Fresh off world championships, the women’s Alpine World Cup tour returned to the Swiss Alps for a bit of speed in the form of the downhill.
After finishing well off the world championship downhill podium in 15th, Italy’s Sofia Goggia was the fastest on the day in Crans-Montana.
Goggia who won the 2017-18 World Cup downhill title, was forced to put this season on ice after she injured her ankle in training ahead of the first event.
Today’s results are her best since her return to racing when she finished second in both the downhill and Super-G last month in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Despite her world championship downhill woes, Goggia didn’t leave Are empty handed, claiming silver in the Super-G.
Joining Goggia on the podium in Crans-Montana were two athletes skiing on home snow — Switzerland’s Joana Haehlen and Lara Gut-Behrami. The second place finish for Haehlen is the first World Cup podium appearance of her career, and for the two-time Olympian Gut-Behrami, her third podium finish of the 2018-19 season.
The newly-crowned world champion in women’s downhill, Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec took a hard fall as the first skier out of the gate today. For the superstitious it should be noted that Stuhec finished 13th in both her downhill training runs in Crans-Montana and drew bib #1 for today’s race, but it was the woman wearing bib #13 who ended up on top of the podium.
The women return to racing tomorrow with the Alpine super combined, with the first run starting at 4:30 a.m. ET and the second at 7:30 a.m. ET. Watch live on Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold. Check out the schedule below for ways to watch this weekend’s remaining races.
The men’s Super-G in Bansko, Bulgaria was cancelled earlier today after a storm swept in and dropped nearly a foot of new powder on the race course. Organizers will attempt to ready the mountain for Sunday’s giant slalom. Watch the first run live at 3:30 a.m. ET on OlympicChannel.com or using an NBC Sport Gold Snow Pass. The second run can be seen live on TV and streaming on Olympic Channel at 6:30 a.m. ET, as well as on NBC Sports Gold.
ALPINE SKIING WORLD CUP — Bansko, Bulgaria; Crans-Montana, Switzerland
| Day | Time (ET) | Event | TV | Stream |
| Sunday | 3:30 a.m. | Men’s Giant Slalom (Run 1) | OlympicChannel.com/NBC Sports Gold | |
| 4:30 a.m. | Women’s Combined (Run 1) | OlympicChannel.com/NBC Sports Gold | ||
| 6:30 a.m. | Men’s Giant Slalom (Run 2) | Olympic Channel | Olympic Channel/NBC Sports Gold | |
| 7:30 a.m. | Women’s Combined (Run 2) | Olympic Channel | Olympic Channel/NBC Sports Gold | |
| 10:30 p.m. | Women’s Combined (Run 2)* | NBCSN |
*Same-day delay
