Goggia wins in Crans Montana, Johnson 3rd again

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland – Olympic champion Sofia Goggia won the World Cup downhill race and emerging American star Breezy Johnson was third – yet again – on Friday.

The two downhill standouts of this season have now shared a podium in all four of the marquee speed races so far.

Goggia raced through swirling winds at Crans-Montana to seal her third straight downhill win 0.20 seconds ahead of Ester Ledecka, who is an Olympic champion in Alpine skiing and snowboarding. 

“I didn’t expect to win today,” said Goggia, the Italian star who was also runner-up in the season-opening downhill. “There was so much wind I did not know what to expect.”

American rival Johnson extended her streak of placing third in each downhill after entering the season without a podium finish in her World Cup career.

Johnson, who turned 25 this week, laughed and held up three fingers after seeing she was in third place yet again, 0.57 behind the winner. 

“It’s definitely getting funny,” said the Wyoming native, who rose to second in the downhill standings behind Goggia. “I’ve been patient about not having a podium for like four years on the World Cup. Now I just need to be patient about the second place and the first place.”

Overall leader Petra Vlhova posted an impressive fourth place to extend her lead over Michelle Gisin, who was out of the points in 33rd place.

Vlhova, a slalom specialist, finished 0.89 behind Goggia in her 17th consecutive start in all races this season.

“Sometimes it’s too much and I’m tired but we are still in this game,” Vlhova said. “We will try to continue like this.”

Three-time overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin is skipping the three speed races in Crans-Montana to focus on her favored slalom and giant slalom events.

Friday’s downhill was delayed for more than three hours to clear overnight snow from the course. The race was shortened to a lower start on the Mont Lachaux course because of strong winds higher up.

A second downhill is scheduled for Saturday with a super-G on Sunday.

World Cup – Women’s Downhill – Crans Montana – Jan. 22, 2021