Skiing: Fenninger triumphs on home run

The 22-year-old all-rounder, one of the most gifted skiers the world in the junior ranks, had already won a gold medal in the super-combined at the world championships in Germany in February.

However, she had only five podiums to date in World Cup races. She set the record straight yesterday in a combined time of 2 mins 16.08 seconds.

“To win my fist race in Austria is a great way to finish the year,” said Fenninger, who took advantage of a huge mistake by first-leg pacesetter Viktoria Rebensburg.

“It’s an exciting surprise. I was going for the podium but I really thought I had lost too much time in the first run to go for victory,” added the Austrian, who was only sixth after the morning leg. Fenninger felt she might have been helped by deteriorating visibility during the race.

“The conditions were maybe too hard for the favourites. But, in the end, they simply made more mistakes than I did,” she added.

Olympic champion Rebensburg hit a gate and lost a considerable amount of time when she seemed to be heading for a comfortable victory. She still managed fourth place.

“The second leg was very hard to ski. It was very dark. I made a mistake but I fought hard and I managed to keep the red bib [as World Cup GS leader],” said the German.

It was a day for the up-and-coming generation as Italy’s Federica Brignone, 21, was second, 0.20 secs adrift. France’s Tessa Worley, 22, was third, a further 0.19 secs behind.

Overall World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn limited the damage in her least favourite discipline by coming home fifth, 0.80 secs off the pace.

The American now leads the World Cup standings on 599 points, with closest rival Fenninger on 368.