Aicher Untouchable in the Pyrenees: A Dominant Super-G Win

Under sparkling Pyrenean skies on the Àliga slope in El Tarter, Germany's Emma Aicher delivered one of the most complete performances of the women's World Cup season, storming to a commanding victory in the rescheduled super-G in Soldeu. Alice Robinson claimed a vital second place for New Zealand, while Switzerland's Corinne Suter — who had already taken the downhill win just 24 hours earlier — rounded out a podium that has dramatically reshuffled the discipline standings heading into the season's final stretch.

Results — Women's Super-G, Soldeu/Andorra (February 28, 2026):

1. Emma Aicher (GER) — 1:26.72

2. Alice Robinson (NZL) — +0.88

3. Corinne Suter (SUI) — +0.98

4. Ester Ledecká (CZE) — +1.14

5. Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR) — +1.17

6. Sofia Goggia (ITA) — +1.32

Aicher claimed victory from bib 12, charging to the top of the podium in decisive fashion, delivering a commanding run to win by 0.88 was a masterclass in controlled aggression. She posted the fastest split times in the first two sections of the Àliga course and never looked back, her precision on the jumps and commitment through the technical mid-section leaving the rest of the field with nothing to aim at. The 22-year-old posted a winning time of 1 minute 26.72 seconds  — a mark that proved entirely unassailable as the bib numbers climbed.

"I'm very happy, also really happy with my run," Aicher said. "It's nice to see that my skiing is going in the right direction." It was no understatement. Aicher became the first skier with two World Cup super-G wins this season, for an overall season tally of three and five in her career. The young German, still only 22, is rapidly growing into one of the most complete speed skiers in the world.

If Aicher's win was emphatic, the story of Alice Robinson's second place may carry even greater emotional weight. Robinson's second-place finish was only her second-ever World Cup podium in super-G, and it came at the end of a run of form that had been quietly alarming. It was her first top-three finish of 2026 after a poor run in which she failed to finish or qualify three times and finished outside the top 10 in four other races.

The New Zealander managed to hold herself together where others fragmented, skiing the sections she knew with authority and avoiding the errors that had plagued her post-Olympic performances. "I'm really proud of myself for getting the most out of the sections I knew I could ski fast. It's really nice to be back on the podium," she said. Soldeu carries personal meaning for Robinson too. "I got my first podium here seven years ago, so I haven't really raced on the speed track much here, but I'm glad that good vibe is transferring to this side of the mountain too," she added, looking ahead to Sunday's second super-G with visible excitement.

Corinne Suter's third place on Saturday was, in its own quiet way, as impressive as anything else on display. After claiming an emotional downhill victory on Friday, she carried that momentum into the race from bib 1, charging out of the gate and setting an aggressive early benchmark, skiing powerfully and committed from top to bottom. Starting first is never easy in super-G — the nerves, the unknown, the absence of any reference to chase — yet Suter, still working her way back to full authority after injury, handled it with the maturity of a champion. "I wasn't so comfortable in super-G because you have to trust your instincts a lot more than in the downhill, but I think I managed it pretty good for bib No. 1 today," she reflected. A downhill and a super-G podium in a single Andorran weekend. The Swiss icon has not forgotten how to win.

The deeper story of the day was one of Olympic champions brought back to earth with a bump. Federica Brignone, who arrived in Soldeu fresh from winning double super-G and giant slalom gold at the Milano Cortina Games, simply could not replicate that form on the Àliga slope. The Italian was no factor in her first World Cup race since Olympic glory, trailing Aicher by more than two seconds in 15th place. An early mistake in the flat section sent her wide on the steep entry and she never fully recovered her rhythm. For the Aosta Valley veteran, it was a sharp reminder that the World Cup tour waits for nobody — not even a double Olympic champion.

Equally startling was the performance of Breezy Johnson. The American arrived in Andorra wearing the Olympic downhill gold medal, yet she finished 25th in Saturday's super-G, struggling to consistently find the optimal line and at times sitting slightly under the gate, particularly as the snow softened. The gap between downhill dominance and super-G fluency is narrow but unforgiving, and Johnson is still searching for the crossover.

There was also genuine drama mid-race when Austria's Ricarda Haaser crashed and was unable to ski off the hill, requiring assistance on the slope. She was eventually transported safely down the mountain, but the incident cast a momentary shadow over what had otherwise been a brilliantly contested afternoon.

The implications for the super-G globe race are seismic. Entering the weekend, Sofia Goggia led the discipline standings, but the Italian could only finish sixth in Saturday's race — and with Robinson now closing the gap to just 20 points behind Goggia with three super-G races left, and Aicher third in the standings with a deficit of 96 points and three races still to come, the Pyrenees has turned a comfortable lead into a three-way shootout.

The maximum points available across those remaining races means that neither Robinson nor Aicher can be written off. With another super-G on the same Àliga slope tomorrow, and Val di Fassa and the World Cup Finals in Lillehammer still ahead, the momentum in Soldeu belongs entirely to Emma Aicher — but this title is far from decided.

This is, increasingly, a season being defined by young Germans doing remarkable things. Aicher, a two-time Olympic silver medallist in Cortina just weeks ago, is translating that Olympic confidence directly into World Cup results. She is fast, she is consistent, and she is arriving at just the right moment. "You work your entire life to be there so it's nice to see that the work you put in is paying off," she said. In Soldeu on Saturday, the work was undeniable.

Somewhere in the Italian camp, Goggia will be studying the split times and plotting her response. In the New Zealand corner, Robinson will be sleeping tonight with the kind of confidence she hasn't felt in weeks. And in the German team van heading back down the mountain, Aicher will already be thinking about Sunday.

The Àliga slope has spoken. It wants another race. It may well get another masterpiece.