Breezy Johnson surprisingly crowns herself downhill world champion in Saalbach. The Swiss women are also among the defeated in the second speed race.
08.02.2025, 13:00
08.02.2025, 13:09
SDA
Johnson opened the race, confirmed her good training performance and came through without making any mistakes. The fact that no one could match her time came as a surprise. The 29-year-old American does not yet have a World Cup victory in her palmarès, but now has a World Championship title. She last stood on the podium in Val d'Isère in December 2021.
Johnson only returned to the World Cup in December after a 14-month forced break. She had incurred the penalty because she had violated the mandatory reporting regulations with the US Anti-Doping Agency three times.
Puchner and Ledecka with first World Cup medal
Behind the surprise woman, Mirjam Puchner and Ester Ledecka, two riders who were among the extended favorites, climbed onto the podium. The Austrian was the fastest in the second training session, while the Czech set the best time in the final training session. They lost 15 and 21 hundredths respectively to Johnson, who lost time at the top, but was clearly the fastest from the second split time onwards. It was the first medal at the World Championships for all of them.
They had to tremble once again during Emma Aicher's run. The 21-year-old German, who had already attracted attention in training, finished just 27 hundredths off the podium with start number 30.
Suter without a medal for once
Corinne Suter was the only Swiss skier who was in contention for the medals right to the end. The skier from Schwyz was 41 hundredths short of bronze. This is only the second time she has failed to win a medal in a World Championship downhill. Suter has won a complete set of medals at the last three World Championships, with the highlight coming in 2021 when she took the title in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The other Swiss women had nothing to do with the outcome of the race. Lara Gut-Behrami retired after a small wave in the lower section, but was able to avoid a fall. Malorie Blanc was unable to surprise in her first World Championship downhill and finished in 19th place, 2.20 seconds behind. Priska Ming-Nufer finished in 21st place.
This means that after four years and the titles of Suter and Jasmine Flury, Switzerland is no longer the world champion in the supreme discipline. The defending champion from Graubünden was absent due to injury.
