the changing room come the secondary speed event of the February 6-19 world champs.

“My body is pretty sore from hitting the nets too many times,” acknowledged Vonn.

“The super-G is right away, so hopefully with my training I’ll get my confidence back.”

Gut was last season’s overall World Cup winner, and Vonn admitted that she was “a great competitor and has had a great season so far”.

“Everyone’s going to be pulling for her here in Switzerland!”

While Vonn recovers from a broken arm and injured hand, Gut is working to get her leg back in shape after a fall in the Cortina super-G on January 29.

“I’m 100 percent fit,” maintained the Swiss racer who stormed to prominence as a teenager at the 2009 worlds in Val d’Isere.

“I’m better, there’s nothing injured or broken. It could have been better: to have gone skiing for a week rather than spending it with the physio!

“The big challenge is to rehab my leg and get back as soon as possible. I’m here to ski.

“It’s here I made my first podium, so I’m obviously really happy that I’m back here.”

Vonn said injuries were part and parcel of ski racing, noting the absence of male competitors Aksel Lund Svindal, Ted Ligety, Steve Nyman and Valentin Giraud Moine.

“I don’t know what you can do to change it. It’s a risk of our sport, but I hope the injuries become less,” she said.

“It’s kind of like car racing, we’re always going to find a way to go fast no matter what rules you change, our goal is to win races and skiers will always be pushing the limit to find that success.

“I don’t know what the solution is, but it’s definitely hard as an athlete to watch so many athletes getting injured, including myself.”

Other rivals to Vonn and Gut include Ilka Stuhec, who claimed the first super-G of her career at Cortina d’Ampezzo, when Vonn trailed in out of the top 10.

Italian Sofia Goggia should also be in the reckoning for a podium finish while Austria’s Anna Veith is also back with a vengeance after a long injury lay-off.

“It’s great to have Anna back,” said Gut.

Veith seems to have regained the form which saw her win the overall World Cup titles in 2014 and 2015 under her maiden name Fenniger before being sidelined with a serious injury.

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