Sofia Goggia confirmed her favorite role in Val d'Isère despite a couple of heart-stopping mistakes in the first section of the race. Goggia won each of the last seven women's World Cup Downhill events she participated in since a second-place finish in Val d'Isère on 18 December 2020. She broke her tie with Lindsey Vonn and Picabo Street for the longest women’s downhill win streak in the last 40 years. Only Austrian legend Annemarie Moser-Pröll had a longer streak with runs of eight and 11 wins in a row in the 1970s.
After her double victory in Lake Louise, the 2018 Olympic champion won her third Downhill race of the season. She also took the lead in the overall World Cup. With 535 points she is now 10 points ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin.
The last woman to win the three first Downhills of a World Cup season was Ilka Štuhec in 2016-2017.
The Olympic Downhill champion from PyeongChang 2018 has won 15 career World Cup events.
“I was under a lot of pressure today because there is a huge competition and little advantage here. I had to give a little more, I didn't ski that well either, but I put my heart and soul into it”, said Goggia.
American Breezy Johnson finished in second place 0.27 seconds behind the Italian.
She also finished second behind Sofia Goggia in both of the opening two women's Downhill events of this World Cup season in Lake Louise.
"I really thought I could beat Goggia, even if she is skiing phenomenally at the moment. I believe she knows that it is going to be a tight battle and that she has to produce her best skiing every day. If she makes a mistake then I hope I will be there to benefit", said Johnson.
Mirjam Puchner made it onto the podium for the third time this season. She finished third 0.91 seconds behind Goggia. "It's another step in the right direction. It means we must keep working. At some point, we'll get it", said a happy Puchner.
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