Elena Curtoni confirms Italian dominance in women's speed events. Today has been Elena Curtoni's day. The 31-year-old started with bib number 2, and she mastered a foggy, snowy and shortened Downhill course with a smooth and at the same time aggressive skiing that permitted to beat her teammate and favourite Sofia Goggia by 0.29 seconds. Corinne Suter finished in third place, +0.73 seconds behind Curtoni.
It's her 9th podium (5 in SG, 4 in DH) in the World Cup and her third win (she won the Downhill in Bansko in 2020 and the Super-G last season in Cortina d'Ampezzo).
"I'm really happy. I am very satisfied with my performance. With flat light it's tough and you need to be brave. I was very aggressive, but managed well with the poor visibility. The visibility got worse later, but I had a good run. I think I was able to put all my braveness on the slope today and it went well", Curtoni said.
Of the last 23 Downhill events at the Women's Alpine Ski World Cup, 20 have been won by Italian or Swiss skiers: ten by Sofia Goggia, five by Lara Gut-Behrami, two by Corinne Suter, two by Elena Curtoni, and one by Priska Nufer. The last non-Italian/Swiss women to win a downhill World Cup were Mikaela Shiffrin (Courchevel-Meribel, March 2022), Ester Ledecká (Crans Montana, February 2022) and Viktoria Rebensburg in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on February 8, 2020.
After winning the two first Downhill races of the season in Lake Louise Sofia Goggia finished today in second place. In her run she hit a gate and injured her left hand.
Post-race scans revealed she suffered a fracture of the second and third metacarpals of her hand and she was to undergo immediate surgery in Milan in order to try to start Saturday's Downhill race.
Corinne Suter finished in third place today in the “Engiadina” racecourse in Corviglia. It is her third podium in the third Descent of the season. She finished on the podium in both Downhill events at Lake Louise, in second and third place respectively.
The Olympic Champion in Beijing 2022 shows great consistency in her skiing. Last season she was the only woman to have finished in the top 10 in all World Cup Downhill races with the exception of the Finals in Courchevel-Meribel where she finished in discreet 19th place.
It's her 23rd podium in the World Cup.
"I didn't feel very comfortable today. I wasn't completely happy with my run, the feeling wasn't that good. But today, I don't think it was easy for anyone, everyone was struggling. You can't see the bumps and it's not so easy, but I tried my best and I'm super happy", Suter said.
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