Less than two weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, Ester Ledecká reached the podium in the Ski World Cup. One of the greatest Czech medal hopes for the games in Beijing finished third in the shortened congress of the World Cup in Cortina d’Ampezzo. She was 26 hundredths of a second behind the victorious Italian Sofia Goggia.
The race was run due to strong winds from the lower start and the downhill queen Goggia was the only one to get under a minute and seven seconds despite a number of problems on the track. Ramona Siebenhoferová from Austria finished second, which surpassed Ledecká by only six hundredths.
Ledecká, who will defend a sensational Olympic victory in super-giant slalom in Beijing and also gold on a snowboard, is among the top three in the World Championships in skiing for the sixth and fourth time in the downhill. The last time she was second was downhill a day ago in Crans Montana. “I don’t even know that it turned out exactly like that, but of course I like the steps,” she said in a media recording.
The race was half a minute shorter than in training. Ledecká started until the seventeenth and managed the track excellently. She sharpened well after the start, kept an almost ideal track and did not let herself be thrown off the position by the sometimes bumpy ground.
“Actually, I’ve been thinking all the time about how bad I am and I’m making a lot of mistakes. But downstairs I finally managed to get the line we planned with Franz (Gamper) and Tomas (Bank), so I’m happy and I hope they will have too , at least from that last passage, “Ledecka said.
While Ledecká’s descent seemed predatory but calm, Goggia had gained her reputation and was on the verge of risk. There was a strong gust of wind in the upper passage and she went blind in the snow. Then the Italian woman, who fell a week ago in the Zauchensee downhill and ended up in the nets, almost got off the track, had to correct the ride to get into the goal, went on one ski, but still the fastest.
“It was a wild ride and a great race. I’m happy. Today is the best day of my career,” Goggia rejoiced after her seventeenth victory, but first at home.
Ledecká has so far finished best in the World Ski Championships in Cortina, where she celebrated five snowboard triumphs on the other side of the valley, eighth in 2019.
The super-giant slalom is on the show in Cortina on Sunday and it is possible that it will be the last start of Ledecká before the Olympics. Although the World Cup continues next week with a downhill and a super-G in the German resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Czech skier may miss these races.
SP downhill skiing race in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy):
Women & # 39; s Downhill:
1. Goggiaová (It.) 1:06,98, 2. Siebenhoferová (Rak.) -0,20, 3. Ledecká (Czech Republic) -0.26, 4. C. Suterová (Šv.) -0.33, 5. Puchnerová (Rak.) -0.37, 6. Gisinová (Šv.) -0.44, 7. Reisingerová ( Rak.) -0.57, 8. Mowinckel (Nor.) -0.59, 9. Gutova-Behramiova (Sv.) -0.68, 10. Weidleova (Nem.) -0.81.
Running order (after 5 of 9 races): 1. Goggia 400 b., 2. Siebenhofer 264, 3. Johnson (USA) 240, 4. C. Suterová 231, 5. Puchnerová 211, 6. Nadia Delagová (Switzerland) 173,… 9. Ledecká 123.
SP standings (after 23 of 37 races): 1. Shiffrin (USA) 966, 2. Vlhová (SR) 929, 3. Goggia 769, 4. Hector (Sweden) 582, 5. Brignone (It.) 559, 6. Siebenhofer 517,… 31. Ledecká 172, 48. Dubovská (CZE) 108.
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