Lake Louise downhill podium: PHOTO GEPA

The speed queens weigh in on “The Lake”

Last week in Lake Louise we caught up with the men to collect their views on the Lake Louise World Cup races.

This week we were fortunate to have women from six countries share their thoughts. 

Sofia Goggia, Italy

Goggia has won four downhills plus one super-G World Cups in Lake Louise. She put it and perhaps the best. “I enjoy everything about Canada. It’s a fairytale place. I really do like it.”

Corinne Suter, Switzerland

Suter has experienced five podiums in Canada before her first victory this year in Lake Louise. Winning the 2022-23 Lake Louise super-g will likely mean she will be the last woman to win in “The Lake” for the foreseeable future. 

The 2022 Olympic downhill gold medallist commented, “I always love to come to Lake Louise because it’s the start of the season, and everyone’s a bit excited and nervous. It’s so great to be here. I love the country, and I love Lake Louise. I hope, I really hope, we’re not the last time here.”

Breezy Johnson, USA

Last season before her injury Johnson finished 2nd to Goggia in the two Lake Louise downhills. She finished 2nd to Goggia again in the next World Cup downhill in Val d’lsere, France. Although she is coming off an injury and didn’t have the final Lake Louise performance she dreamt of, she had a lot of positive things to say about the event.

Johnson said, “We really love Lake Louise; the Americans do. Obviously, we’ve raced here a bunch. It’s a great winter opener, I think. It’s one of the most reliable places for snow and so on. It has been butt-cold this weekend but setting aside my frozen toes. It’s a great spot. I would love to see it come back, and I would love to see it stay, but I also think there’s a lot of change in the air with this and Alpine Canada, so we’ll see what happens. We have to look at the calendar and take the races we get.”

Marie-Michéle Gagnon, Canada

Gagnon has turned her attention to speed events. However, she is a highly respected four-event skier who finished 8th in this year’s super g and experienced the best Lake Louise result of her career. A feather to add to her countless top ten World Cup results in all events. Unfortunately, this could be her last home World Cup in Lake Louise. 

Gagnon commented, “The whole tour loves Lake Louise. It’s such a great starting place for all of us. Early snow, and early cold temperatures, so it feels like winter. The race has rarely been canceled, or if it is canceled, it’s because there’s a lot of snow. I know they’re talking about getting rid of it, but Alpine Canada is also trying hard to find a solution.”

Jonana Haehlen, Switzerland

Haehlen finished 9th and 4th in this season’s Lake Louise downhills. Her resume includes two World Cup downhill and one super g podiums. Her first Lake Louise World Cup race was on December 6th, 2013. She has competed in eight seasons of “The Lake” World Cups.

Haehlen hopes number eight isn’t here last time. “I would love to come here more, and I hope it’s not the last time, but there are so many rumors, so I think no one really knows, but we’ll see. I enjoyed it a lot.” 

Greta Small, Australia

Small is a veteran with 49 World Cup starts on her resume. Twelve of those have been in Lake Louise. 

The 27-year-old Small remarked, “Everyone has been talking about that all week. How sad they are that this is the last women’s Lake Louise tour stop for the near future. Everyone loves coming here and to North America at this time of year. The snow’s great, and they put so much work into the track. I mean, compared to Europe, there are smaller crowds, but the heart and soul everyone puts into this race is felt by all the athletes.”

These talented women all expressed their appreciation of the Lake Louise speed events. They will be missed by fans and athletes alike. However, as the old saying goes, all good things come to an end. However, we hope this end is only temporary. No matter what the future brings, Lake Louise can be proud of all its contributions to the sport.