Goggia wins 4th straight WC downhill to match Vonn
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland, Jan 23, (AP): Olympic champion Sofia Goggia is dominating the World Cup downhill season like no woman since ski great Lindsey Vonn.
Goggia won her fourth straight downhill on Saturday to tie a World Cup streak by Vonn in 2018. They are the only women to achieve the feat in the last 25 years.
“I don’t challenge anyone,” Goggia said when asked if she was chasing Vonn’s record. “The challenge is every day with myself.”
The Italian star finished 0.27 seconds faster than Lara Gut-Behrami as both thrived on icy snow slicker than in Friday’s race at Crans-Montana also won by Goggia.
Goggia’s teammate Elena Curtoni was third, 0.60 back, ending Breezy Johnson’s streak of four third-place finishes in downhill.
Johnson was fifth, 0.89 behind Goggia, giving the United States its most consistent threat in downhill since Vonn’s stellar career ended two years ago.
Vonn’s best streak in World Cup downhill was six straight wins in 2009-10, according to the ski-db.com database. That matched her childhood idol Picabo Street’s run in 1995.
Vonn won four straight World Cup downhills from January to March 2018. They were the last of Vonn’s 82 career World Cup victories, more than any other woman on the circuit that began in 1967.
During Vonn’s winning run, Goggia was runner-up three times and also topped the season-long downhill standings. Goggia also won the Pyeongchang Olympics downhill in February 2018 when Vonn took bronze in South Korea.
Goggia is one of the sport’s most flamboyant skiers and personalities though her reaction to an impressive run Saturday was quiet satisfaction in the finish area.
She blew kisses to the camera and raised both arms in the air with just a little smile. Goggia’s 11th career World Cup win was her eighth in downhill.
Runner-up to Goggia on Friday, Ester Ledecka was on course for a fast time when her run was ended by a nasty-looking crash that sent her spinning down the hill in the safety net.
Ledecka went fast and wide at a left-hand turn and was caught in the net lining the course. She was twisted around for about 20 meters (yards) before coming to a stop.
The double Olympic champion in Alpine skiing and snowboarding later skied down to the finish with her face bloodied.
The race surface was faster than on Friday when bright sunshine bathed the south-facing Mont Lachaux slope. Cloud cover and minus-5 Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) temperature made conditions challenging, though the strong winds of one day earlier eased.
Meanwhile the second men’s World Cup downhill on the Streif course was pushed back a day after rain and snowfall canceled the storied race on Saturday.
The downhill was rescheduled for Sunday morning, and a super-G initially planned for that time slot was postponed to Monday morning.