Goggia wins again as Shiffrin finishes fifth

Italy’s Sofia Goggia won her fifth World Cup race of the season on Sunday, claiming a super-G at Val d’Isere, France by .33 seconds over Ragnihild Mowinckel of Norway and building on her overall World Cup lead over Mikaela Shiffrin of Edwards, who wound up fifth.

Elana Curtoni of Italy was third to fill out the podium.

Shiffrin, who originally was not going to race this weekend but changed her mind for the super-G, was .75 seconds back and earned 45 points as she tries to tie former Vail resident Lindsey Vonn’s American record of four overall World Cup titles.

Goggia now lead that chase 635 to 570.

The women now head to Courchevel, France for a pair of giant slalom races.

Here’s the press release on Sunday’s super-G from the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team:

Mikaela Shiffrin showed off her speed skiing prowess again, scoring fifth place in the FIS World Cup super-G in Val d’Isere, France. Breezy Johnson also finished in the top 10, taking ninth place—a career-best super-G finish for the speed skier.

Sofia Goggia dominated the race, taking her second win of the weekend and her fifth win of the season. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway was second, breaking up what looked to be a potential Italian sweep (Federica Brignone ended up in fourth ahead of Shiffrin) and Elena Curtoni of Italy third. 

Shiffrin was heading for a week of training after racing the speed events in St. Moritz last week, but made a last-minute decision to race the super-G in Val d’Isere—a venue she had never before raced. The decision paid off, scoring key points toward the overall hunt for the World Cup title and securing another World Cup super-G finish before the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Though she is still considered a tech event specialist, Shiffrin has now been in the top 10 in every super-G she has entered in the 2021-22 season.   

“I enjoyed the experience coming to a new place—having to study the course and learn the hill,” said Shiffrin. “Super-G is difficult to execute a plan in the one run, but I felt like that was all really good today. We’ll go back and look at the video and see where I can gain time, but I felt really good on my skis—good skiing.”

Goggia continues to ski a head above the rest in speed, winning her fifth World Cup this season, garnering comparisons to Lindsey Vonn’s historic dominance in speed. It was her first super-G win since Lake Louise, having grabbed second place and sixth place, respectively, in the wind-riddled St. Moritz. Her win also gives her a 65-point lead over Shiffrin in the overall standings.

After taking yet another downhill podium in Saturday’s race, Johnson came in with confidence to Sunday’s race on the same track. She has been steadily improving in the discipline, scoring a 12th and 24th in the St. Moritz super-Gs, and skied the Val d’Isere hill tactfully to score her best-ever World Cup super-G finish. She finished ninth, besting her previous personal best of 10th in Val di Fassa, Italy last February. 

Rounding out the Americans, Tricia Mangan was 40th, Jackie Wiles 43rd, and Keely Cashman 44th.

The speed women get a short break, while the World Cup tour heads to Courchevel, France for two giant slaloms December 21-22 before the short holiday break.

RESULTS
Women’s super-G