Gut-Behrami wins downhill after Olympic champ Goggia crashes

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jan 15, 2022 8:12 AM EST | Last Updated: January 15, 2022

Lara Gut-Behrami's play yet saw an upswing Saturday aft 2 miserable months for the Swiss skier which included illness, a crash, and a coronavirus infection.

With her archetypal lawsuit astatine the Beijing Olympics conscionable implicit 3 weeks away, Gut-Behrami mastered a tricky people to triumph the 4th women's World Cup downhill of the season.

"This is what I needed and I'm blessed that I skied the mode I wanted," said the Swiss erstwhile wide champion, who has 9 medals from large champions but conscionable 1 from an Olympic event: downhill bronze from the 2014 Sochi Games.

"My past 2 months were everything but good. I americium blessed that I'm getting backmost into the rhythm. It's chill that I could skis connected a precocious level for 3 days successful a row," added Gut-Behrami, who had posted the third-fastest clip successful some trainings.

Olympic champion Sofia Goggia had an awkward clang halfway down her tally successful Zauchensee, Austria.

The Italian, who had won the erstwhile 3 downhills, seemed unhurt and skied down the people soon aft the incident.

"I'm bruised and sore but fortunately intact," said Goggia, who was included successful the authoritative commencement database for Sunday's super-G.

Ideal contention conditions

"I'll effort to beryllium astatine the commencement of the super-G, besides seeing however I consciousness erstwhile I aftermath up."

Gut-Behrami timed 1 minute 45.78 seconds successful cleanable conditions connected the three-kilometre course to bushed Kira Weidle of Germany by one-tenth of a second. Ramona Siebenhofer of Austria was 0.44 down successful third.

Canada's Marie-Michèle Gagnon finished fifth, 0.68 down Gut-Behrami.

"I'm ace happy, it decidedly is awesome to person a idiosyncratic champion nary substance when," the autochthonal of Lac-Etchemin, Que., told Alpine Canada. "It's bully to consciousness similar I'm gathering going into the Olympics. That was ever the goal, to physique up to February and I'm decidedly 1 of those skiers who likes to spell 1 measurement astatine a time."

Gagnon has ever felt comfy connected the Kälberloch people that shoots skiers retired of the commencement gross astatine implicit 100 kilometres per hour.

"This people is truly peculiar to me; it's wherever I had my archetypal win. I won the combined successful 2014 close earlier Sochi," she recalled. "The time earlier the combined I had my archetypal downhill points ever arsenic a slalom skier.

Olympic champion Sofia Goggia had an awkward clang halfway down her run.

The Italian, who had won the erstwhile 3 downhills, seemed unhurt and skied down the people soon aft the incident.

Win streak halted astatine 7

In a trademark gutsy run, Goggia led astatine the archetypal 2 splits earlier she mislaid power implicit her near skis successful the compression of a acheronian conception of the course. Her close skis came disconnected erstwhile she mislaid equilibrium and the protective airbag nether her contention suit inflated earlier she deed the ground.

The Italian slid into the information netting with the near skis inactive attached to her footwear but seemed to debar injuries. She sat connected the people for a fewer seconds earlier giving a thumbs-up.

Goggia had won the past 7 downhills she competed it and posted the fastest clip successful grooming connected Friday.

Her DNF opened the mode for Gut-Behrami, who had won the 2 downhills past play which the Italian missed with a genu injury.

It was Gut-Behrami's 2nd triumph of the play but archetypal since missing astir 4 weeks of racing aft a affirmative COVID-19 test.

"After [the play opener successful Soelden [Austria] thing went arsenic planned," Gut-Behrami said. "I was sick successful America, past I crashed, past I had COVID. I person been skiing similar 5 days successful November and 3 days successful December, which is nothing."

Battling a cold, Gut-Behrami finished 17th and 23rd successful 2 downhills successful Lake Louise, Alta. She past won a Dec. 11 super-G successful St. Moritz successful her autochthonal Switzerland but crashed successful different super-G the adjacent day.

Shortly afterward, a affirmative trial forced her into isolation, and she lone returned to racing astatine a elephantine slalom successful Slovenia past week.

The Swiss erstwhile wide champion earned her 34th vocation triumph and 12th successful a downhill, putting her level with Italy's Isolde Kostner successful eighth spot connected the all-time pistillate winners' database of the sport's fastest discipline.

A super-G connected the aforesaid slope is scheduled for Sunday before skiers question to Cortina, d'Ampezzo, Italy for a Jan. 22-23 competition.