Andrea Fischbacher exacted a bit of redemption after being left off the Austrian Olympic Team in Sochi, winning the first post-Olympic World Cup race Sunday.
Fischbacher, unable to defend her 2010 Olympic super-G gold, stunned the favorites in a downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. She clocked 1 minute, 34 seconds from late bib No. 29, beating countrywoman Anna Fenninger by .15. Slovenia’s Tina Maze, the co-Olympic downhill champion, was third.
German Maria Hoefl-Riesch padded her overall World Cup lead by finishing ninth. The woman in second place in the standings, Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather, remains out due to injury.
Julia Mancuso was the top American in 18th, followed by Stacey Cook in 21st.
The women’s Alpine skiing World Cup continues with technical events in Are, Sweden, next week, likely marking the return of Olympic slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin.
The spotlight Sunday was on Fischbacher, though. The 28-year-old claimed her first World Cup podium in more than four years, before she won that 2010 Olympic super-G.
She had not been better than eighth in any race this season, the slight drop in form perhaps a big reason why she didn’t earn a trip to Sochi on the deep Austrian team.
Fenninger’s second place kept Hoefl-Riesch from clinching the season downhill title, which will now be decided at the World Cup Finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in two weeks.
Hoefl-Riesch, in what may be her final season, is looking great to finish in the top three of overall points for the seventh straight season. If she maintains her overall lead, she will win the overall title for a second time.
Crans-Montana Downhill
1. Andrea Fischbacher (AUT) 1:34.00
2. Anna Fenninger (AUT) 1:34.15
3. Tina Maze (SLO) 1:34.47
4. Elisabeth Goergl (AUT) 1:34.49
5. Edit Miklos (HUN) 1:34.82
6. Lotte Smiseth Sejersted (NOR) 1:34.83
7. Fabienne Suter (SUI) 1:34.94
8. Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT) 1:35.08
9. Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER) 1:35.26
10. Dominique Gisin (SUI) 1:35.35
18. Julia Mancuso (USA) 1:36.34
21. Stacey Cook (USA) 1:36.76
30. Laurenne Ross (USA) 1:37.42
31. Jacqueline Wiles (USA) 1:37.96
38. Julia Ford (USA) 1:38.94
40. Leanne Smith (USA) 1:39.74
