Sports |
rsederquist@vaildaily.com
Two of Alpine skiing’s biggest speed stars returned from long injury layoffs at the historic Birds of Prey women’s World Cup downhill on Saturday.
Sofia Goggia — the 2018 Olympic gold medalist and four-time discipline globe winner — briefly sat in the leader’s chair before finishing second behind Cornelia Hütter in her first World Cup race since fracturing her right tibia and tibial malleolus in a GS training run last February. Meanwhile, Corinne Suter, who defeated Goggia for gold in the event in Beijing four years later and was also the 2021 downhill world champion, was 21st in her return from a devastating ACL injury sustained in Cortina d’Ampezzo last January.
“I know it’s a comeback race, but it feels like it’s not a comeback race,” said Goggia on Saturday. “This is my job, this is my passion. It’s a lot of years I’m doing these and today I felt like I never left for the injury.”
Goggia is no stranger to coming back from injuries — or fighting through them. She broke a bone in her right knee skiing back to her hotel room after a canceled event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2021. Just weeks prior to the Beijing Games, she suffered another knee injury crashing in the Cortina d’Ampezzo super-G, but still rallied to win Olympic silver behind Suter. Goggia also won the St. Moritz downhill in 2022 with a plate and nine screws inserted into her broken left hand. But she said her most recent setback was a bit harder to work through.
“These have been very difficult months, so much so that, despite having been injured many times in my life, it felt like I was injured for the first real time,” Goggia said during the Atomic Media day in October.
“This summer I was really close to quit,” the 32-year-old added after Saturday’s race. “I know it would have been so perfect to win today, but I wasn’t so perfect at the bottom.”
One of Goggia’s best friends on the circuit, Lindsey Vonn, watched the Italian from Red Tail Stadium after forerunning the course. Goggia told Olympics.com that Vonn has been instrumental in this comeback.
“I think that the people who are able to fully understand a situation you’re going through are the ones who have already experienced it themselves,” Goggia said. “So, when you talk about something with them, you’re speaking the same language, and they pick it up right away.”
Vonn also gave Suter a warm hug after the Swiss star came through the mixed zone on Saturday. While Suter said she didn’t speak to Goggia about her own injury, she did text Mikaela Shiffrin — who incidentally crashed 10 minutes prior to Suter on that fateful January day in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
“She was asking how I was feeling and I did the same for her,” Suter said. The five-time world championship medalist admitted feeling nervous standing in the start gate at Beaver Creek.
“It’s the first time here ever so I had no idea what’s going on and also the first time after the injury,” she said. “Many points came together, so I tried just to focus on myself.”
The 30-year-old had the second-best opening sector and was sixth-fastest through the fourth split, reaching a top speed of 125.89 kilometers per hour.
“It’s always emotional when it’s the first race back because the last 10 months were anything else than easy, but I’m super happy I have no pain. I can push really good,” Suter stated before adding that the Birds of Prey course wasn’t the easiest slope for a first race back. “It’s really bumpy and it’s difficult, but I’m so happy I tried to accept this challenge.”
One person who was inspired by the performances of both Goggia and Suter was Saturday’s winner.
“It’s really impressive how they skied right here — all the comeback ladies,” said Hütter, whose injury-related absences dwarf even the riskiest of skiers’ lists of missed World Cups. Hütter tore her right ACL in 2017 and 2019, then injured her left knee in the World Cup Finals later in the latter season. Another left knee injury suffered in a training run forced the Austrian to miss all of 2020 and most of 2021.
“I know it’s really difficult. It’s really hard because sometimes you have really tough days and you only have the injury and all that stuff in your mind and that’s not the right mindset for a downhill,” Hütter said.
“So, you have to fight every single day against those feelings because they are there,” the 32-year-old continued. “Sometimes this sport is really sunny and nice, and sometimes it’s rainy. But I think it’s not only the sport; the whole life is like that.”
Similar to Goggia, Suter said the arduous rehabilitation process was a mental grind as much as a physical one.
“I think everyday was a new challenge for me,” she said. “The last years I was pretty happy because I was happy. So, this time I had to work everyday, a lot.”
On Saturday, Suter focused on fun and improvement and felt like she “made a big step in the right direction.” Racing concludes in Beaver Creek with a super-G on Sunday; in 2020, Suter won discipline titles in both downhill and super-G. Now that she’s back on snow, only time will tell if she can figure into the crystal globe conversation again this year.
“I don’t know,” she answered when asked about her expectations for the season. “I’m also looking forward (to) what’s next. I just can say I’m feeling really good.”
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