German speed aces weren’t really running at the start of the Olympic season. Kira Weidle, Andreas Sander and Romed Baumann, all of whom were awarded silver at the most recent Alpine World Championships, managed to put together five places in the top ten in the first few races – but one spot on the podium in Super G. was before. Not race on Sunday. Alpine boss Wolfgang Meier advised his team to “look a bit self-critically at the start at Lake Louise and Beaver Creek”, but discarded the “Big Scythe”. Especially since Weedle was one of the best in the world in Canada, as were the men in their second stint in the United States. Seventh and tenth in Olympic champion Sofia Goggia’s downhill victory from Italy—”It’s all in the range,” Maier said of Weidle. She finished third in 0.78 seconds in the first shot, 0.46 seconds in the second. Reward: Qualifying for the Winter Games in Beijing. Sander made it to Beaver Creek (fourth in Super-G); Dominic Schweiger achieved half the criteria in the first descent by placing eleventh. Meanwhile, Norwegian Alexander Aamodt Kilde raced to victory in the super-G and downhill – eleven months after a cruciate ligament ruptured. Suggestions from compatriot Kjetil Jansud also helped. The 2014 Super G Olympic champion apparently injured himself more seriously in the fall.

Gogia finally crowned himself the Outstanding Athlete of the Weekend on Sunday and also won the first Super-G of the season. The three-pack, en route to Lake Louise, Canada, was previously only achieved by the active Lindsey Vonn; Most recently in 2015. Weedel missed the top 20 this time and was 1.83 seconds behind Gogia to finish the race in 25th place.