SR Staff Report
CORTINA D AMPEZZO,ITALY,22.JAN.23 – Ragnhild Mowinckel. Photo: GEPA pictures
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — It was a beautiful day in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The snow was perfect and the super-G course was fast. As a fan, the race was everything you could hope for.
The race started directly into the Tofana Schuss, a chute between two walls of rock that is the steepest part of the course, rapidly accelerating the skiers’ speeds up to 115 kph (70 mph).
The winner wasn’t decided until bib 11, Norwegian Raghild Mowinckel. And it wasn’t until bib 16, Austrian Cornella Huetter, that the podium was decided.
The Italians only had two racers in the top 10. However, It was an Italian Marta Bassino who took the final podium position. Italian standout Sofia Goggia sat out the race due to soreness following a fall the previous day.
It was certainly an exciting day for Mowinckel, who earned her third career victory and her first of the 2022-23 season. She skied knowing she would have to push. Mowinckel arced the entire way while pushing to her physical limits. She used her superior inspection to get her to the finish the fastest. It was the second day in a row Cortina d’Ampezzo saw a Norwegian on the podium.
“I was generally surprised when I saw my time because I knew the race was close,” Mowinckel said.
Austria will be excited to return to the podium. For the third time this season, Cornelia Huetter has earned a top-three finish; she started the year with two trips to the steps in Lake Lousie. While she was behind Mowinckel at every split, she finished the day in second place.
As expected, an Italian made the podium. Marta Bassino was the fourth racer to leave the start and held the lead until the winner skied with bib 11. Until Mowinckel finished (0.47) faster, there was hope for a home-country victory. However, Bassino will be happy to achieve her seventh podium of the season, her second in super-G.
Mikaela Shiffrin was very fast after the first two sectors but then, exactly where you think she would dominate, she stumbled. In the final sector, Shiffrin found herself off her line and lost her speed into the finish. Shiffrin ended the day seventh. She will have another chance to add to her victory total in Tuesday’s GS race in Kronplatz.
“I have to be basically realistic with the expectations and do the best I can,” said Shiffrin. “Today the only disappointment was just kind of messing up the last little bit, but every other section of the course, I hit the marks that I wanted to hit.”
“I made a little error with my timing on the last turn on the course,” Shiffrin said. “And, of course, it’s quite flat down here so you lose some speed. But it was quite a strong run.”
Two fellow North Americans joined Shiffrin in the top 30. Canadian Valerie Grenier finished 23rd and USA’s Breezy Johnson ended the race in 29th place.
Five women were able to score points with bibs higher than 30.
Analysis of the fastest three, the North Americans in the top 30 and top 30 results
Cortina January 22nd Cortina d’Ampezzo top 30 results
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.
