Shiffrin secures World Cup Overall and Goggia locks up the downhill globe

Kajsa Vickhoff Lie celebrates in Kvitfjell victory: Photo GEPA

KVITFJELL, Norway — Today, the Kvitfjell downhill race was won by home favorite Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, who became the first Norwegian woman to win a downhill in the 56-year history of World Cup skiing.

Racing with bib three, it is Vickhoff Lie’s first World Cup victory and only her third podium.

Vickhoff Lie called her victory “amazing, it’s indescribable. It’s the best feeling ever,” adding “I just want to have a good time skiing, and yeah, you can’t have it better than when you’re winning races. So yeah, I’m extremely happy.”

Goggia secures downhill globe

Prerace favorite, Italian Sofia Goggia, (+0.29) finished second for the second time this season but clinched her fourth season downhill title. Goggia crossed with a huge smile and raised her hand, showing the camera four fingers. It is her third downhill title in a row. Goggia produces the 23rd 2023 Italian women’s podium, two shy of the record 25, however, there are plenty of races remaining to add to the total. During her podium interview, Goggia commented “Heia Norge! (Go Norway) and finished with tusen takk (thousand thanks) as the Norwegian crowd cheered loudly.

“I feel great, I mean, it’s my fourth downhill globe, the third in a row, I’m really happy about that,” Goggia said. “But I’m not so happy about the performance of today. I didn’t ski that well, wasn’t smooth as in the training runs.”

Third on the podium was the Swiss star 2023 World Championship downhill bronze medalist Corinne Suter (+0.41).

Making history at home

A year ago, Vickhoff Lie was in Kvitfjell to witness the retirement of Kjetil Jansrud and today, she joins him as a Norwegian downhill winner. While speaking with NRK.no she stated a calm sensation before she started from knowing she was at home. In the finish, she seemed most amazed by the fact she had beaten the world’s best when they had not made big mistakes. However, the emotions broke loose as tears ran down her face as she experience her national anthem with many of the attending fans singing along.

Good day for the Stifel US Alpine women

The Stifel US Alpine Team had three skiers earn top fifteen results. Mikaela Shiffrin tied for fifth, missing the podium. The result, however, was enough for Shiffrin to lock up her fifth overall World Cup title. She leads former overall champion Lara Gut-Behrami by 795 points with seven races left.

“It’s pretty wild, actually. The overall, or any season title, is always strange to explain how it feels on the day you win it when you don’t win the race,” Shiffrin said.

“The whole season the work has been amazing and it’s quite special to, before the final races, have that secure.”

Breezy Johnson (+0.87) finished eighth and Isabella Wright (+1.00) ended the day in 12th. All the women skied with expertise and determination. Joining the trio in the top 30 is California’s Keely Cashman (+2.43), she finished 29th.

Canada’s Fleckenstein delivers again

Canadian independent and last skier on the course, Stefanie Fleckenstein (+1.64), is on fire. After scoring her first World Cup points in Crans Montana, she finishes 19th in Kvitfjell. Notably, she has had the good fortune of having her father, Olympic sailor Steve Fleckenstein by her side. He has supplied the ski service for her and her teammate Tricia Mangan in Kvitfjell and, before that, in Crans Montana.

In all the World Cups this year I’ve been imagining what it would be like to come down and see a result inside the top 30,” said Fleckenstein. “After Crans Montana, it’s been a lot more relaxing. I could just ski a lot more freely because I wasn’t thinking about it.”

Kvitfjell’s Olympiabakken downhill delivers

Saturday blessed the Kvitfjell Norway Olympiabakken downhill with clear skies. Excited by the rare opportunity to see the best women ski in their home country, the Norwegian fans showed up in large numbers and brought their enthusiasm. They hoped to see the first Norwegian women’s downhill victory and realized their dream.

The race on the Olympiabakken course is an annual track on the men’s circuit but hosted women’s races for the first time in 20 years.

Due to wind, the course used the alternate route around the Russi Jump to limit the danger. While the Russi jump is a spectacular piece of the downhill today, the minimized version was appropriate. The report from the forerunners was that the course was perfect.

Top 30 results and Analysis of the fastest three and North Americans in the top 32

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.