Alpine ski World Cup 23/24: Ragnhild Mowinckel claims first career downhill win in Cortina - Results
After a lengthy weather delay, the Norwegian star surged to victory from USA's Jacqueline Wiles with home favourite Sofia Goggia third.
Alpine Skiing
Ragnhild Mowinckel stunned the home crowd as she won the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup downhill at Cortina d'Ampezzo on Saturday (27 January).
Home hero Sofia Goggia had led before racing was delayed by an hour due to gusting winds but the 31-year-old Norwegian, who took silver behind the Italian in the PyeongChang 2018 downhill, produced a sensational run to take her first World Cup downhill win and her fourth in total.
Mowinckel took the Delta jump, which had caught out several skiers in the past two days, superbly and carried that speed all the way through the bottom half of the course.
The surprises were not over as Jacqueline Wiles went into second for her best World Cup result. Her previous best was third at Cortina in 2018.
That left Laura Gauche in fourth place with Friday's top two - Stephanie Venier and Lara Gut-Behrami - tied for fifth.
Just 24 hours after Mikaela Shiffrin suffered a crash, her American teammate Isabella Wright had an even bigger spill.
Wright, who was third to start after Ester Ledecka skied out and Laura Pirovano set the early target, failed to make the left-hand turn after the Delta jump midway down the course and flew off into the safety netting.
The 26-year-old was conscious, but there was a lengthy delay as she was airlifted away. She later returned to the finish area and, while wearing a plaster on her chin, told FIS that she had sustained "a laceration on my chin that I'll need to get stitched up, and we'll see how my head is doing later". She added, "I think, for the most part, I'm pretty lucky."
Gauche was the first to go after the restart, and the Frenchwoman skied the middle of the course as well as anyone to go into the lead.
She held the advantage until Goggia took to the hill, and the 31-year-old from Bergamo had the crowd on their feet as she brought up green lights at the checkpoints.
And they were roaring as she crossed the line 0.15 inside Gauche's time to move her to the brink of her fifth victory in the race.
The finish line arch was removed during the wind delay, but that did not affect Mowinckel in the slightest as she skied to victory.
Mowinckel said afterwards, "I was not expecting that. I feel like that break really helped my mentality. Before when I came up to the start, I was really nervous. It's a fast one and there's a lot happening, when you see girls going out all the time.
"When that break happened, those worries went away. I'll just ski and see how it goes. I kept my head calm and fixed the stuff that I was bad at yesterday."
"Cortina is an absolutely special place. I love this place. Even though I've never performed here before the last couple of years, I've always loved Cortina. I feel safe here and it's nice when you get to experience this here."
Later came Wiles who skied the top half well, lost time in the middle, and then finished strongly to give the American team something to cheer after Shiffrin and Wright's crashes.
Cortina d'Ampezzo, FIS World Cup: Results from women's downhill, 27 January 2024 (top 10)
1. Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) 1:33.50
2. Jacqueline Wiles (USA) +0.35
3. Sofia Goggia (ITA) +0.44
4. Laura Gauche (FRA) +0.59
5. Stephanie Venier (AUT), Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) +0.71
7. Cornelia Huetter (AUT) +0.74
8. Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR) +0.76
9. Marta Bassino (ITA) +0.89
10. Romane Miradoli (FRA) +0.92