Alpine skiing FIS World Cup 2023/24: Sofia Goggia wins first women's speed race of the season, Shiffrin fourth
The Italian skier carved out a 0.95-second lead in her run to claim her first podium of the season, while overall rankings leader Mikaela Shiffrin lost her podium streak after top-three finishes in the last five events.
Alpine Skiing
Italian speed skiing specialist Sofia Goggia was uncatchable in the first speed race of the 2023/24 FIS Alpine World Cup season, winning the women's Super G race in St. Moritz on Friday (8 December).
Goggia delivered a daring run that clocked in 0.95 faster than the second-place finisher Cornelia Huetter of Austria. She maintained that lead as the other top contenders started their runs, including last season's Crystal Globe winner in the event, Lara Gut-Behrami.
Swiss alpine skier Gut-Behrami won two Super G races at her home resort in the past, but took third place this time, 1.02 seconds behind the Italian winner, who later shared that she was surprised to finish at the top of the board.
"When I crossed the finish line and I saw that I was ahead by one second, I thought it was not going to last because the feelings that I had while I was coming down, I was really sometimes too long in every turn," Goggia told Eurosport in a post-race interview. "But I push it well in the tricky points of the slope in which you can create speed and this is why I mad a big difference."
The victory in St. Moritz was Goggia's first podium of the season. Her earlier best was seventh place in giant slalom in Tremblant, Canada the previous weekend.
It was the opposite for USA's Mikaela Shiffrin, who missed the podium for the first time this season after five consecutive medal finishes in the technical events. The skiing superstar finished fourth on the Swiss slopes, but continues to lead the overall season rankings.
"I'm happy with the mentality. I made a plan and I really executed that plan," Shiffrin told Eurosport . "Now we have another chance at Super G in two days so maybe I can improve on some of those things, so actually it's a really productive day."
St. Moritz is hosting two women's Super G races and one downhill race from 8 to 10 December.
These races are expected to feature all of Friday's top finishers as well as alpine and snowboard Olympic champion Ester Ledecka who made her ski season debut in the first St. Moritz race with a 23rd place finish.
St. Moritz, FIS World Cup: Results of women's Super G on Friday, 8 December 2023 (Top 10):
- Sofia Goggia (ITA) 1:16.63
- Cornelia Huetter (AUT) +0.95
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) +1.02
- Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) +1.08
- Federica Brignone (ITA) +1.21
- Stephanie Venier (AUT) +1.58
- Marta Bassino (ITA) +1.77
- Corinne Suter (SUI) +1.91
- Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) +2.07
- Mirjam Puchner (AUT) +2.27