Montana
Blanc Wins Crans-Montana Super-G, Johnson Breaks Through
Malorie Blanc / GEPA pictures
Women’s Super-G, Crans-Montana: Blanc delivers a home win as Johnson puts the Stifel U.S. Ski Team on the podium
Crans-Montana delivered the kind of bluebird Super-G day racers dream about — grippy snow, great light, and a course the women could truly attack. And attack they did, with a stunning hometown breakthrough from Switzerland’s Malorie Blanc, and a massive moment for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team as Breezy Johnson charged onto her first World Cup Super-G podium.
Top 5
- 1st 🇨🇭 Malorie Blanc (SUI) — bib 17 — +0.00 — 2004 — Atomic
- 2nd 🇮🇹 Sofia Goggia (ITA) — bib 13 — +0.18 — 1992 — Atomic
- 3rd 🇺🇸 Breezy Johnson (USA) — bib 29 — +0.36 — 1995 — Atomic
- 4th 🇮🇹 Roberta Melesi (ITA) — bib 2 — +0.42 — 1996
- 5th 🇩🇪 Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (GER) — bib 18 — +0.44 — 1996
Top Five — Women’s Super-G Standings (entering the Olympics)
- 1st 🇮🇹 Sofia Goggia (ITA, 1992, Atomic) — 280 pts
- 2nd 🇳🇿 Alice Robinson (NZL, 2001) — −60
- 3rd 🇺🇸 Lindsey Vonn (USA, 1984, Head) — −90
- 4th 🇫🇷 Romane Miradoli (FRA, 1994) — −99
- 5th 🇨🇭 Malorie Blanc (SUI, 2004, Atomic) — −127
How the race unfolded
Austria’s Ariane Rädler opened the day by setting the first benchmark (1:17.95), but Italy quickly took control. Roberta Melesi (bib 2) tightened her line and lowered the mark to 1:17.76, immediately putting pressure on the early favorites.
The first major threats followed quickly. Kajsa Vickhoff Lie couldn’t unseat the then-leader and skied into the finish +0.46 at the time, while Alice Robinson — still searching for her best top-end speed — came close, just +0.09 back. As the race unfolded, Robinson would eventually slide to sixth (+0.51).
Then the race turned dramatic. Italy’s Elena Curtoni (bib 8) went down and did not finish, another major contender erased. Soon after, Germany’s Emma Aicher (bib 12), the Tarvisio Super-G winner, crashed in the same turn that ended Lindsey Vonn’s downhill day. Aicher was able to get up and ski to the finish.
Italy’s speed queen answered next. Sofia Goggia (bib 13) grabbed the advantage early, gave time back through the middle, then re-attacked with trademark aggression to take the lead by 0.24, lighting up the timing board with her on-the-limit style.
While Vonn appeared on the start list — a sign her team believed there was a chance — it remained a game-day decision. In the end, she did not start as she continues to recover from Friday’s downhill crash.
The emotional center of the race was also at the top. Federica Brignone racing a Super-G was a significant moment — her first speed discipline start since last spring’s injury. She skied solidly, finished safely (18th, +1.28), and took another encouraging step as she builds toward Cortina.
Blanc shocks the field in front of her home crowd
Then the stadium erupted.
Switzerland’s Malorie Blanc (bib 17) delivered the run of her life in her own backyard — fast, clean, and right on the edge of control — vaulting into the leader’s chair and eventually into her first World Cup victory. With Switzerland eager for a new speed headline after losing its top Super-G skier earlier this season, Blanc’s breakthrough could not have come at a better moment.
Blanc had never stood on a World Cup Super-G podium before — and now she was winning in front of a sold-out home crowd in Crans-Montana.
“It’s incredible, and I still have a little trouble realizing it,” Blanc said. “I’ll wait until the end just to be sure it’s real. It means so much to me — to show this to my fans and to people who love skiing. I really wanted to do something great here, and I’m very thankful I could do it.”
Blanc admitted the run itself didn’t feel perfect.
“The feeling wasn’t that good on the slope,” she said. “I thought I was making some mistakes, but I just kept going. Then I crossed the finish line and heard the crowd — it was sold out — and I thought, ‘OK, maybe it’s not that bad.’ I’m just so happy.”
With the Olympic Winter Games next on the calendar — and Crans-Montana the final race before Cortina — Blanc said she isn’t looking too far ahead yet.
“I’m just living the moment,” Blanc said. “It will be my first Olympics, so I want to enjoy it and see what happens.”
