Rolex Hotness: Lara Gut-Behrami

...Rolex Hotness... 

Lara Gut-Behrami

Professional Skier

 By Capt. DANNY CRIVELLO

Growing up in Europe, I was fortunate enough to spend my summer playing tennis and my winter skiing in the Alps. Unlike tennis, ski is a sport where time is extremely crucial: one tenth of a second can mean winning or losing.

Enter Lara Gut-Behrami, the 29-year-old Swiss who was crowned world champion in Super Giant Slalom last Sunday.  

I saw interviews of her, and she speaks fluently four languages: English, French (through her mother), Italian (through her father), and German that she learned in school. Both of her parents are Swiss, but they come from different speaking cantons.

In 2008, she became the youngest skier to win a World Cup Super-G race. The 2015–2016 season marked a high point in her career with two Crystal Globes, including her first overall World Cup title. 

In September 2009, Lara fell during training and dislocated her hip. She was transported by helicopter to a hospital where it was reset. At the World Championships in 2017 on home country snow in St. Moritz, Lara won bronze in the super-G. In the next event, the combined, she injured her left knee (ACL, meniscus) between runs, which ended her season. 

Despite overcoming a previous injury and a great deal of pressure, Gut-Behrami kicked off the next season with a commanding giant slalom victory at Sölden.

She took 1st place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Super Giant Slalom on Jan. 10, 2021 in Austria.

Lara started young. She participated in her first races at age 15. A year later she became Swiss national champion in super-G, the second youngest champion of all time.