Curtoni, Goggia finish 1-2 in downhill but Goggia injured

Published Dec. 16, 2022 6:02 a.m. ET

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ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — It was a bittersweet day for the Italian ski team when Elena Curtoni and Sofia Goggia finished 1-2 in a World Cup downhill held in difficult conditions Friday but Goggia came away with an injured left hand.

Goggia, the top downhiller on the circuit, hit her hand on the third gate of the Corviglia course and said she feared it was broken.

Goggia, who won gold and silver in downhill at the last two Olympics, respectively, immediately took her glove off in the finish area and quickly had her hand wrapped up.

The Italian team said Goggia had a bruised hand and was heading to a local hospital for a full evaluation.

It was a similar scenario to when Curtoni won her previous race in Cortina d'Ampezzo last season and Goggia crashed two weeks before the Beijing Olympics.

“It’s too bad, because it would be great to share the celebration and anthem with her,” Curtoni said. “It seems like a curse when I win that something happens to her. I’m not doing it on purpose, I swear.”

Curtoni was the second starter and took advantage of better conditions in her run to edge Goggia by 0.29 seconds on a course that was shortened due to overnight snowfall.

The race was interrupted immediately before Goggia was due to start with the No. 10 bib after a course worker fell and had to be helped off the course — prompting a delay of more than five minutes.

The delay meant that the ongoing snowfall covered up the racing line, while fog also moved in over the middle of the course.

Still, Goggia — who had won the opening two downhills of the season — was the only racer who came close to challenging Curtoni.

Reigning Olympic champion Corinne Suter of Switzerland finished third on home snow, 0.73 behind.

Americans Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Shiffrin, the overall World Cup leader, was racing the downhill in St. Moritz for the first time.

Lower-ranked skiers were still coming down the course.

It was the third career win for Curtoni, who finished fifth in the Beijing Olympics downhill last season.

Another downhill is scheduled for Saturday on the Corviglia course, followed by a super-G on Sunday.

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