CORTINA D AMPEZZO,ITALY,20.JAN.23 – Sofia Goggia.
Photo: GEPA pictures

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – USA’s Breezy Johnson was the first athlete to attack the Cortina course. She appeared fast and near the edge of her ability. Cortina d’Ampezzo is fast and dangerous and Johnson looked up to the challenge. Johnson crossed with a big smile and then waited to see how fast her run was. She was able to hold the lead through the first six racers. However, bib seven was Sofia Goggia. The Italian superstar skied with a determination that produces victories. Goggia skied well from the start but used a blazing-fast fourth sector to move in front of the rest of the field. Her run on home soil was (0.78) faster than Johnson’s.

Goggia remained in the leader’s chair for the rest of the race, however, the racer who had her attention all the way to the bottom was Slovenian Ilka Stuhec. The Slovenian stayed in touch the entire run to finish the closest to Goggia. She was only 0.13 seconds slower than the Italian rocket. German athlete Kira Weidle has been good all season and today, the super-G star showed her ability on a challenging downhill. Weidle finished the day third (0.36) slower than Goggia.

The best are better than the rest because they are never satisfied. In her post-race interview, Goggia made it clear that although she won, she didn’t feel the race was up to her standards. That announcement should scare the rest of the field. If she can find more speed tomorrow, she will be dominant.

“It’s special to win our home race,” Goggia said. “My performance was really solid but still I have something to look at today at the video analysis, so I’ll be really focused for tomorrow.”

As usual, Goggia’s season has been make-or-break. She broke two fingers in her left hand during a downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, last month, then returned after a quick surgery to win another downhill a day later.

Then she crashed nastily in a super-G last weekend in St. Anton, Austria. Consequently, despite medical tests revealing no damage to her right knee, she sat out another super-G a day later as a precautionary measure.

But in this race, where others struggled, the Italian was perfect during the technical middle section gathering so much speed that she needed to briefly stick her arms out to regain her balance after a slight bobble.

Every time Mikaela Shiffrin skis, people pay attention. With very colorful language Goggia admitted that Shiffrin made her very nervous when she was leading after the first two splits. Shiffrin has downplayed her chances for a podium in Cortina. She spends less time on the downhill skis than the rest of the field, but she is Shiffrin. Today she came very close to the top three. Looking more than competent, she started with the fastest first sector and kept everyone engaged her entire run. By finishing fourth Shiffrin shows that a podium tomorrow is not out of the question.

“I don’t really believe that I would get 83 in downhill,” Shiffrin said. “But it’s certainly hard to come down in fourth so close and not think, ’Oh, maybe I could get on the podium tomorrow. The trick for me is to put those thoughts out of my mind.”

Shiffrin had trouble landing a jump toward the end of her run and stood up to regain her balance. But overall she appeared pleased with her performance, smiling and pumping her fist in the finish area.

“I froze and I got more air in the section that you don’t really want to get off the ground,” Shiffrin said. “That was a little bit harsh right on the last turn where you can build speed. So I could maybe be a bit smoother there. … I’ll try to make that adjustment.”

As the World Championships approach the Stifel US Alpine women’s speed team is gaining momentum. USA teammates joining Shiffrin among the elite were Breezy Johnson and Isabella Wright. Johnson who finished ninth skied fully committed and showed she is returning to form.

Emerging talent Isabella Wright expressed her respect for the course at the end of her run and finished 11th. In the classic Cortina test, the USA has two in the top 10 and three in the top 15. It was a very good day for the US women and they will have another downhill opportunity tomorrow.

“I feel really excited about my scheme right now,” said Wright. “I’m happy that my teammates and I are really pushing each other and to see them ski really well today definitely gave me a lot of confidence to try and put down my best run.”

Bib 13, Corinne Suter reminded us that even the elite get into trouble. Unfortunately, downhill is dangerous, and Cortina’s high kinetic energy adds to the peril. It is scary at these speeds and when a racer can’t recover and falls. Suter’s fall was dramatic and found her leg rising above her hip as she flew through the air. The race was interrupted as Suter was attended to and relief came to the all when she got to her feet and skied to the finish.

Maria-Michele Gagnon of Canada fell after doing the splits at high speed then slid down the mountain and got bumped up into the air, prompting the safety airbag inside her suit to inflate. Fortunately, the protection system softened the blow when she landed and she, too, got right back up.

Only two racers with bibs higher than 30 found their way into the points. However, two of the first 30 did not finish.

With the 16th downhill win of her career, Goggia tied Katja Seizinger in fifth place on the women’s list for the discipline, which Vonn leads with 43 victories.

Analysis of the fastest three racers and North Americans in the top 30 and top 30 results

Top 30 January 19th Cortina downhill results

The Associated Press and USST contributed to this report.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.