Featured Image: Podium from the second Cortina downhill. Credit: GEPA

The women pushed from the start gate for the second 2024 downhill run on the Cortina D’Ampezzo track. Stephanie Venier was searching for the speed to win back-to-back but was removed from the lead by several athletes, concluding the day in 5th place. 

The weather and snow remained similar to the first day, featuring a clear blue sky and slightly warmer temperatures. Nevertheless, the women faced an additional obstacle today: fluctuating wind gusts, which caused them to delay the race to ensure the safety of the athletes.

After a lengthy delay, Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway was unphased by the long wait, coming through the finish with the winning time, +0.44 ahead of Sofia Goggia. It was a milestone run for Mowinckel, marking her first downhill victory.

She stated, “I am so happy! I am so fricking happy! I try every year to ski downhill to do this. I have so many emotions that I don’t know how to handle them,” she continued, “My quality is that I have a really good on and off system. When I am on, I am really on.”

Stifel US Ski Team athlete Jacqueline Wiles, skiing with bib-26, was gunning it down the course. She aggressively approached each section of the Tofane, displaying contempt of fear. She utilized the tailwind to break through speed barriers. She came through the finish in 2nd place, merely +0.35 off Mowinckel’s 1st-place time. 

Wiles has not been on a podium since the 2018 Cortina D’Ampezzo downhill when she earned a 3rd-place finish. The athlete attained her career-best result today.

Wiles stated, “This is absolutely amazing. It has been a long time coming with a lot of injuries over the last five or six years,” she continued, “To be able to come here and put a run down like that means the world to me, it’s really special.”

Having previously won on the Olympia Delle Tofane track, Sofia Goggia came into the event with an all-out eagerness to reign victorious. On the first day, she threw down a solid run but was off Venier’s winning time by +0.71, tying with Valérie Grenier (CAN) and Christina Ager (AUT) for third place.

The three-way tie yesterday lit a fire in Goggia, who has won three times on this hill and 18 times racing downhill. She displayed her determination with a full-send performance, but it was not enough to earn her another victory. She was in the leader’s chair through the long delay, and when the race resumed, the two athletes, Mowinckel and Wiles, came to the finish ahead of her on the leaderboard.

Goggia explained, “The first 17 came with a lot of wind and others came down without a lot of wind,” she continued, “It’s mixed emotions for me and I am sorry I didn’t win.”

After the incredibly long day of racing, the last two racers, Sabrina Simader and Ricarda Haaser were unable to push out of the start because of safety concerns.

North Americans

Alpine Canada Alpin Valérie Grenier, who achieved her best yesterday, earning a 3rd-place downhill result, was not able to finish her run today. She got pushed off of the course and missed the gate. 

Bella Wright, a Stifel US Ski Team athlete, displayed great determination as she navigated through the top of the course. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side as crashed off the lower jump, hitting the netting with speed. She got up from the crash and was able to make it back to the base of the ski area but with a bandage around her chin. 

Lauren Macuga was in the lead in the first few sectors of the course but got pushed off the line through the mid-section. Unfortunately, those mistakes cost her time, resulting in 23rd place, which was a reasonably good finish for the young Macuga. 

Teammate Keely Cashman also put down a point-scoring run, finishing in 24th place. Her tenacity showed as she held her speed from the beginning to the end of the track. 

Tricia Mangan laid down a strong run, but she got pushed out of the course slightly at the bottom, which cost her time. She ended outside of the top 30 today.

Top 30 Results

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Analysis of the Fastest Three and North Americans among the top 30