The China Mail - Suter wins as Aicher closes gap on absent Vonn in downhill title race

Aicher, the Olympic downhill silver medallist, moved to 306 points - 94 behind American great Lindsey Vonn with three races left in the campaign - despite missing out on the podium in Andorra.

There are two races in the Italian resort of Val di Fassa next week and the season-ending downhill at the World Cup finals in Kvitfjell, Norway, on March 21.

"I'm not going to think about that at all," Aicher told German broadcaster ARD when asked about the title.

"Because it will only be important after the final race."

Swiss racer Suter, 31, secured the sixth World Cup win of her career but first since December 2022.

She timed 1min 31.62sec, edging Nina Ortlieb of Austria by 0.11sec.

Italy's Olympic bronze medallist, Sofia Goggia, took third, 0.24sec off the pace.

Suter, the downhill Olympic champion in 2022, suffered a serious knee injury in January 2024, and has also been slowed by physical problems this season.

"I know no girl who doesn't like to race here," Suter said.

"It's amazing. I was pretty nervous today, but I had so much fun on the hill and especially after not an easy start to the season. It took me a long time to be back."

Vonn's compatriot Breezy Johnson was sixth in the Pyrenees, three weeks after clinching Olympic gold at the Milan-Cortina Games.

The 41-year-old Vonn had finished on the podium in all five World Cup downhill races this season, winning two of them, before rupturing the ACL in her left knee on the eve of the Olympics.

She defied the injury to compete at the Winter Games but crashed heavily in the downhill and said she could have lost her leg as a result. Vonn returned to the US last week after four operations in Italy but will be in a wheelchair for a "few weeks".

She said it would take around a year for the bone fractures to heal.

A.Kwok--ThChM