In the second-to-last Downhill of the season has been written several record stories.
Kajsa Vickhof Lie is the first Norwegian woman to win a Downhill event in the World Cup. The 24-year-old did have to share the limelight with two of the greatest of all time, with Mikaela Shiffrin securing her fifth Overall World Cup title, and with speed queen Sofia Goggia claiming her third successive women’s Downhill crown.
After winning the bronze medal in the Super-G at the Alpine World Ski Championships in Courchevel-Méribel, Lie took her excellent form to Kvitfjell to do something none of her female compatriots have managed in the history of the sport.
Having started today's Downhill with bib number 3, no one was able to oust Vickhoff Lie from the leader's chair. It is her first World Cup victory after two podium finishes. She had finished in second place in the Downhill in Cortina d'Amppezo on January, and also had achieved another second place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Super-G on January 2021.
"It's really incredible, it's a dream. It’s just the best feeling ever. One year ago I was here in the tribunes watching Kjetil’s last race and Aleksander winning the Super-G I was like ‘ah, I wish we could have a race here as well. And now I am here one year later and can actually experience this race. My whole family, my friends, everyone is here. I always want to have fun, and you really can't have more fun. My dream is to stand on the podium together with Ragnhild. We're a small team, but we're good friends. We always want to have fun", said Lie.
Until today the only Norwegian woman to have won a World Cup event on home snow was Ingeborg Helen Marken, when she won the women's super-G in Kvitfjell on 7 March 1996.
Sofia Goggia finished in second place, 0.29 seconds behind the Norwegian. With today's second place Sofia Goggia claims the Downhill Crystal Globe. She also won the discipline Globe in 2017-2018, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022. She is the first woman to win the Downhill Globe in three successive seasons since Vonn won six in a row between 2007-2008 and 2012-2013.
Goggia joins the five women group to have won this globe at least four times: Lindsey Vonn (8), Annemarie Moser-Pröll (7), Renate Götschl (5), Michela Figini (4) and Katja Seizinger (4).
“I’m super happy, a fourth downhill globe is not a few and three in the last three seasons, three-in-a-row it means a lot to me. This season was a tough one but I have raced eight Downhills in the World Cup and I have won five, crashed in one and the worst result was two second places. What can I say, I’ll take it, I’m happy", Goggia said.
Bronze medalist in Courchevel-Méribel Corinne Suter showed a strong race and finished in third place (+0.41). It is her 5th podium of the season for the 28-year-old Swiss skier.
Fifth place today in the Downhill was enough for the US star Mikaela Shiffrin to secure the Overall World Cup title.
Mikaela Shiffrin has won the overall Crystal Globe for the fifth time in her career, after 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2021-2022. Only Marcel Hirscher (8), Annemarie Moser-Pröll (6) and Marc Girardelli (5) won the overall World Cup at least five times. She goes past Lindsey Vonn as the American with the most Big Globes to her name.
"It is pretty wild actually. You know the overall, or any season titles it’s always strange to explain how it feels on the day you win it if you didn’t win the race. But I have started to get used to the feeling. I've achieved my biggest goal of the season, which is spectacular for me", said Shiffrin.
The 27-year-old clinched the Slalom title at Spindleruv Mlyn and could take the Giant Slalom Crystal Globe at Are. In total, Shiffrin could finish the current season with a total of 15 Crystal Globes (5 total, 7 in Slalom, 2 in Giant Slalom and one in Super-G).