The Italian on a roll!
The Italian ski festival resumed on Sunday in front of a nice crowd with two more stunning victories for the "Squadra Azzurra" which dominated the last two Super-G races of the World Cup season, with Sofia Goggia celebrating her third season win in the morning while Dominik Paris was once more out of reach for his main rivals later on in the men's competition. On Saturday, Laura Pirovano was the best in downhill, as Paris won his race.
Goggia seals the Super-G globe
Goggia, who beat Switzerland's Corinne Suter by 32/100 of a second, a three-time gold medal winner in downhill and Super-G a few years ago, while Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann was 3rd at 60/100, claimed another crystal globe in the specialty as her main rival, New Zealand's Alice Robinson, didn't score any point with her distant 16th position.
The tears seen under Sofia's goggle after her arrival perfectly expressed her feelings and the meaning of this 20th triumph on the circuit in past ten years!
"I took great risks in some parts of the course and I was lucky at the end that everything finished so well," she explained afterwards. "Luckily I got that bronze medal at Cortina d'Ampezzo in February but this winter I didn't win any downhill."
"It's my first Super-G globe ever, I already clinched four downhill globes in my career so it's an important success coming after a rather disappointing downhill season," the skier from Bergamo added.
"After being so nervous before this race, it's wonderful to feel so relieved and happy now. It's pretty exciting too being part of such a successful team as ours!"
Overall World Cup battle heats up
The battle for the overall World Cup title turned into the advantage of Germany's Emma Aicher, who came in 4th, only a mere 1/100 behind the podium, while overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin was a distant 22nd. The gap between both athletes has been reduced to 45 points prior to the thrilling technical events planned next week at Hafjell.
Paris makes more Kvitfjell history
Dominik Paris also had an excellent reason to be elated after the race as he became the most successful champion on the Olimpiabakke course with a total of eight wins! This time he beat Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr by 7/100 and the reigning GS World Champion Raphael Haaser by 38/100.
Fredrik Møller was a strong 7th, a very encouraging result for the Norwegian skier who sustained several tough crashes this season.
"This is quite amazing, I'm really proud of myself to have reached that milestone, but also a little surprised as I didn't expect to excel once more on this rather tricky setting and the wet snow," Paris commented after the competition.
"Victories are always important because you are paid back for all the hard work you invest in pre-season training, it's also very good for the team which works intensively around us the whole year," the 2019 Super-G World Cup champion added.
Looking ahead to Hafjell
"I'm now looking forward for some relaxed days with my family. I'll take some time to reflect about the future of my long career. Maybe I'll be back here next year... It would be nice if Kjetil Jansrud would consider a comeback to try to beat my victory record here," Dominik also said with a big smile.
Despite his very modest 19th place after a rough race - probably his worst in Super-G for a long time - Marco Odermatt was assured to grab another crystal globe at the award ceremony.
The Swiss superstar will be fighting hard again on Tuesday for the Giant Slalom globe against gold medallist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who has only a deficit of 41 points on him in the standings.
On Wednesday, Lucas will also battle for the slalom cup against his friend Atle Lie McGrath, France's Clément Noël and last year's globe winner Henrik Kristoffersen.
