CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Sofia Goggia put on a speed ski masterclass in Saturday’s World Cup downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, delighting fans with a typically fearless display on home snow as Lindsey Vonn had a disappointing run on one of her favourite pistes.
Italian Goggia charged down the Olimpia delle Tofane course which will host women’s alpine skiing events at next year’s winter Olympics, clocking a rapid time of one minute and 33.95 seconds.
The 32-year-old finished 0.42sec ahead of Norwegian Kajsa Vickhoff Lie to put herself nine points behind new downhill table leader and fellow-Italian Federica Brignone, who finished 0.55sec off Goggia’s blistering pace in third.
“There’s nothing better for us Italians than winning here at Cortina,” Goggia told RAI.
“I had my heart in my mouth a bit today. This place means so much more to me than what would otherwise be a normal World Cup race.”
Goggia added of her relationship with Brignone: “We’re very competitive, we have a good rivalry which pushes us to always go as hard as we can… we both have that hunger to be the best.”
Veteran Brignone’s podium finish gave the 35-year-old a slender six-point lead over Switzerland’s Camille Rast who did not compete on Saturday.
“I’m really happy today, I managed to ski almost as I wanted. It was amazing conditions, really the slope was really good,” said Brignone.
Goggia’s victory was her second this season but her first in her favoured downhill discipline since recovering from injuries sustained during a heavy training fall last year.
The 2018 Olympic downhill champion suffered multiple fractures in her right leg during a giant slalom training session in Ponte di Legno in February.
Goggia has had a raft of injuries through her career due to her courageous style in the alpine speed events and her electric run on Saturday bodes well for Sunday’s super-G which is also being held in Cortina.
Comeback queen Vonn has posted some impressive results since coming out of retirement at 40 years old but finished way back in 20th after briefly threatening to crack the top five.
Vonn, who finished fourth in the super-G in Sankt Anton last weekend and has 20 podium finishes in Cortina including 12 wins, lost pace on the final sector and dropped to 1.68sec behind Goggia.
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion had her right knee partially replaced in April by a titanium prosthesis to enable her comeback, with the World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm coming next month.
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