Swiss star Lara Gut won the season-opening World Cup super-G race Sunday, topping runner-up Lindsey Vonn who appears to be back to her old self after a second-straight podium finish.
The 23-year-old Gut stormed down the 1,923 metre course in a time of one minute, 18.46 seconds, finishing 0.37 seconds ahead of Vonn, who led the USA to its first World Cup podium sweep in Saturday's downhill.
World Cup overall points leader Tina Maze finished third in a time of 1:19.27.
Gut won last year's Lake Louise super-G and also finished at the top of the podium in the final two super-G races of last season.
"It is the first time I am able to win at the same place twice," said Gut. "It is funny that it happened in Lake Louise.
"The course set was kind of straight. You had to risk it all. Once in the finish area, when I saw the good lead I had, I thought this was cool."
Gut, who competes in all five disciplines but specializes in the speed events, claimed her first Olympic medal in February by winning bronze in the downhill at the Sochi Games.
Vonn finished second Sunday just 24 hours after she captured her first win on the World Cup circuit in almost two years by taking the second downhill race.
"It was a phenomenal weekend for me," said Vonn. "I felt like I was skiing aggressively. I am happy with second place. It was a solid day."
The weekend podiums has ignited her comeback after the four-time overall World Cup champion tore her right knee ligaments and broke a bone in her leg in a super-G crash in February 2013 at the World Championships.
She returned to racing nine months after the accident but her comeback was cut short when she re-injured the knee, forcing her to miss the Sochi Olympics where she had hoped to defend her 2010 Olympic downhill title.
"I am so happy with my results here this weekend," she said. "It is so much more than I had hoped for.
"I just need a little bit more training. I am going to go back home to Vail and hopefully get enough training to where my timing is better for the next races."
Reigning Olympic downhill champion Maze got her speed season off to a flying start on Friday by winning the first race of a weekend downhill doubleheader.
Maze edged out Gut for downhill gold in Sochi, finishing in a tie for first with Gut's Swiss teammate Dominique Gisin.
Maze's two Lake Louise podium finishes were her first two in the Canadian Rockies.
"I am really happy about my week," she said. "My skiing is great, although I didn't give it my all today.
"I took a lot of risk in the downhill race yesterday and was a little bit calmer today."
Source: AFP