German skier Aicher lands first World Cup win at 21 / Photo: Geir Olsen - NTB/AFP
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German skier Aicher lands first World Cup win at 21
Germany's Emma Aicher secured her first career women's alpine ski World Cup win on Saturday in the downhill at Kvitfjell.
The 21-year-old, who celebrated her first ever podium 24 hours earlier, opened her World Cup account with a time of 1min 31.69s.
American Lauren Macuga was second, only 0.03s behind, with Austrian Cornelia Huetter third at 0.19s.
"I really surprised myself, I didn't think I was as quick as yesterday," said the delighted Swedish-born Aicher who made her World Cup debut in 2021.
Huetter, who won Friday's downhill on the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic slope, moved to within 16 points of Federica Brignone in the World Cup downhill standings.
With Sofia Goggia in third, 34 points back, it means the destination of the discipline's crystal globe will be played out over the last two downhills in La Thuile in Italy and Sun Valley in the United States.
Brignone finished fourth on Saturday to consolidate her hold on the overall title with the Italian now 231 points clear of Lara Gut-Behrami with nine races of the season to go.
In fact that total is effectively reduced to seven as Gut-Behrami has not competed in the slalom since 2017, with two still to come.
W.Dupont--JdB
