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| - Swiss Corinne Suter was the fastest in women's downhill training in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Friday in the absence of grieving overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin. US ski star Shiffrin will not race in Saturday's downhill or Sunday's super-G after announcing on Monday the death of her father Jeff, who was 65. American skiing's governing body has set no time on when Shiffrin will return to World Cup racing. The 24-year-old leads Italian Federica Brignone by 270 points in the overall World Cup standings after 22 of 40 races as she bids for a fourth straight title. In Garmisch Suter, the leader in the downhill discipline, clocked 1min 44.57sec in training with local favourite Viktoria Rebensburg second fastest at 0.19sec back. Brignone, the leader in the super-G standings, was third fastest at 0.34. Swiss skier Nathalie Groebli, 23, fractured the tibia and fibula in her left leg during a fall in training and was airlifted to hospital to undergo surgery. Germany's Rebensburg is hoping to emulate compatriot Thomas Dressen, who was born in Garmisch and won last weekend's men's downhill race on the challenging Kandahar course in his home town. "Thomas Dressen showed last week that it is one of the nicest things to cheer on the podium in front of your home crowd," said Rebensburg. "The anticipation is huge - finally a home race," added the skier who hails from nearby Kreuth. The 30-year-old has never won a World Cup race in Garmisch, but finished third in the 2017 downhill. ryj/mw
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