Sofia Goggia celebrates comeback with big podium finish
Sofia Goggia on the podium
After 318 days away from the slopes, Sofia Goggia is back on track and relishing the joy of the podium in the women’s downhill in Beaver Creek. The 32-year-old champion from Bergamo, who got a fractured tibia and right tibial malleolus in training last February 5, confirmed once again her strength of character that has enabled her so many times during her career to overcome bad injuries.
This time, after a small scare that occurred to her after a tenth of a second when she took a dangerous low-speed edge, she unleashed her horses meter after meter. Overcoming the dreaded first technical part of the track that had bothered her in the trial days, she gradually accelerated on the long bends of the Birds of Prey, finishing at the finish line with a time of 1’32″54 with one’more imperfection in the final part, which caused her to lose precious hundredths. In the end, better than her did only Cornelia Huetter, holder of the specialty cup, who preceded her somewhat surprisingly by 16 hundredths, while Lara Gut completed the podium 34 hundredths behind the winner.
For Goggia it is podium number 55 of her career, but above all an incredible confidence boost that erases in one fell swoop all the fears of the last months, now it is only a matter of recovering the full form, which will come with the next scheduled appointments on the European snows. Three other azzurre finished the race in the top-10: an excellent Marta Bassino collected seventh position, three tenths from the podium, while Federica Brignone è finished ninth and Laura Pirovano eleventh.
Also positive was Roberta Melesi, 18th and at the milgiore placing ever in the specialty, while Elena Curtoni broke the ice. The Valtellinese, returning a year after her bad fall in Sankt Moritz, did not logically force her hand and 24th place è a starting point. Just behind Nadia Delago, 27th, while Sara Thaler, Nadia Delago and Vicky Bernardi finished outside the 30. The overall ranking sees Camille Rast in the lead with 287 points against the 245 of the injured Mikaela Shiffrin, third è the Croatian Zrink Ljutic with 202. On Sunday, December 15, it is back on track with the first super-giant of the year at 7 p.m. Italian time.