Industry News
The world’s speed women gathered today, January 25, at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, for the Downhill. It was an overcast day, but visibility was good, and the course was firm. The top two podium spots went to Italy today, with Federica Brignone in first and teammate Sofia Goggia in second. Rounding out the podium was Switzerland’s Corinne Suter, who came back from a devastating knee injury this season. Meanwhile, USA’s Breezy Johnson narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing in fourth just 0.06 seconds behind Suter.
USA’s Jaqui Wiles set the pace for the course as the first starter with a time of 1:36.39 minutes. While Italy’s Nicol Delago in bib 2 could not unseat the American, Switzerland’s Corinne Suter pipped Wiles by 0.37 seconds, taking the solid lead that the next six skiers could not beat, including teammate Lara Gut-Behrami, who crossed the finish line 0.18 seconds behind her.
Then it was time for the Italian speed queen Sofia Goggia in bib 10. La Regina della Velocita had been fastest in yesterday’s training, but Goggia was more than half a second behind Suter in the top section of the course. Then she put down the fastest mid-section time, putting her back into podium contention. Goggia managed to maintain her speed into the lower section of the course, flipping the timer to green, and crossed the finish line 0.19 seconds ahead of Suter.
Goggia nervously watched Austria’s Corinne Hütter and Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, but neither woman was able to unseat her. Then it was Goggia’s teammate Federica Brignone’s turn, who was 0.13 seconds ahead of Goggia straight out of the gates. Brignone gave back some time on the top-section, but the timing stayed green. She carried her lead into the mid-section, where she lost some time, flipping the timing to red, and the crowd was biting its nails. Brignone picked up speed again into the bottom section, flipping the dial back to green, snatching the lead from her teammate with the narrowest margin of 0.01 seconds. The crowd cheered—it was as exciting as ski racing gets. No subsequent favorite skier came close to unseating the Italians from rank one and two.
Austria’s Nina Ortlieb, in bib 20, was putting down a fast run but slid out, spun, and shot down a large section of the piste. While it initially looked benign, her speed did not slow, and the skis did not release, and Ortlieb flew into the nets, out of the nets again, and then flipped backward, at which point the Austrian ski racer screamed an agonizing and bone-chilling scream. She then screamed, “Hilfe!” (Help!) and everyone knew that this was extremely serious. The race was interrupted, and Ortlieb stretchered off in a sled by ski patrol. It was heartbreaking to watch. Ski Austria later confirmed that Ortlieb has broken her lower leg. Tragically, the 28-year-old had just come back from breaking her fibula and tibia in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December 2023.
The race continued after a long interruption. After Michelle Gisin in bib 21 and Elvedina Muzaferija in bib 22, it was Breezy Johnson’s turn in bib 23. The 29-year-old U.S. athlete skied into the lead ahead of Goggia on the top section, and suddenly, it looked like a shake-up of the podium was still possible. The American skier was on the hunt to end her podium drought and had a top speed of 120.5 kilometers an hour on the Kandahar course. She was close to claiming her first podium in three years, but unfortunately, it was fourth for the American, crossing the line just 0.06 seconds behind Suter. A fantastic result for the American who has not been in the top five in the last two years.
Teammate Lauren Macuga in bib 27 also had an amazing run. She was ahead on the top section of the course but could not quite maintain her speed into the midsection of the course. She crossed the finish line just 0.38 seconds behind Goggia and 0.01 seconds behind Gut-Behrami, awarding her sixth place overall.
Next up was Lindsey Vonn in bib 28, and the 40-year-old American showed that even with a knee replacement, Vonn is still a top skier. She was just 0.35 seconds behind Goggia on the top to mid-section and a podium seemed possible but a mistake which caused her to lose her balance followed by a roller caused Vonn to come off the course, resulting in a DNF for the American. Despite the somewhat disappointing result, her performance did show that she is a top contender in the World Cup still.
Team USA’s other speed women, Allison Mollin, Haley Cutler, and Keely Cashman, finished outside the top 30 that earned FIS points, while Isabella Wright and Tricia Mangan both recorded DNFs. Wright’s crash looked nasty as the 27-year-old slid head-first into the nets at almost unbroken speed, but the American got up. She did have to sit back down on the course, clearly in pain, but she insisted on skiing down and managed the way down without assistance. However, she appeared to be struggling. Meanwhile, Mangan slid out and managed to slow herself with her upper body, preventing a slamming into the B-nets. She got up without much hesitation and skied to the bottom with just a scare and no injuries.
With today’s victory, Brignone has recrowned herself the oldest female World Cup victor and extends her overall lead in the rankings to 639 points, 110 points ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami. She also leads the Downhill ranking 29 points ahead of her teammate Goggia.
The races at Garmisch continue with a Super-G race tomorrow, Sunday, January 26.
