"I take this result and take it with me. It was a very difficult race and the cancellation of the second test on Thursday made itself felt. In the only turning point I didn't go well, and so I used this race almost as a real training session. But above all there were many falls in front of me, and falls by big athletes": says Sofia Goggia, after the third place achieved in the first downhill in Cortina, a dramatic race marked by many falls, including the serious one of the champion Mikaela Shiffrin, taken by helicopter to the hospital for checks.
However, there was still a podium - the 53rd in her career - for the Italian Sofia Goggia, third in 1'33"77, ex aequo not only with the Austrian Chriistina Ager, but also with the Canadian Valerie Grenier in this dramatic first descent of Cortina dotted with falls.
The Tyrolean Stephanie Venier, 30 years old, won and it was the second success for an athlete who certainly has something Italian in her family tree given that, in addition to her surname, her father is called Mario and her sister Bianca.
Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami came second.
For Italy there was then the beautiful sixth place of Laura Pirovano from Trentino, in addition to the very good performance of Marta Bassino who missed the podium by making a wrong line in the lower part of the track and finishing 11th.
All the other Italians are further back, with Nicol Delago 19/a and the expected Federica Brignone also finishing in the nets.
There were many falls and they were all very similar in this first free climb on the Olympia delle Tofane: landings backwards and not in line on the many large bumps with long jumps followed by challenging curves on which to end up in the nets.
The most illustrious 'victim' was the American Mikaela Shiffrin, the most successful skier in history with 95 successes, five world cups, two Olympic golds and seven world titles.
After an apparently uncertain start, Mikaela ended up in the nets after a glean at the bottom of a jump on which she had taken the wrong direction.
In the nets the rebound was very strong with the attack of the left ski not opening up.
She was visibly in pain and limping in her left leg and was taken to hospital by helicopter.
Among the many other falls - fortunately not all so serious - also those of the Italian Federica Brignone, who immediately raised an arm to reassure everyone, and the Swiss Priska Nufer, Corinne Suter, Michele Gisin and Stephanie Jenal as well as the Austrians Nadine Fest and Lena Wechner.
Suter - Olympic gold medalist - also reported the need for medical checks.
This long and tiring competitive season is decimating top-notch athletes: from the Frenchman Alexis Pinturault to the Norwegian Aleksander Kilde, from the Austrian Marco Schwarz to the Slovakian Petra Vlhova: And now there is fear for Shiffrin, someone who almost never falls and has never had significant accidents in your career.
Tomorrow in Cortina another descent, hoping that everything goes smoothly.
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