Elena Curtoni won her first ever World Cup Super-G event on Sunday after topping the times at Cortina D’Ampezzo, as worries grew over Sofia Goggia’s Winter Olympics prospects following a second hard crash in as many weeks.
Italian Curtoni claimed her second World Cup win after the Bansko downhill in 2020 with a time of one minute, 20.98 seconds, 0.09sec ahead of Austria’s Tamara Tipper, to move second in the super-G rankings. Michelle Gisin of Switzerland completed the podium in the Dolomites, 0.24sec off the pace. However Olympic downhill champion Goggia’s thumping fall—which comes a week after she crashed out in Zauchensee—has caused concern that she might not make the Winter Games in China, which start on February 4.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation (FISI) said that the 29-year-old had suffered a “suspected sprain of her left knee” and will be taken to Milan for more checks on Sunday afternoon.
An announcement on her condition will be made in the evening, the FISI said. Goggia, who won Saturday’s downhill with another wild run, came flying down the piste in typically aggressive fashion and after losing her footing in an early turn tried to correct her trajectory and wiped out.
Curtoni turned away in horror as Goggia almost did the full splits before bouncing down an icy track like a rag doll, with worried looks on the home fans’ faces until the 29-year-old got back up and gingerly skied the rest of the course.
She was later pictured hobbling away following a medical check, being helped along by members of the Italian team staff. Her fall also means she loses the lead in the super-G rankings, dropping down the third as com-patriot Federico Brignone moves top.
Overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin finished just over a second off the pace but extended her lead on Petra Vlhova, who did not race on Sun-day.—APP
