San Francisco Frontiers - Gut-Behrami tops downhill training, Vonn coasts

Gut-Behrami timed 1min 43.92sec down the 2.9km-long Ulli Maier course, finishing 0.05sec ahead of American Breezy Johnson.

Federica Brignone was third at 0.63sec, one of four Italians in the top 11.

Vonn, competing in her ninth world championships after coming out of retirement, finished 20th, 2.24sec off Gut-Behrami's pace, but stressed that she was "just taking it easy".

"I wanted to feel the terrain. I'm trying some different boots. I'm just kind of testing. I'm using the training runs as a testing opportunity," the 40-year-old US star said.

"I really put zero weight into training runs because I'm testing things.

"For me, this season is all about figuring out what it's going to take to be successful next year.

"I'm further along than I expected, but a training run is a training run. It really means nothing. No one's getting a medal for a training run."

Vonn's return from retirement following the 2019 Are worlds was made possible after a knee reconstruction, partially of titanium, that left her pain-free for the first time in years.

- 'Worst hill for bad knees' -

But she admitted the rolling terrain in Saalbach was "probably the worst hill for someone with bad knees!"

"But I felt great. None of the landings hurt at all. I feel really good. I'm a little bit getting a cold, but my knees felt great.

"I thought it was a really fun course. It actually reminds me of when I was learning how to ski downhill in Vail. We had a lot of terrain that we built like this."

Vonn added: "There's a lot of room for improvement and for better skiing from my side, for sure."

Reigning world super-G champion Gut-Behrami, in her last world championships after shooting to fame back in Val d'Isere in 2009 with two silvers at the age of 16, said the training run had been useful to see what the course setters had constructed.

"It's a positive surprise that I already managed to work well on that," the 33-year-old Swiss ace told reporters.

"I will try to build on that to try to improve day by day."

Her goal in Saalbach, she added, was "to try to do my best, to produce good skiing, and we will see".

Vonn was not taken aback to see the welter of Italian skiers in the top 11, citing their age and experience as crucial factors.

"I'm not surprised by it at all," she said. "They've always been good skiers. But again, the older you are, the more experience you have.

"As long as you have the motivation and drive, experience has a lot to do with success in downhill and super-G and if you can continue to ski race at an older age, you have an advantage."

A.Clark--SFF