With Mikaela Shiffrin dominating the World Cup circuit this season Authentic Alexander Alexeyev Jersey , it can seem like a distant memory when the American was locked in a tight battle with Lara Gut for last year’s title.

That’s because that contest ended prematurely when Gut ruptured her left ACL last February in a crash during slalom warmups for the combined event of her home world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Gut had surgery and missed the rest of the season. She returned at the start of this season but had recorded just two podiums results – both second-places – before winning the final super-G before next month’s Pyeongchang Olympics on Sunday.

It was Gut’s first victory since winning the downhill in Cortina almost a year ago.

”It’s good to be back – to be back winning,” Gut said. ”In super-G I’ve always been fast. … If I ski the way I can I’m always top 10.”

In a race on a shortened course that was shaped by strong winds, overcast conditions and overnight snowfall, Gut clocked 1 minute, 14.78 seconds for a 0.14-second advantage over Johanna Schnarf of Italy.

Nicole Schmidhofer of Austria finished third, 0.27 behind.

Shiffrin missed a gate midway through her run and Italian favorite Sofia Goggia hit a gate and also did not finish.

”The whole way down I skied way too direct of a line, which is really frustrating because the problem was with my inspection and I’m not exactly sure what we can do for me to be better prepared for super-Gs,” Shiffrin said. ”One of my biggest issues right now is still switching from the timing of downhill turns to super-G turns.”

Still, Shiffrin holds a nearly insurmountable 876-point lead over Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein in the overall standings. Gut reclaimed the lead in the super-G ranks Josh Sweat Color Rush Jersey , 18 points ahead of Weirather.

After last year’s Cortina races, Shiffrin’s lead over Gut in the overall standings was just 80 points.

Gut won the overall title two seasons ago, which helped her erase memories of the 2014 Sochi Olympics – where she cried in disappointment after taking the bronze medal in the downhill. Gut finished the Sochi race a slim 0.10 seconds behind joint gold medalists Tina Maze of Slovenia and Swiss teammate Dominique Gisin.

”I know what it means to go to the Olympics now,” Gut said. ”The first time you go to the Olympics it’s like discovering what it is and you have to tell yourself that it’s just a race. … I’m going to try to give it something even more.”

Sunday’s win was the 24th victory of Gut’s World Cup career.

Lindsey Vonn, the record-holder in Cortina with 12 wins, was slowed by a strong gust of wind and finished sixth, 0.37 back.

”I’ve never had a gust that strong,” Vonn said. ”I could barely make out the next gate and I was just hoping that I would see it at the last minute.”

Vonn started sixth and Gut was next.

”Some people obviously had it worse than others,” Vonn said.

Gut trailed Schnarf at all three checkpoints but then established her lead through the final gates.

”I didn’t have any wind, so I was fast Jaleel Scott Color Rush Jersey ,” Gut said.

Due to increasing wind, the race was called off after 44 of 58 skiers had started.

Thirteen skiers did not finish and there were several crashes – the worst of which involved Nadine Fest of Austria, who spun around at high speed and ended up in the safety netting. She was taken down the course on a sled and was being checked for a suspected knee injury.

Laura Pirovano of Italy also crashed heavily.

Federica Brignone, the Italian who won the previous super-G, did not start due to a fever.

Brignone will be looking to defend her victory in Tuesday’s giant slalom in nearby San Vigilio di Marebbe.

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More AP Olympic coverage: The Boston Celtics have been mining possibility out of improbable odds throughout the 2017-2018 season.

A season filled with so much promise was jolted just five minutes into their season opener back in October when Gordon Hayward was lost for the year to a fractured ankle.

It looked to be derailed for sure when Marcus Smart suffered a torn ligament in his thumb in March, followed by Kyrie Irving being sidelined for the season a month later following a pair of knee surgeries.

Yet, after completing a 4-1 series win with their 114-112 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night, the Celtics are somehow back where no one – except maybe only them – believed they could be: headed to a second straight Eastern Conference final.

A rematch with Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James awaits them, but for a Celtics team that has had to trudge uphill throughout the season, still playing at this point of the postseason feels like reason to celebrate.

Coach Brad Stevens said this group has never stopped playing together despite all the challenges they’ve faced. It’s a testament to a program they’ve been nurturing since he took over as coach five years ago.

”I always hoped we would get to a point where if things don’t go our way Jeremy Kerley Color Rush Jersey , we’re still extremely competitive because we have a kind of foundation in place,” he said. ”Things haven’t always gone our way, but these guys are really talented, they’re really tough, they fit Boston. And hopefully we keep playing well.”

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Celtics are the first team in NBA history to reach the conference finals in back-to-back seasons, while returning only four players from one year to the next (Smart, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford and Terry Rozier). That are advancing to the Eastern Conference finals in consecutive seasons for the first time since doing so five straight times from 1984 to 1988.

Brown was reinserted back into the starting lineup Wednesday for the first time since he injured his right hamstring last round in Boston’s Game 7 win over Milwaukee.

He made the most of it, combining with rookie Jayson Tatum to score 49 points on 18 of 28 shooting.

Brown said he was treating Wednesday’s game like another Game 7.

”We didn’t want to go back to Philly http://www.bearsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-joel-iyiegbuniwe-jersey ,” he said. ”We didn’t want to keep building their momentum and it was good to get a close out game here on our home floor.”

Tatum, who had the go-ahead layup in the closing seconds Wednesday, has helped fortify that quartet over the latter half of the season. Like Brown, he has become one of the go-to players on a reconfigured Celtics roster that in many ways is now being led by his youthful core.

He made his NBA debut against the Cavs back in October. He said he feels like a completely different player as he prepares to face them again.

”It’s like night and day,” he said. ”I remember the first time we played them I was so nervous. But it’s been 90 games since then. We’ve been through a lot. I’m a lot more relaxed and calm, but ready to go out there and play.”

PLAYOFF AL

While the young players on Boston’s rosters have been huge in Boston’s success, Brown said the veteran leadership of Horford has been just as important in helping hold things together throughout the season.

Despite being surrounded by a group of 20-somethings, the 32-year-old ”Playoff Al” has helped them all play well beyond their years.

But it hasn’t just been talk. With 15 points and eight rebounds in Game 5, Horford has now scored in double figures in each of Boston’s 12 games this postseason, including five double-doubles.

”We lean on our best Cheap Josh Allen Jersey , we lean on Al during those tough stretches, and he came up big for us,” Brown said.

SUPER ROOKIE

In five games this series, Tatum averaged 23.6 points while shooting 52.4 percent from the field. His scoring average is the second-highest by Boston rookie in a single playoff series. It trails only Tom Heinsohn, who averaged 24 points per game in 1957.

INJURY UPDATE

Tatum said he jammed his left thumb late in the game, but said it is OK. … Reserve G Shane Larkin (left shoulder sprain), who sat out Wednesday’s game, told reporters that an MRI revealed some issues. But he is going to work toward returning sometime against Cleveland.

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