Marta Bassino beats Mikaela Shiffrin in Super-G to continue Italy's golden form at Worlds – results
Early start numbers made the difference in Wednesday's Super-G, with later skiers being caught out by an icy patch. Discover how Bassino won her title.
Alpine Skiing
Italy have two gold medals from two women's events at the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships after Marta Bassino clinched the Super-G crown in Méribel, France, on Wednesday (8 February).
Two days after Federica Brignone took the combined title, Bassino produced a brilliant run – notably in the lower sections of the Roc de Fer slope – to top the event.
In cold and sunny conditions, the Italian did not have the quickest start of the athletes, with the top of the run more suited to speed racers. However, the giant slalom specialist - who has never won a World Cup Super-G - dealt with the technical turns in sectors 3 and 4 of the course to cross the line in 1:28.06.
"Today is really a perfect day, I'm still a little bit [disbelieving]," Bassino said after the race to FIS TV. "I'm really happy with my skiing and how I put my ski together on this slope.
"I just tried to ski as I know and I did it. I'm still speechless, it's strange. It's my first win in Super-G, and here at the World Championships, it's something I have to realise.
"Today I did a great last part, because I lost a lot of time on the first part. I was really suffering watching all the other girls coming down. It's really a great result for me and for all the work we have done this year."
Mikaela Shiffrin bounced back from skiing out of Monday's combined slalom with silver. The American, the 2019 world champion in the event, produced a fast first sector and found herself three-tenths up on Bassino at the second time check.
While she lost some time in the third sector, she was still 0.15 ahead of the Italian and appeared to be skiing to gold but small mistakes in the final part of the course saw the 27-year-old have to settle for silver, 0.11 seconds (equivalent to 2.75m) behind.
"I felt like I learned from the combined that I have to be much more aggressive with my skiing and with my tactics but this hill is difficult and it deserves respect for the terrain," Shiffrin said to Eurosport.
"You have to push the limit but if you go over the limit, it's even worse. I was trying to be really strong, really aggressive, and just also a little bit smart. There was one moment where I thought I lost everything but I could keep it rolling to the finish."
Norway's Kajsa Vickhoff Lie and Austria's Cornelia Hütter, who both skied before Bassino and Shiffrin, tied for third 0.33 seconds behind Bassino.
One particular technical gate in the third sector seemed to catch many of the later skiers out.
Located in the shade, many racers who had been leading up to that point misjudged the turning point at that gate, where the snow also appeared to be more icy, and lost time to finish behind Bassino.
Defending world and Olympic champion Lara Gut-Behrami, 2021 silver medallist Corinne Suter, combined world champion Brignone, World Cup Super-G leader Ragnhild Mowinckel, and Slovenia's Ilka Stuhec were all among those who had seemingly comfortable leads on Bassino but eventually missed the podium.
Results - 2023 World Championships women's Super-G (top 8)
1. Marta Bassino (ITA) 1:28.06
2. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) +0.11
3= Cornelia Hütter (AUT), Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR) +0.33
5. Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) +0.36
6. Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) +0.37
7. Alice Robinson (NZL) +0.54
8. Federica Brignone (ITA) +0.55