VAL-D’ISERE: Federica Brignone closed the gap on Mikaela Shiffrin at the top of the overall World Cup standings by winning a challenging Val d’Isere super-G on Sunday, the Italian’s third victory of the season. Shiffrin, however, failed to register a point as she misjudged a gate in the mid-section and left the course, a rare “DNF” for the five-time winner of the big globe.

The American was one of 26 of the 58 starters to retire, including Olympic super-G champion Lara Gut-Behrami and world champion Marta Bassino. The non-finish rate of 44.8 per cent is the highest for a women’s super-G World Cup race since at least as far back as the 1999/2000 season.

No such problems for Brignone who showed all her skill and experience on the Oreiller-Killy piste, completing the run without a single technical fault. “Almost perfect,” said Brignone who finished 0.44 seconds ahead of the Norwegian Kajsa Vickhoff Lie and 0.59secs in front of her compatriot Sofia Goggia.

“Today it was really hard to do the perfect run,” she added. “The super-G was not easy for sure. There were big turns but also a lot of speed, so you were going fast and arriving at some big turns where you had to be ahead.

“I tried always to push, always to be ahead, and never be happy with my speed but wanting more. So that was my goal today and I was really aggressive but I let my skis go.” It marked a 24th World Cup victory for the 33-year-old Italian and her third this season, following her double on the two giants at Tremblant, Canada a fortnight ago.

She is second in the overall standings with 557 points, 63 behind Shiffrin. Gut lies third on 429. “It’s a dream right now,” said Brignone. “I’m free, I’m skiing good, I’m having fun and I’m motivated to try to ski faster, and I think that’s the best thing for the beginning of the season.” The women’s World Cup continues on Thursday with the Courchevel night slalom. — AFP