Sofia Goggia Wins In Cortina
After crashing hard in the Zauchensee downhill, Sofia Goggia of Italy didn’t miss a beat, taking her fourth downhill win of the season. Rebecca Siebenhofer of Austria was second and Ester Ledecka, the unpredictable Czech snowboarder who won the 2018 Olympic super-G, landed in third for her first podium in a year.
It was a downhill cut short due to the wind, which saw the organizers forced to lower the start at the Duca d'Aosta.
The Italian 29, came into her home race with five 2021/22 FIS World Cup season victories to her name already thanks to three downhill victories and two Super G wins at Lake Louise and Val d'Isère. Swiss pair Michelle Gisin and Lara Gut-Behrami managed to record impressive times in difficult weather conditions before Goggia emerged out of the start gate seventh.
The Bergamo native, though, dug deep from the outset to try and carve a route down the course that was both fast and unorthodox as she kept going green at the splits to finish with a time of 1:06.98.
Austrian Ramona Siebenhofer and Czech star Ledecká both pushed her close, however had to settle for second and third respectively as Goggia recorded her second career downhill victory at the resort.
The win extends her FIS World Cup downhill lead to 136 points over Siebenhofer, while she also leads the Super G standings by five points and moves 197 points behind Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall standings. Afterwards, a relieved Goggia said: "This is my best win ever. It was really tough. I knew that I have to push as hard as I could because the start, with the first section, is not my best part. I made an incredible run. Strange lines, but I am really, really happy."
Sofia Goggia said "I think the Olympia delle Tofane is beautiful from top to bottom but when I knew we would start from the plane, where on the starting thrust I am not yet at the top ...Then I made the delta curve, I saw the snow coming towards me and the wind that bent the poles and the sheets. I believed in it a lot, I wanted to cross the finish line I wanted to take a dip with all the fans who came to support us. When I realized I was first my heart exploded! Many have written to me and it was incredible to receive this affection, four years ago I was still in its infancy, today I felt all the affection of the fans. Today I am very happy, and I will greet everyone as if I could hug them and it is beautiful: a very important personal victory. Today I will enjoy this victory, because I think it is one of the best victories of my career, but I will concentrate because the next race is always the most important and tomorrow there is the super g "
With this success Goggia reached 17 career victories on the maximum circuit, less than one from teammate Federica Brignone, but above all she reached, with 12 victories in the specialty, the all-time all-time record of the legend Isolde Kostner.
On a windy and cold day in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jackie Wiles led the U.S. Alpine Ski Team with her best result in four years, finishing 14th in the FIS World Cup downhill. 21-year-old Alix Wilkinson, in just her seventh career World Cup, scored her first points with an impressive 18th place.
While Wiles has stepped on the World Cup podium twice in her career, including once in Cortina with 20-time Cortina winner and Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn in 2018, she suffered an injury right before the PyeongChang Olympics and has struggled to find her form on race day. But she put down an aggressive and clean run to make a triumphant return to the top 15.
“I’m super super psyched,” said Wiles. “It’s just a sigh of release finally to get back in the top 15. It’s been a battle now for a while. I know I’ve been able to ski well in training but somehow putting it to race day has been difficult. It feels incredible and is something that I can build off now with confidence going forward.”
Wiles will look to continue her trajectory as one of the 11 women representing the Team USA in alpine skiing at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
Young Wilkinson, who hails from Palisades Tahoe, burst into her first World Cup points with a clean run down the 2026 Olympic venue to finish 18th. She threw her hands up in the finish corral to celebrate and was giddy with excitement after the race. “I’m so happy!” she said. “This is the most amazing feeling. I feel like I’ve been close to points this season but to actually do it in Cortina? This feels unreal. I’m so happy.”
Wiles was thrilled to share her day with Wilkinson, who acts as Wilkinson's mentor on the World Cup circuit. "That was so cool to see and be a part of," said Wiles. "She is 21 and scored her first points. Eight years ago, I was 21 and scoring my first points too at this same venue."
Notably missing from the day was Breezy Johnson, who has finished second to Goggia twice in downhills during the 2021-22 season and was second in the downhill standings coming into Cortina, but took a big crash in Friday’s downhill training and sat out the race.
Keely Cashman finished just outside of the points in 33rd. Tricia Mangan was 46th.
Mikaela Shiffrin did not race in the Cortina downhill but maintained the overall lead in the World Cup standings. Goggia remains first in the downhill standings.
