An injured Sofia Goggia won her third Downhill race of the season in St. Moritz ahead of Slovenia's Ilka Stuhec (+0.43), and Germany's Kira Weidle (+0.52).
After winning the two first Downhill races of the season in Lake Louise Sofia Goggia finished yesterday in second place. In her run she hit a gate and injured her left hand. Post-race scans revealed she suffered a fracture of the second and third metacarpals of her hand and she went undergo immediate surgery in Milan to be able to race today in the Downhill. The Italian raced in St. Moritz with a plate and nine screws inserted in the swollen left hand.
Despite the physical handicap the 30-year-old skied a typically aggressive Goggia's style run on the full-length Corviglia course.
It's her 20th World Cup Win. Among Italian skiers, only Dominik Paris (17) has won more World Cup Downhill events than Goggia (15). On the all-time women's list for most World Cup wins in this discipline, Goggia is in sixth place. Katja Seizinger (16) is in fifth place.
Sofia Goggia has won 11 of the last 16 World Cup Downhill races she participated in.
"I'm really happy, I'm really grateful because it was not guaranteed at all that I could be at the start gate today. I really understand that it was a bit risky, but I said to myself that after Beijing (when she recovered from a knee injury to win silver in the 2022 Olympic Downhill), I could endure everything and this is exactly what I did", Goggia said.
Ilka Stuhec, the double Downhill World Champion at St. Moritz 2017 and Are 2019, finished in second place taking her first World Cup podium in almost four years. The last time she was on the podium was in January 2019, when she finished in third position in the Downhill held in Cortina d'Amppezo.
"I was actually surprised when I saw the time in the finish line because I had a feeling that I am everywhere else than where I imagined", Stuhec said.
Kira Weidle reached her first podium of the season in third place. It is her fifth World Cup Downhill podium.
"Today was way, way better than yesterday (she finished in 24th place) so I'm very happy that I could switch my mind from yesterday to today. I told myself that today was a new day, a new chance, a new me", Weidle said.
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