Goggia continues strong season
While Malorie Blanc thrilled the home crowd with her breakthrough victory, Sofia Goggia continued her strong Super-G campaign with a second-place finish, reinforcing her momentum heading into the Olympic Winter Games.
“I’m really happy with my performance today,” Goggia said. “My January wasn’t that good, especially in downhill, but I knew this hill suited me, so I just tried to ski my best.”
Goggia said there were still areas she felt she could improve, but she was satisfied with the way she attacked the course in the final race before the Games.
“I made a mistake in the middle and didn’t carry enough speed there,” she said. “But I’m really happy with the way I’ve been attacking the race.”
Breezy Johnson makes it a Stifel U.S. Ski Team celebration
Breezy Johnson delivered one of the biggest results of her career, charging to third place (+0.36) for her first-ever World Cup Super-G podium — a huge moment for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team in the final race before the Olympics.
“I’ve been working on Super-G for a really long time,” Johnson said. “I respect Super-G — I think it’s the hardest event. I always wanted to be good at it, but I didn’t expect that run to be what got me to the podium.”
Johnson said her focus was to keep attacking even when things got messy.
“I just tried to keep it running,” she said. “Every time I made a mistake, I forgot about it and kept going.”
The run felt fast but unpredictable.
“It’s almost like downhill,” Johnson said, “but there were places where it was a little all over the place. Down at the bottom I thought I was about to straddle that gate, so that was a little crazy.”
The timing of the result mattered as much as the result itself.
“I hadn’t even qualified to race the Super-G in Cortina before today,” Johnson said. “I really wanted to race that Super-G, so I just wanted to come out and give it my best.”
Bocock builds Olympic confidence with top-15 result
For Mary Bocock, Friday’s Super-G was a meaningful step forward at exactly the right time.
“It’s very exciting, especially after yesterday was a tough day for all the girls mentally and with the conditions,” Bocock said. “I was a little nervous today, but I’m very, very happy with how it went.”
Bocock said the technical nature of the Crans-Montana course played to her strengths.
“I love this track because it’s very technical,” she said. “I’m really happy I was able to execute my plan.”
The 15th-place finish marked one of the best results of Bocock’s young World Cup career and sends her to the Olympic Winter Games with confidence.
“This is amazing because now I’m going from my best result straight into the Olympics,” Bocock said. “It gives me confidence knowing I can ski well, and Cortina can also be a pretty technical track.”
Bocock said the feedback afterward reinforced that confidence.
“They just kept saying, ‘Good job, Mary,’” she said. “They told me I looked a little loose, which I was, but also that I looked confident — and that’s always good to hear.”
More fireworks: Pirovano disqualified after leading late
Italy’s day could have been even bigger. Lara Pirovano was leading with one split to go before missing a gate just before the finish and being disqualified. Even so, the message is clear: the Italians are skiing very fast as they head toward their home Olympics.
Bibs 31+ who finished inside the top 30
- 15th ⚡ 🇺🇸 Mary Bocock (USA) — bib 38 — +1.16 — 2003
- 17th 🇺🇸 Jacqueline Wiles (USA) — bib 47 — +1.27 — 1992
- 21st 🇦🇹 Julia Scheib (AUT) — bib 32 — +1.39 — 1998
- 27th 🇮🇹 Nicol Delago (ITA) — bib 42 — +1.81 — 1996 — Atomic
- 28th 🇨🇭 Priska Ming-Nufer (SUI) — bib 48 — +2.15 — 1992 (highest bib in top 30)
- 29th 🇨🇭 Janine Schmitt (SUI) — bib 34 — +2.16 — 2000
USA skiers in the top 30
- 3rd 🇺🇸 Breezy Johnson (USA) — bib 29 — +0.36 — 1995 — Atomic
- 15th 🇺🇸 Mary Bocock (USA) — bib 38 — +1.16 — 2003
- 17th 🇺🇸 Jacqueline Wiles (USA) — bib 47 — +1.27 — 1992
- 19th 🇺🇸 Tricia Mangan (USA) — bib 21 — +1.32 — 1997 — Head
- 25th 🇺🇸 Keely Cashman (USA) — bib 16 — +1.61 — 1999 — Head
Stifel U.S. Ski Team depth: five women in the points
Beyond Johnson’s podium, it was another statement day for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team: five women scored points, a strong performance from a very strong squad. Bocock’s surge was particularly encouraging — only her second points result after the season-opening St. Moritz Super-G (the race that secured her Olympic spot), and she attacked today with unmistakable Olympic energy.
