Sofia Goggia third in the downhill, bad fall for Lindsey Vonn
On the Olympia delle Tofane the American Johnson Breezy won ahead of the German Emma Aicher - Federica Brignone tenth
The American Johnson Breezy won the downhill gold medal at the Olympic Games in Milan Cortina. The reigning world champion (but absurdly without a World Cup victory) beat German Emma Aicher across the finish line by just four hundredths. In third place was a great Sofia Goggia, who accumulated a delay of about 6 tenths.
A downhill race disrupted, however, by the disastrous fall of the American Lindsey Vonn, who tumbled after a few seconds, slightly missing a jump, getting caught in the poles and losing her balance. The skis did not come off, worsening the impact on the snow. The injury immediately appeared serious and the race was interrupted for several minutes. The American was then taken away on the helicopter that had arrived for rescue. A long applause from the Olympia tribune of the Tofane accompanied her exit.
Sophia Goggia's race
Sofia Goggia came down with bib number 15 after the break and who knows whether this interruption may have affected her performance. The Bergamasque, who has won four times in her career on the Tofane Olympia, was among the favourites on the eve of the race, and did not conceal a little regret for today's result. An extraordinary result, however, that crowns Goggia's career, capable of making it onto the podium in three consecutive Olympics in the same speciality (no female skier had ever succeeded). The bronze medal in Cortina in fact follows the gold she won at the XXIII Olympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018 and the silver at Beijing 2022.
The Olympia of the Tofane is one of the queen slopes of the White Circus, with a very technical middle section, large curved fields, and a high section and the finish where smoothness counts above all, with the Rumerlo section that could decide the race. Goggia gained 0.18 at the first intermediate on Johnson, lost 0.69 at the second, committing a line error at the height of the Duca d'Aosta, gained 0.37 at the third intermediate, lost 0.42 at the fourth and 0.03 at the last.
Vonn's fall
The 41-year-old alpine skiing star Vonn, who had wanted to be at the Games despite the injury suffered during the last World Cup race in Crans Montana with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, fell after only a few seconds. Vonn was rescued on the course and was then loaded onto the toboggan and taken away on the helicopter, while a long applause went up from the grandstand.
