CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Sofia Goggia solidified her status as the favorite for another downhill gold by winning Saturday for the fourth time on the course for next year's Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Lindsey Vonn, meanwhile, still has some work to do before she reaches the podium in her World Cup comeback at age 40.
Vonn finished 20th after wasting speed worthy of a top-10 finish with a mistake toward the end of her run.
“The fact that I’m back here is a miracle in itself,” Vonn said. “I’m a little disappointed that I made that big mistake on the bottom — I made actually quite a few mistakes on the bottom.”
It was Vonn's first race back in Cortina after nearly six years of retirement — at age 40 with a new titanium knee. She holds the record of 12 wins at the resort in the Italian Dolomites.
"I know everyone wants me to get right back on the podium, but it has been six years. This is the fastest course with the most terrain that I’ve skied,” Vonn added. “I’m still getting my downhill legs.”
Vonn crashed in downhill training on Thursday, coming away with a sore backside and a broken boot.
“I can take a hit,” Vonn said. “I’ve got titanium now, so nothing can hold me down.”
Vonn told The Associated Press on Thursday that she plans to retire again after next year's Olympics, when women's skiing will be held in Cortina and men's skiing in Bormio.
Goggia added to her Cortina downhill victories in 2018, 2022 and 2023. After she came to a stop in the finish area, the charismatic Italian quickly removed her skis and bowed down toward the Olympia delle Tofane course and the big crowd cheering her on.
“Cortina means the world to me,” Goggia said. “Cortina is the nicest stop on the tour for everyone but it's not an easy race for us Italians.
"I won my first race in Italy here in 2018 ahead of Lindsey and Mikaela (Shiffrin). I've got many, many memories here — both beautiful and bad ones,” added Goggia, who has also crashed multiple times in Cortina.
Goggia already won a downhill gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and then took silver in Beijing three years ago.
Goggia finished a comfortable 0.42 seconds ahead of Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway and 0.55 ahead of Italian teammate Federica Brignone.
Lie also finished second in this race two years ago while Brignone finished on the podium for the first time in Cortina and moved atop both the downhill and overall standings.
It was the second win this season for Goggia and the 26th of her career. She’s finished in the top 5 of every race that she’s finished this season.
Vonn finished 1.68 behind Goggia. The American standout returned to the circuit last month when she finished 14th in a super-G in St. Moritz. Then she placed sixth and fourth in a downhill and a super-G, respectively, in St. Anton, Austria, last weekend.
Vonn still had a big smile on her face in the finish area, and her good friend Goggia was the first one to greet her.
Six years ago, an injured Goggia came to Cortina to present Vonn with flowers in the finish area after what appeared to be the American’s final World Cup race.
Little did they know, they would be racing each other again six years later.
“She’s a true friend. We're competitors, but we’re friends first," Vonn said, adding that she had dinner with Goggia a few days ago. "I wish I would have given a better show today, but Sofi did a perfect job at that. Winning for the home crowd is pretty nice.”
Swiss Olympic champions Lara Gut-Behrami and Corinne Suter placed fourth and fifth, respectively, and defending downhill World Cup champion Cornelia Huetter placed sixth.
Jacqueline Wiles in seventh was the top American finisher.
On a typically perfectly sunny day in Cortina, the course was set up for long, high-speed turns.
Skier and snowboarder Ester Ledecka registered the fastest speed of the day when she clocked 84.6 mph (136.12 kph) exiting the tofana schuss, the narrow chute between two rock outcroppings that is the course’s most characteristic section.
Ledecka placed eighth.
A super-G is scheduled for Sunday in Cortina and Vonn will be back in the top 30 of the start list for the first time of her comeback.
“Hopefully," Vonn said, “tomorrow I can make a mistake-free run.”
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