Slovenian surprises by winning first Lake Louise downhill
Overcast skies, dropping temperatures, and flat light were on hand for the opening women’s World Cup downhill in Lake Louise, Alberta, on Friday as fans were treated to a surprise first-time winner. Twenty-six-year-old Slovenian Ilka Stuhec took the victory with a time of 1:45.48 seconds, 0.22 seconds ahead of second place finisher Sofia Goggia of Italy and 0.31 seconds clear of Kajsa Kling of Sweden in third.
Early on in the day’s action, the always threatening Lara Gut of Switzerland looked to be on track for another World Cup win as she comfortably held onto the lead from bib seven until Kling pushed out of the gate with number 17. Kling managed to best Gut at every interval and crossed the line with 0.38 seconds of an advantage and was poised to take her first World Cup win until two dark horses lurking deep in the top-30 starters took to the course.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Goggia, who had just claimed her first World Cup podium last week in Killington, was threatening Kling’s intermediate times out of bib 28 and managed to squeak by with 0.09 seconds to spare as the energetic Italian collapsed in a heap of emotion in the finish.
Stuhec was the very next racer on course, however, and with precision and power showed the world what she was made of, laying down a commanding run and taking her maiden win by 0.22 seconds. The win was made extra sweet for Stuhec as her mother was able to share in the victory as she doubles as her ski technician.
“I expected me to ski good, to show what I can,” an exhilarated Stuhec said. “I started visualizing what happens when I cross the finish line and when I came down and saw the number one I was just like, ‘What?! This is so awesome!’ The trainings, the first and the third one, were pretty good. There were still some little details that we watched on the video that I needed to improve and apparently I did.”
For Goggia, Friday’s performance was redemption for her as it was in Lake Louise three seasons ago where the Italian suffered an ACL tear.
“When I saw the green light, I exploded inside because on this slope three years ago I broke my ACL,” she said. “In these days, I had to face a lot of demons on the Coaches Corner jump. … I made some mistakes during my skiing, but I saw nothing on the ground and when I saw nine hundredths less than Kling I thought, ‘Oh Jesus, I can’t believe I made it here!’ After, Stuhec came and now I’m second, but still a good one!”
Kling’s third-place finish is only the Swede’s second career World Cup podium, with her first coming back in 2013 in the St. Moritz downhill. Although perhaps a little disappointed to not hang on for that elusive win, Kling was more than happy with her performance.
“I think I skied pretty well,” she shared. “I think I need to adjust some things for tomorrow and make a cleaner run, but overall I’m really happy. I had a great run. I felt really good during preseason in training as well, and I feel really good being able to perform at a race too because I sometimes struggle with the mental part, but I’m really happy to perform like this in a race.”
For the American women, Stacey Cook led the way with a solid sixth-place finish. Laurenne Ross also finished inside of the top 10 in ninth while young Breezy Johnson managed her World Cup best in a very impressive 11th. Mikaela Shiffrin in her downhill debut was 18th. Jacqueline Wiles was 23rd. Leanne Smith was 31st in her return from injury. Anna Marno finished in 48th, and unfortunately, Alice McKennis did not finish her run after getting thrown off-balance and missing a gate.
“I’m really excited, actually,” Cook said. “Podium or not, I think that I skied well today and that was maybe a little bit of a doubt earlier in this week that I could throw in there for a competitive run. I’m happy with my personal performance. Also, it’s fun that our team is super fast right now so it’s a really fun, competitive environment.”
It was a good first outing in downhill for Shiffrin, who still intends slalom and giant slalom to be her main focus this season. The young American was held in the start for several minutes as the racer in front of her, Switzerland’s Joana Haehlen, found herself in the nets.
“It wasn’t bad,” Shiffrin explained. “Not at all. I struggled a little bit with the course hold, … but I’m like, ‘Just clear your head, pretend it’s a training run, no pressure, solid technique in the turns and off the jumps, good tuck, and stick with that.’ I certainly didn’t risk anything crazy and to be fast in speed there certainly needs t0 be a certain level of risk and I know that, but now, if GS and slalom are my main priority this season, I don’t need to be going crazy in a downhill with flat light and after I got iced.”
