Italy’s Sofia Goggia skied to a dominant victory today at the World Cup Finals in Kvitfjell, Norway. It is her third Super-G victory of the season, and it secured her the Super-G season title. Joining her on the podium were Corinne Suter from Switzerland in second place and Kira Weidle-Winkelmann in third place.
The race was opened by Mirjam Puchner, who set the pace for the course with a 1:31.20. Team USA’s Keely Cashman in bib 2 managed to undercut the Austrian by 0.42 seconds—a time that ultimately awarded her 10th place—and held the lead until Weidle-Winkelmann charged down the course, skiing into the lead nearly a second faster than the American. Weidle-Winkelmann is having the best season of her career, and this marked her first Super-G World Cup podium.
Yesterday’s downhill winner, Laura Pirovano, and Malorie Blanc could not challenge the German’s dominance, falling far behind, and for a moment it seemed her time was untouchable. But then Goggia, in bib 8, surged into the lead with a brilliant run that shaved off another 0.60 seconds from the fastest time. It was an incredible show of dominance by Italy’s “Queen of Speed,” who is known for her downhill prowess. However, this season the 33-year-old is having the best Super-G campaign of her career.
Alice Robinson, who until today was ranked second in Super-G, fell short, finishing 2.41 seconds behind Goggia. Germany’s Emma Aicher put down a strong run but finished 0.01 seconds behind her teammate Weidle-Winkelmann. Austria’s Conny Hütter, likewise, was solid but not fast enough to threaten the leaders, finishing 0.84 seconds behind Goggia.
Instead, the closest challenge came from Switzerland’s Suter, who—like Weidle-Winkelmann—had never been on a Super-G podium. Starting with bib 19, she held the green light through all four sectors but lost time on the bottom section, finishing 0.32 seconds behind the Italian. “After yesterday I was a little bit disappointed because I made a small mistake, so I tried to ski as fast as I can today,” Suter said in a post-race interview. “I watched Kira and she was skiing so, so well, so I tried to do the same.”
Team USA’s Breezy Johnson finished in 14th place, while Mary Bocock finished in 20th. Mikaela Shiffrin, who skied only her third Super-G race of the season, finished in 22nd place—outside the points, as only the top 15 receive points at the finals.
In a way, it is a very unique podium: all three ski racers are 30 or older, and all three are typically stronger in downhill. But today, the Super-G favored experience.
With the victory, Goggia secures the season title. It marks her first Super-G globe of her career—she has four downhill season titles to her name. Second place in the season standings goes to Robinson, and third to Aicher.
For the overall season standings, Aicher’s fourth place added a valuable 50 points to her tally, narrowing the gap to Shiffrin to just 45 points, with two races remaining.
The World Cup Finals in Kvitfjell continue with the men’s Super-G later today.
