KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) — Sofia Goggia won her third super-G of the season at the World Cup finals on Sunday to secure the discipline title, while Emma Aicher further closed the gap to overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin.
Aicher, the only skier other than Goggia with multiple super-G wins this season, started the race 95 points behind the American, but had a solid run to place fourth and gain 50 points.
Racing in only her third super-G this season, Shiffrin
then came in 2.78 off the pace in 22nd and didn't add to her tally because only the top 15 finishers get points in a race at the finals.
The American star now carries a 45-point lead into the last two races of the season – a slalom on Tuesday and a GS the following day – in her chase for a record-equaling sixth overall title. A race win is worth 100 points.
On Sunday, Goggia confirmed her dominance in super-G this season to secure her first globe in the discipline, adding to her four season titles and the 2018 Olympic gold medal in downhill.
A sixth place would have been enough for the Italian, who started the race with a commanding lead in the standings over her only remaining challenger, New Zealand’s Alice Robinson.
But Goggia didn't hold back and used a trademark gutsy run down the Olympiabakken. Having posted the fastest time by far, she was in tears when she bent over and leaned on her ski poles in the finish area.
Robinson later had a wild run with costly mistakes and never threatened Goggia’s lead, finishing 2.41 seconds off the pace.
Former world champion Corinne Suter of Switzerland was 0.32 seconds behind in second and Aicher's German teammate Kira Weidle-Winkelmann trailed by 0.60 in third.
Ilka Štuhec, the 2017 and 2019 world downhill champion, finished 2.56 behind Goggia in the Slovenian’s last race of her career.
Štuhec won 11 World Cup races between 2016 and 2023.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
