Austrian skier Stephanie Venier held her nerve after Mikaela Shiffrin and a host of other skiers crashed to win a World Cup downhill Friday on the course that will be used for the Milan-Cortina Olympics in two years.
Austria’s Stephanie Venier takes top spot for 2nd career World Cup victory
Andrew Dampf · The Associated Press
· Posted: Jan 26, 2024 9:35 AM EST | Last Updated: 40 minutes ago
Canada’s Valérie Grenier, left, celebrates on the podium after tying for bronze with Austria’s Christina Ager, centre, and Italy’s Sofia Goggia, right, at the downhill World Cup on Friday in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Alessandro Trovati/The Associated Press)Stephanie Venier held her nerve to win a World Cup downhill after Mikaela Shiffrin and other skiers crashed on Friday on the course marked for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Shiffrin crashed into the safety nets after losing control while landing a jump on the upper portion of the course. She was helped off the course with her left boot raised off the snow.
Starting after Shiffrin and fellow former overall champion Federica Brignone went down, as well as Olympic champion Corinne Suter, Venier was able to deal with the challenging terrain on the Olympia delle Tofane course.
It is Grenier’s fourth career World Cup podium finish, but first in downhill. She had previously won two golds and bronze in giant slalom.
“I still can’t believe it,” said Grenier. “I felt really good with my run today. The whole way down I was on the line I wanted but when I crossed the finish and saw third place I was shocked. There were no expectations coming into today and the team kept it pretty relaxed at the top as we were warming up. It can help sometimes when you just relax and go ski.”
WATCH | Grenier reacts to downhill bronze:
Ontario’s Valérie Grenier on 3-way tie for World Cup downhill bronze: ‘It feels unreal’Valérie Grenier of St-Isidore, Ont., reacts after winning bronze at the FIS World Cup stop in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
The last Canadian woman to reach the podium in downhill was Larisa Yurkiw, who finished second in Cortina in 2016.
It was Venier’s second career World Cup win after a victory in another downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, five years ago.
No women on the once dominant Austrian team had won a downhill since Nicole Schmidhofer in Lake Louise, Alta., in Dec. 2019.
“I saw all the crashes on the top. But I think I managed it, and it was a good run, and my technician did a really good job,” Venier said. “My skis were really fast today.”
WATCH | Italy’s Sofia Goggia excited to race in Cortina:
Sofia Goggia excited to ski in Cortina d’Ampezzo despite rocky past thereThe Italian alpine skiing superstar joined Scott Russell on the third episode of Let’s Go Racing to talk about the upcoming speed events in her home country and who she is as a competitor.
Shiffrin’s arms were flailing as she landed in a patch of soft snow. The American, who has a record 95 World Cup wins, then slammed into the net at high speed and rebounded back onto the snow.
Medics tended to Shiffrin immediately and she eventually got up and limped away for more care.
Shiffrin’s team says she was “taken by ambulance to the clinic in Cortina and is being evaluated for a left leg injury.”
Brignone crashed shortly after the race resumed following a delay because of Shiffrin’s fall. But Brignone got right up and proceeded to ski down. She was unhurt.
Then Suter pulled up midway down her run with an apparent injury. Suter sat and clutched her left knee.
Michelle Gisin, a two-time Olympic champion, also crashed later on but appeared to avoid serious injury.
The race was held amid clear and sunny conditions but warm temperatures.
Shiffrin and Brignone are the fourth and fifth former overall World Cup champions to crash in the past two weeks following season-ending injuries to Alexis Pinturault, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Petra Vlhova.
In all, 12 of 52 starters didn’t finish the race.
Another downhill is scheduled for Cortina on Saturday at 4:30 a.m. ET, followed by a super-G on Sunday at 4:30 a.m. ET. Live coverage of both events is available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
With files from CBC Sports and The Canadian Press
