Slovenian Ilka Stuhec wins last Downhill of the season at the Finals in Soldeu, Andorra. It's her fourth podium of the season. Stuhec confirmed her come back at the very top of women’s Alpine Downhill skiing. The 32-year-old and double Downhill World Champion at St. Moritz 2017 and Are 2019, become the oldest winner in a women's World Cup Downhill race since Lindsey Vonn won in Åre on 14 March 2018 at age 33.
Ilka Štuhec twice (Cortina d'Ampezzo) and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (Kvitfjell) are the only non-Italian women to win a Wilka-stuhec-back-to-the-top-of-the-podium-inorld Cup Downhill event this season.
“It means really a lot actually because this time last year I was thinking, should I continue? Should I quit? What should I do with my life? Then I listened to my guts and I was like OK, I will change things and I will go on because I still had a feeling I could do it and now everyone knows I can. It makes it fun again, I am really enjoying it and I will definitely go on”, Stuhec said.
Sofia Goggia finished in second place 0.51 seconds behind Stuhec. Goggia had already clinched this season's Downhill Crystal Globe. She also won the discipline Globe in 2017-2018, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022. She is the first woman to win the Downhill Globe in three successive seasons since Vonn won six in a row between 2007-2008 and 2012-2013.
Goggia joins the five women group to have won this globe at least four times: Lindsey Vonn (8), Annemarie Moser-Pröll (7), Renate Götschl (5), Michela Figini (4) and Katja Seizinger (4).
“I am happy, four Downhill Crystal Globes is not few and today I am ending up with a good race. This season we have run nine Downhills and when you finish saying I won five and I crashed in one and my worst result was a second place, I mean ‘kiss my hand’", Goggia said.
Lara Gut-Behrami finished in third place 0.81 seconds behind the Slovenian. She have achieved today her first podium finish in the Downhill this season. Tomorrow she has a great chance to win the Super-G Crystal Globe. She is currently second in the discipline standings.
“Lately I've been a bit stuck on the line. I've tried to be precise. I never released the skis. Today I tried not to look at the line, to ski a little narrower, but to let the skis run towards the gates. I did that well. It's good to end the season like this in the Downhill. I'm often too critical of myself, I always want a lot more. I often only see the things I'm still missing", Gut-Behrami said.
"I hope I can ski like this again tomorrow. It will definitely be tight and I hope that I can have a chance to win the Globe", she added.
The 2022-2023 World Cup season ends without a Swiss Downhill victory. The Swiss team have won races in all disciplines – except Downhill but with Marco Odermatt and Jasmine Flury, as Downhill World Champions. The last season without a Swiss World Cup Downhill win was 2005-2006.
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