Alpine Skiingthe wounded champion
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The Garmisch-Partenkirchen injury took away Sofia Goggia's chance to fight for the world titles in Cortina, but the crystal ball (after the one she won in 2018) could still arrive. Lindsey's precedent and rivals who are really far apart, with Ledecka and Gut-Behrami as possible "judges".
Monday 1 February 2021 5 minutes reading time
For the second consecutive season, always stopping in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Sofia Goggia's journey in the World Cup is interrupted in February due to injury. If in the last year, however, both the physical and technical condition of the Bergamo-born, and the general situation in terms of rankings, meant that the regrets were not so many (and then Covid also came to close the games prematurely) , this year everything is different since the most important goal, the Cortina World Cup, went up in smoke.
There are still several chances, even if it no longer depends only on the Olympic champion, to bring home the second crystal ball of the downhill career, after the one won in 2018 with a margin of only 3 points against Lindsey Vonn. It was an incredible duel to the sound of cents between the American and the blue, and there is a precedent linked to the native star of Minnesota that somehow bodes well.
In 2013, Vonn celebrated his sixth consecutive World Cup of discipline (they became eight at the end of his career) by skipping the last few races after the terrible injury in the world super-g of Schladming: the final race was canceled due to fog and so Tina Maze he stayed behind him for a point. And it was in Lenzerheide, right where the 2020/21 World Cup will end again this year.
Doing the math and remembering that Sofia has won the last four runs disputed (finishing 2nd in the first in Val d''Isère, beaten only by Corinne Suter), the points available are 300 with the two scheduled challenges, on 26 and 27 February, on the “La VolatA” slope of Passo San Pellegrino, in fact a novelty for all the athletes of the World Cup, and the final descent on 17 March in Lenzerheide, decidedly technical and a little less suitable for the first two pursuers. There are four athletes who can potentially still lift the crystal ball from Goggia: the second in the standings is Breezy Johnson, 195 points away, never a cup winner but who is experiencing the season of consecration with four consecutive third places and the fifth of the last race in Crans-Montana.
At -210 the trophy holder, Corinne Suter, who instead lost part of the extraordinary consistency of the 2019/2020 vintage and would probably need three podium finishes to overtake. They seem too far away, but Ester Ledecka (-274 from Goggia) and Lara Gut-Behrami, who must recover 297 points and therefore would be forced to win all three races, could turn out to be judges of this distance comparison.
Not impossible, given that the condition of the Ticino is enormous and even downhill it would not be surprising to see her in front of everyone.
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