Race Results
Click on images to enlarge
Analysis of the Top Three and Other North Americans in the Top 30
Alani Bankhead, running for the U.S. Senate, launched an attack Monday on the University of Montana campus against independent candidate Seth Bodnar, its former president.
Bankhead, who won the Democratic nomination for Senate on June 2, argued Bodnar did not have the capacity to lead and still “deflects” responsibility for gender discrimination allegations in a lawsuit settled in 2024.
Bankhead made her arguments at a campaign event on the heels of a primary win many considered a surprise. Her remarks drew a small crowd to campus and a handful of media.
Behind her, supporters held signs with allegations from the lawsuit.
“Under President Bodnar’s leadership and in violation of UM’s policies and federal law, women’s choices and actions were unreasonably contradicted and questioned,” said one.
In her speech, Bankhead invoked Jeannette Rankin, a Montanan who in 1916 was the first woman elected to Congress.
“Jeannette wouldn’t stand for anyone who discriminates to be in a leadership position,” Bankhead said.
The gender discrimination lawsuit was filed in 2021 against the Montana University System and UM, and it resulted in a $350,000 settlement.
Bodnar led UM for eight years until stepping down this year to run for office. His campaign said he made equity a priority at UM and promoted women.
Bankhead is a 21-year military veteran and graduate of Air War College of the U.S. Air Force.
Bankhead said Rankin noted she “would be nastier” if she had her life to live over, and “in Jeannette’s honor, I’m about to get nasty.”
She repeated allegations in the lawsuit that Bodnar told a UM employee “her weight prevented her from being the face of the University of Montana” and that one of the 18 plaintiffs in the lawsuit “was forced to work with her stalker.”
In a response at the time, UM described the allegations in the lawsuit as “inflammatory,” “argumentative assertions,” and “not statements of fact.”
The lawsuit was settled before the allegations were substantiated or dismissed by the court.
In a statement Monday, Bodnar’s campaign said that he elevated women at the flagship; when he arrived on campus, just one academic dean was a woman, but seven of 13 were women when he left.
Bankhead, fueled by outside money including more than $2.5 million by the Progressive Vet Political Action Committee, surprised many Montanans by winning the Democratic nomination in the primary.
Monday, the same day Bankhead leveled her criticisms, Bodnar announced a slate of endorsements across the political spectrum, including from former Gov. Marc Racicot, a Republican, to former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat.
Bodnar has heavily outraised his opponents.
But Sabato’s Crystal Ball projects the U.S. Senate race in Montana is likely to go to the Republican, Kurt Alme, former U.S. Attorney for Montana and recruit of outgoing U.S. Sen. Steve Daines.
Bankhead pointed to Bodnar’s experience in the U.S. military and as a West Point graduate as reason he should know it’s important as a leader to be accountable and admit mistakes to build trust and credibility.
“This is not about blame,” Bankhead said. “It’s about maintaining trust, demonstrating moral courage, and ensuring that leaders are seen as responsible stewards of their units and their missions.”
One person asked Bankhead how she planned to win having raised just $23,000 in her campaign given the millions going to her opponents.
Bankhead said critics dismissed her in the primary, but she won anyway. She also said Montanans don’t want politicians who are bought and paid for.
Bankhead has repeatedly been asked if she will step down to clear the way for Bodnar, who could appeal to some Republican voters in a red state. She’s vowed to stay in the race.
Monday, Bankhead said Montana Democratic Party bylaws state the party must have a candidate on the ballot, so Bodnar should drop out as the independent.
“If dropping out was the right move to pave the way for a better candidate, I would absolutely do it because the stakes are so high,” Bankhead said. “But Seth Bodnar is absolutely the last person on the face of this earth I would ever drop out of this race for.”
KALISPELL – A 28-year-old Helena man was killed after being struck by a pickup truck while walking on U.S. Highway 2 near Kalispell.
The Montana Highway Patrol reports the incident happened Saturday, just before 3 a.m. at mile marker 117.
The man, whose name was not released, was struck while walking on a section of the highway that has no shoulders and was wearing all dark clothing, the patrol report states.
The pickup truck, driven by an 18-year-old woman from Eureka, was westbound on the highway when the driver activated the high beams, illuminating the pedestrian in the lane.
The truck hit the pedestrian on the front driver’s side bumper.
The driver of the truck stopped to wait for emergency responders, the patrol report states.
All four occupants of the truck were wearing seat belts and escaped injury, although the report indicates that the driver was taken to a hospital in Kalispell.
The passengers in the truck included a 16-year-old girl from Kalispell, a 20-year-old man also from Kalispell, and a 17-year-old girl whose residence was unknown, according to the patrol report.
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