In the present day, Sunday, December 15, noticed the continuation of the ladies’s pace occasions at Beaver Creek, Colorado, with a Tremendous-G occasion. Victory within the Tremendous-G went to Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who claimed her first victory post-injury. Guiding the Italian to her victory was none aside from legendary Lindsey Vonn, who had began as forerunner on the well-known Birds of Prey course. Whereas most different athletes have been glued to a TV monitor to collect clues on the course from different rivals, Goggia relied on the recommendation from one skier alone: her long-time pal Lindsey Vonn, who was giving her suggestions on the course over the telephone.
Almost six years after her final World Cup race, the 82-time winner and queen of Downhill, Lindsey Vonn, had returned to the World Cup circuit as a forerunner—a task that allowed her to examine the course and supply perception from the slope. For Goggia, Vonn’s recommendation wasn’t simply tactical; it was gospel. “All the opposite ladies have been watching the TV, and I used to be on the telephone with Lindsey,” Goggia stated after her victory. “She was explaining the course to me, and I stated, ‘Thanks!’ I actually belief her. What she says is the Bible.”
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The decision proved prophetic. Goggia, snowboarding with attribute fearlessness, gained the Tremendous G in 1:03.90 minutes, ending almost half a second forward of the pre-race favourite, Lara Intestine-Behrami. Goggia’s mastery on the course set by her coach, Giovanni Feltrin, was a mix of Downhill precision and Tremendous G finesse—a efficiency honed by way of grit and formed by a bond between two athletes who perceive the razor-thin margin between glory and ache.
Goggia and Vonn’s friendship stretches again years, cast by way of numerous battles with damage and relentless comebacks. Each have endured fractured bones, torn ligaments, and surgical procedures that may deter most. It’s a shared language of resilience. “She understands my mind-set,” Goggia stated of Vonn following her damage in February this yr. “Individuals who can perceive what you’re experiencing one of the best are those that’ve been by way of the identical issues. Once you’re speaking to them about one thing, you communicate the identical language, and so they perceive shortly.”
That shared expertise got here full circle on Sunday. Vonn as a forerunner relayed key insights to Goggia, serving to her refine her technique for the technical, high-speed course. For Goggia, the victory felt like a continuation of the help Vonn supplied throughout her restoration from a leg fracture earlier this yr. “We’re actually good associates—you need to give again what the opposite gave you,” Goggia stated, hinting she’d be able to return the favor ought to Vonn want it for her comeback to aggressive racing at Corviglia in St. Moritz, Switzerland, subsequent week, December 21 and 22.
Rounding out the rostrum with Goggia in first and Intestine-Behrami in second was Austria’s Ariane Rädler, who claimed her second profession podium, eeking out teammate Cornelia Hütter—yesterday’s winner—by a mere 0.05 seconds.
Finest skier for Crew USA was once more Lauren Macuga, who had skied into career-best fourth place within the Downhill yesterday. Macuga completed the Tremendous-G right now in twelfth place, 1.40 seconds behind Goggia, whereas teammate Keely Cashman claimed twenty first place. Breezy Johnson additionally managed to achieve FIS factors with twenty eighth place, nonetheless outdoors the highest 30 spots have been Tricia Mangan in thirty seventh, Isabella Wright in fortieth, and Haley Cutler in forty second.
The ladies’s races proceed subsequent week in Corviglia, Switzerland, with two Tremendous-G occasions.
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