FIS man Alberto Senigagliesi had to listen to a lot following the first women’s downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The 53-year-old from Turin was responsible for setting the course on the Tofana and had to dig into the snow quite a bit (especially at the delta curve). An orgy of failures in the technical disciplines (like the men’s event in Kitzbühel eight days ago) is part of the business. But if twelve of the 52 people who started fail in a speed race, something is wrong.
Afterwards, many spoke of a “crazy race”, but that shouldn’t diminish the triumph of 30-year-old Stephanie Venier from Innsbruck. The former junior world champion celebrated her second World Cup victory, the first in five years (Garmisch downhill on January 27, 2019).
“I had a good feeling, but I didn’t expect that I would be first. At the moment I have a lot of self-confidence,” said Venier, who seems to be given wings by love. The Tyrolean is in a relationship with Ski Austria downhill skier Christian Walder. You also have to have the speed ace on your list today (10.30 a.m., ORF 1) in the second downhill and on Sunday in the Super-G (10.30 a.m., ORF 1).
In the final tally, Venier was 37 hundredths ahead of the Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami, and things got really tight on the lowest podium place. Three ex aequo third-place finishers were honored: Christina Ager from Innsbruck (on the World Cup podium for the first time), Sofia Goggia (Ita) and Valerie Grenier (Can/each +0.71).
During the award ceremony, two well-known athletes were already in the hospital. Olympic champion Corinne Suter (29) suffered a serious knee injury – screaming loudly in great pain – while dominator Mikaela Shiffrin, according to the initial diagnosis, didn’t have it that bad. The 28-year-old American lost her balance following a bump before the second intermediate time and crashed violently into the safety net.
Blessing in disguise?
Shiffrin remained lying there for minutes and then left the route, first leaning on her poles (she mightn’t put any weight on her left leg) and later by helicopter. Later, the winner of 95 World Cup races would cautiously give the all-clear. “Everything is okay,” she wrote from the hospital in Cortina. According to a US association statement, the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments are intact. Further investigations followed. Maybe Shiffrin will be lucky and return soon.
Compared to Wednesday’s training, the slope had become faster, “we drove towards the jumps at three or four additional km/h, that changed a lot,” reported Cornelia Hütter, who finished eighth: “A crazy race, the Tofana “It’s particularly aggressive this year. It’s just really getting down to business. Downhill is a risky sport, that’s how it is with us,” said the 31-year-old Styrian.
Author
Alexander Zambarloukos
Sports editor
Alexander Zambarloukos
