Snow sports: One mistake costs Alice Robinson in season opening World Cup Super G

Alice Robinson of New Zealand in action during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Super G in Lake Louise Canada. Photo / Getty

A late mistake has cost New Zealand skier Alice Robinson a potential career-best result in the opening World Cup Super G of the season at Lake Louise in Canada.

The 20-year-old Queenstown skier started from 25th and was superb on the top section of the course and was just over half a second off the pace through two-thirds of the run.

However, a mistake on the final jump resulting in an off-balance landing saw her lose ground and she finished 20th in a time of 1.20.01.

She was 1.73 seconds behind the winner, Italy's Sofia Goggia who dominated the opening weekend of speed skiing World Cup events, winning both Downhill races in Lake Louise and adding the Super G to complete the treble.

Switzerland's Lara Gut Behrami finished runner up with Austria's Tamara Tippler completing the podium.

Robinson was one of only a few skiers in the 52 strong field who didn't have the benefit of racing on the same slopes for the preceding World Cup downhills over the weekend. She hopes to start her competitive downhill career in the New Year.

But the young Kiwi who is already one of the stars of the World Cup Giant Slalom circuit with three World Cup wins to her name, showed she is quickly coming to terms with arguably the trickiest of the speed events, matching the top racers for pace.

Robinson has only raced a smattering of World Cup Super G's in her career to date but recording a first top 10 result last season has given her confidence she can quickly bridge the gap to the top racers in the speed disciplines. Today's result is the second-best of her young career in Super G after a 10th and a 21st last season.

"I'm pretty happy for sure. I mean, Super G is still a new thing for me, and especially here at Lake Louise it's a regular stop on the tour. Most people have been here before and the other girls have skied on this hill all week for the downhill and this is my first time down it and it's brand new for me. So getting a top 20 is a good result." Robinson said.

"I skied really well on the top part of the course where it's a bit more technical and I was pretty fast. Then on the bottom I'm not as fast on the flatter sections, just because I'm still learning about gliding and things like that. So the positives I had were some fast sections and knowing I was in the top 10 until the last part of the race."

"I'm really enjoying during the speed disciplines. It's not kind of like the tech disciplines where you can kind of have success right away. It's just about chipping away and. So hopefully I will just build on this and get some top 10's next weekend."

It's been a long break between events for Robinson who finished 11th in the opening World Cup Giant Slalom of the season in Solden in Austria in late October before last week's second GS in Killington in Vermont was cancelled due to poor weather.

But the races now come thick and fast with the circuit heading back to Europe for a double header Super G in St Moritz in Switzerland this weekend before another Super G in Val d'lsere in France and a double header GS in Courchevel in France all before Christmas.

It's the first season that Robinson is competing in every World Cup Super G as well as GS, the event which shapes as the best chance for Robinson to win a medal in at February's Winter Olympics in Beijing. She finished fourth in the discipline at this year's World Championships in Italy.