The second women’s downhill in Lake Louise is scheduled to start at 12:30 MT on Saturday.
Top 10
- Ilka Stuhec (SLO) – Stoeckli/Lange/Marker
- Sofia Goggia (ITA) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Kajsa Kling (SWE) – Head/Head/Head
- Lara Gut (SUI) – Head/Head/Head
- Victoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli/Lange/Marker
- Stacey Cook (USA) – Stoeckli/Lange/Marker
- Stephanie Venier (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- Johanna Schnarf (ITA) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
- Laurenne Ross (USA) – Voelkl/Lange/Marker
- Edit Miklos (HUN) – Head/Head/Head
Official Results
Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | Diff. | FIS Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 29 | 565360 | STUHEC Ilka | 1990 | SLO | 1:45.48 | 0.00 | |||
2 | 28 | 298323 | GOGGIA Sofia | 1992 | ITA | 1:45.70 | +0.22 | 2.61 | ||
3 | 17 | 505886 | KLING Kajsa | 1988 | SWE | 1:45.79 | +0.31 | 3.67 | ||
4 | 7 | 516138 | GUT Lara | 1991 | SUI | 1:46.17 | +0.69 | 8.18 | ||
5 | 11 | 205218 | REBENSBURG Viktoria | 1989 | GER | 1:46.45 | +0.97 | 11.50 | ||
6 | 10 | 537582 | COOK Stacey | 1984 | USA | 1:46.54 | +1.06 | 12.56 | ||
7 | 27 | 56177 | VENIER Stephanie | 1993 | AUT | 1:46.86 | +1.38 | 16.35 | ||
7 | 20 | 296427 | SCHNARF Johanna | 1984 | ITA | 1:46.86 | +1.38 | 16.35 | ||
9 | 15 | 538573 | ROSS Laurenne | 1988 | USA | 1:47.02 | +1.54 | 18.25 | ||
10 | 6 | 245066 | MIKLOS Edit | 1988 | HUN | 1:47.07 | +1.59 | 18.84 | ||
11 | 33 | 6535455 | JOHNSON Breezy | 1996 | USA | 1:47.08 | +1.60 | 18.96 | ||
12 | 21 | 296472 | FANCHINI Elena | 1985 | ITA | 1:47.15 | +1.67 | 19.79 | ||
13 | 42 | 426043 | TVIBERG Maria Therese | 1994 | NOR | 1:47.20 | +1.72 | 20.38 | ||
14 | 1 | 355050 | WEIRATHER Tina | 1989 | LIE | 1:47.21 | +1.73 | 20.50 | ||
15 | 14 | 56087 | SIEBENHOFER Ramona | 1991 | AUT | 1:47.22 | +1.74 | 20.62 | ||
16 | 19 | 56125 | PUCHNER Mirjam | 1992 | AUT | 1:47.25 | +1.77 | 20.98 | ||
17 | 5 | 56128 | HUETTER Cornelia | 1992 | AUT | 1:47.36 | +1.88 | 22.28 | ||
18 | 35 | 56198 | SCHEYER Christine | 1994 | AUT | 1:47.47 | +1.99 | 23.58 | ||
18 | 31 | 6535237 | SHIFFRIN Mikaela | 1995 | USA | 1:47.47 | +1.99 | 23.58 | ||
20 | 13 | 516319 | SUTER Corinne | 1994 | SUI | 1:47.50 | +2.02 | 23.94 | ||
21 | 52 | 155763 | LEDECKA Ester | 1995 | CZE | 1:47.64 | +2.16 | 25.60 | ||
22 | 3 | 296729 | FANCHINI Nadia | 1986 | ITA | 1:47.65 | +2.17 | 25.72 | ||
23 | 25 | 539536 | WILES Jacqueline | 1992 | USA | 1:47.68 | +2.20 | 26.07 | ||
24 | 12 | 55970 | SCHMIDHOFER Nicole | 1989 | AUT | 1:47.76 | +2.28 | 27.02 | ||
