It was certainly an eventful day today, January 26, at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy at the World Cup Downhill race. Several top skiers crashed during the World Cup Downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy, one of them being the world’s best alpine skier, Mikaela Shiffrin. As the eighth skier out of the gate, Shiffrin was definitely amongst the favorites for a podium today, but the American skier’s bid for a podium spot ended quite early, on a sharp left turn on the top section of the race course.
- Related: [VIDEO] Mikaela Shiffrin Injured after Crashing at Downhill World Cup in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
After a long interruption, which saw Shiffrin not moving for several minutes but ultimately ended with the top athlete hobbling off the race course using her ski poles as crutches, Lara Gut-Behrami was out of the gate. The Swiss skier completed the race with minimal problems, clearing the dreaded corner where Shiffrin had crashed without any issues, and catapulted herself into the lead by 0.52 seconds ahead of Italy’s Laura Pirovano.
Next up was another favorite for the podium, Italy’s Federica Brignone. Shockingly the Italian crashed on the same corner as Shiffrin. Unlike Shiffrin however, the Italian managed to get up and ski out of the course unassisted. After another brief interruption due to Brignone’s crash, Corinne Suter shot out of the gate. Sutter had suffered a serious concussion last year on the Downhill race at Cortina and the stress of several top-ranked skiers crashing may have made her tense. The Swiss came over the small jump into the steep corner where Shiffrin and Brignone had crashed and suddenly let out an agonizing scream and skied out to the side, where the Swiss lay down with the assistance of a course official. Seemingly Suter had landed the jump poorly, rupturing a ligament in her knee. The exact extent of her injuries has not been confirmed as of yet.
All eyes were on the Queen of Speed, Sofia Goggia, who was putting down a fast top run and cleared the ‘Shiffrin-corner’ without any issues. However, the Italian lost some speed on the lower section and could not beat Gut-Behrami, but skied into second place 0.52 seconds behind the Swiss. However, both experiences skiers were bumped down a step from the podium shortly after by Austria’s Stephanie Venier, who had also been strong in training this week. The Austrian skied into the lead 0.39 seconds ahead of Gut-Behrami, claiming her second career World Cup victory. The 30-year-old Austrian had placed second two weeks ago at Zauchensee on home ground.
While race positions in principal had been decided by then, with Venier in first, Gut-Behrami in second, and Sofia Goggia in third, the podium became a bit more crowded, with two other skiers managing to match Goggia’s time. Austria’s Christina Ager in bib 24 claimed her first-ever career podium while Canada’s Valerie Grenier with bib 31 rounded out the podium of five podium takers. While it is not Grenier’s first ever World Cup podium it is the Canadian athlete’s first Downhill podium, as she typically competes in Super-G and Giant Slalom only. It was a bit crowded on the steps but the athletes certainly did not mind.
It was not the first time in FIS World Cup history that five alpine skiers wound up on the podium but it was the first time five female alpine skiers shared the podium. In 2018 at Beaver Creek, Colorado, five men shared the Super-G podium
It was also a very good day for the other U.S. speed athletes, with five athletes finishing in the top 30 and thus earning FIS points. Jacqueline Wiles finished in 13th, Lauren Macuga in 16th, Isabella Wright in 18th, Keely Cashman in 27th, and Tricia Mangan in 28th.
