After World Championship silver

Lara Gut-Behrami attacks former companion

Lara Gut-Behrami won silver in the team combined with Wendy Holdener (center). This would have been unthinkable for the Swiss athlete many years ago.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

After winning silver at the World Championships in the combined team event in Saalbach, Lara Gut-Behrami is making people sit up and take notice. The exceptional Swiss skier takes her former coach Mauro Pini to task.

But first things first! Lara Gut-Behrami probably no longer expected to win a medal on Tuesday. In the downhill, the 33-year-old didn't make it past twelfth place. However, her combined partner Wendy Holdener turned things around and in the end they were only beaten by the US duo of Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson. "Until today, I would never have thought that team sport made sense," smiles Gut-Behrami in the SRF studio.

"Relationship suffered as a result"
But times are changing! "Eight or nine years ago, Wendy and I certainly wouldn't have competed together," says Gut-Behrami. "When Wendy joined the team, my coach, our head coach, tried everything to put us against each other. My relationship with many athletes suffered as a result." A side swipe in the direction of her former companion Mauro Pini.

"Completely at odds"
 The skiing expert had led Gut-Behrami to the top of the world. Pini became head of the Swiss women's team in 2010 and resigned two years later. "She had a complete falling out with the Ticino native, who had been with her since the start of her career and was once a family friend," is how Blick describes their current relationship. Explosive: Gut-Behrami's former private coach now works in the team of competitor Petra Vlhova.