Sofia Goggia triumphs in the Altenmarkt descent then bursts into tears

Sofia Goggia triumphs in the Altenmarkt downhill then bursts into tears. Nicol Delago third

Sofia Goggia spectacular. At Altenmarkt-Zauchensee she achieved her 24th World Cup victory and equaled Federica Brignone's number of successes, then at the finish line she burst into tears. Nicol Delago is third behind Stephanie Venier and equal to Mirjam Puchner. Federica Brignone, behind Laura Pirovano (thirteenth): “I've done all kinds of things” is angry the Aosta Valley native, who remains second in the overall World Cup.

Sofia Goggia wins the Downhill, 'happy to have won after yesterday's disappointment'

“I'm happy to have won, on this track I have statistics that aren't worthy of a podium, I have many crashes… The night was difficult. The fall in yesterday's super-G wasn't much, but it left a big mark on me. Today I managed to do my part up high and in the woods I managed to ski well, without even using all my horses. The bib for the descent is confirmed, but the girls behind me are close and everything is very open. Tomorrow there will be a new battle and I hope it goes to an Italian.” These are the words of Sofia Goggia after her success in the Altenmarkt-Zauchense descent.

Downhill, Sofia Goggia wins. Nicol Delago third. 'I came back after 4 years'

“It hasn't been an easy period for me, four years have passed since I made the last podium and now I'm back, and my legs are shaking. I think the path taken is the right one and I believe my sister will return too. For me this podium has a great meaning. I want to dedicate it to all those who were close to me, because it is never something to be taken for granted.” Nicol Delago said this after third place in the Altenmarkt downhill.

“I got everything a bit wrong. I started making mistakes from the fourth corner and then continued. This morning I said that I shouldn't overdo it, but that's exactly the mistake I made: I wanted too much and I threw the race away. It makes me angry because I'm skiing well at speed and today instead I gained too large a gap”, added Federica Brignone. While Laura Pirovano explained: “I hoped to do something better, but it was a race in which every little mistake was paid dearly. Overall, however, it wasn't a bad race.”

Sofia Goggia wins the Altenmarkt downhill, Nicol Delago third

Sofia Goggia returns to victory and wins the Altenmarkt-Zauchensee downhill twenty-four hours after the Super-G which ended with a slip. Italian women's skiing experiences another historic day, with two athletes on the downhill podium. Sofia Goggia achieves victory number 24 of her career (the eighteenth in the downhill) and joins Federica Brignone and Gustav Thoeni in the all-time ranking of the most successful Italians. The champion from Bergamo is very precise in the key passages of the Austrian track, composed on the jumps, and she always manages to maintain a very high speed, unattainable for her opponents. Her final time is 1'46″ 47, 10 hundredths ahead of the Austrian Stephanie Venier and 34 hundredths better than the pair of Nicol Delago and Mirjam Puchner, in third place. For Delago it is the fourth podium of his career, but above all the certification of the newfound competitiveness for the sprinter from Gardena.

For Goggia it is a success that, in her specialty, has been missing since February 26, 2023, in Crans-Montana. Goggia played Kalberloch to perfection, where she had never won in her career, gaining a lot especially in the central part. The race was spoiled, however, by some errors for Federica Brignone, who was 1″39 behind her teammate, outside the top ten and preceded by Laura Pirovano, with a delay of 1″26. They finished thirteenth and fourteenth. Nadia Delago takes 2 seconds from the leader, Monica Zanoner 3″10, while Marta Bassino makes a bad mistake in the upper part of the track and accumulates over 4 seconds of disadvantage. Goggia maintains the red bib of the discipline with 230 points, ahead of Flury with 137 and Puchner with 131. In the general Brignone recovers more points from Mikaela Shiffrin (absent) and moves to -164 from the leader. On Sunday, the Austrian race program will end with the second super-G, with a scheduled start at 11am.

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