25 | 38 | 206460 | WENIG Michaela | 1992 | GER | 1:47.82 | +2.34 | 27.73 | ||
26 | 45 | 197295 | PIOT Jennifer | 1992 | FRA | 1:47.84 | +2.36 | 27.97 | ||
26 | 18 | 297910 | CURTONI Elena | 1991 | ITA | 1:47.84 | +2.36 | 27.97 | ||
28 | 39 | 107613 | GRENIER Valerie | 1996 | CAN | 1:47.95 | +2.47 | 29.27 | ||
29 | 37 | 197497 | MIRADOLI Romane | 1994 | FRA | 1:48.04 | +2.56 | 30.34 | ||
30 | 8 | 55576 | GOERGL Elisabeth | 1981 | AUT | 1:48.08 | +2.60 | 30.81 | ||
31 | 44 | 538305 | SMITH Leanne | 1987 | USA | 1:48.18 | +2.70 | 32.00 | ||
32 | 40 | 299466 | DELAGO Nicol | 1996 | ITA | 1:48.27 | +2.79 | 33.06 | ||
33 | 47 | 375018 | COLETTI Alexandra | 1983 | MON | 1:48.31 | +2.83 | 33.54 | ||
34 | 41 | 56328 | ORTLIEB Nina | 1996 | AUT | 1:48.43 | +2.95 | 34.96 | ||
35 | 43 | 299402 | GASSLITTER Verena | 1996 | ITA | 1:48.44 | +2.96 | 35.08 | ||
36 | 51 | 516219 | NUFER Priska | 1992 | SUI | 1:48.50 | +3.02 | 35.79 | ||
37 | 46 | 206520 | DORSCH Patrizia | 1994 | GER | 1:48.56 | +3.08 | 36.50 | ||
38 | 34 | 206668 | WEIDLE Kira | 1996 | GER | 1:48.57 | +3.09 | 36.62 | ||
39 | 16 | 296431 | STUFFER Verena | 1984 | ITA | 1:48.76 | +3.28 | 38.87 | ||
40 | 23 | 56224 | MAIER Sabrina | 1994 | AUT | 1:48.84 | +3.36 | 39.82 | ||
41 | 4 | 297702 | MARSAGLIA Francesca | 1990 | ITA | 1:48.98 | +3.50 | 41.48 | ||
42 | 49 | 197615 | BESSY Anouk | 1995 | FRA | 1:49.10 | +3.62 | 42.90 | ||
43 | 36 | 196812 | PELLISSIER Marion | 1988 | FRA | 1:49.11 | +3.63 | 43.02 | ||
44 | 9 | 515766 | SUTER Fabienne | 1985 | SUI | 1:49.21 | +3.73 | 44.20 | ||
45 | 22 | 515997 | FEIERABEND Denise | 1989 | SUI | 1:49.25 | +3.77 | 44.68 | ||
46 | 54 | 196928 | WORLEY Tessa | 1989 | FRA | 1:49.65 | +4.17 | 49.42 | ||
47 | 50 | 197641 | GAUCHE Laura | 1995 | FRA | 1:49.83 | +4.35 | 51.55 | ||
48 | 55 | 539457 | MARNO Anna | 1992 | USA | 1:49.90 | +4.42 | 52.38 | ||
49 | 59 | 107387 | CRAWFORD Candace | 1994 | CAN | 1:50.75 | +5.27 | 62.45 | ||
50 | 53 | 197665 | LARROUY Noemie | 1995 | FRA | 1:50.86 | +5.38 | 63.76 | ||
51 | 56 | 107697 | FLECKENSTEIN Stefanie | 1997 | CAN | 1:51.36 | +5.88 | 69.68 | ||
52 | 58 | 415213 | WILLINGER Georgia | 1997 | NZL | 1:51.66 | +6.18 | 73.24 | ||
Did not start 1st run | ||||||||||
57 | 107532 | TOMMY Mikaela | 1995 | CAN | ||||||
48 | 155563 | KRIZOVA Klara | 1989 | CZE | ||||||
Did not finish 1st run | ||||||||||
32 | 56258 | AGER Christina | 1995 | AUT | ||||||
30 | 516185 | HAEHLEN Joana | 1992 | SUI | ||||||
26 | 425929 | MOWINCKEL Ragnhild | 1992 | NOR | ||||||
24 | 538685 | MCKENNIS Alice | 1989 | USA | ||||||
2 | 196968 | BAILET Margot | 1990 | FRA |