Before arriving in South Korea, Sofia Goggia had racked up the podium places this season, but had never tasted World Cup success.
ADVERTISEMENTBefore arriving in South Korea, Sofia Goggia had racked up the podium places this season, but had never tasted World Cup success.
The Italian skier put that straight over the weekend and on the slopes of the next Olympic Games won twice in as many days.
This winter will definitely go down as a breakthrough season for Goggia.
After finishing on the podium nine times this term without a win, the 24-year old finally celebrated her first World Cup victory on Saturday when she won a downhill race in Jeongseon.
The on-form Italian proved that was no fluke when she followed that up at the same resort on Sunday by winning a super-G race.
Like the day before her win was by the slimmest of margins and like the day before she came home ahead of Lindsey Vonn and Ilka Stuhec in a repeat of the downhill podium.
Competing in just her fourth event since fracturing her arm in November American speed queen Vonn was a mere 0.04 seconds behind Goggia at the 2018 Olympic skiing venue.
Vonn’s hunt for a record-extending 78th World Cup victory has been put on ice once more.
Stuhec of Slovenia was again third to round out the podium.
With this result the 26-year old took over at the top of super-G season-long standings and will head to the final stop of the campaign in Aspen in ten days time with a 15-point advantage over Tina Weirather.
Stuhec also leads the downhill standings.
Analyze this
Before Aspen the women head to Squaw Valley in the US on Friday to contest a giant slalom.
While Tessa Worley could seal the discipline crown at the event, the race for the men’s title is over as Alexis Pinturault can no longer catch Marcel Hirscher.
Worley and Pinturault took time out to explain to us what are the secrets to a good Giant slalom skier.
Worley said: “I find that the giant slalom is all about timing. You have to take the curves one after the other as smoothly and cleanly as possible and be as efficient as possible from the start of the race to finish line. If you are able to do that then you will lose very little time and go through the gates quickly.”
Pinturault: “To be good at the giant slalom you have to be explosive because that allows us to tighten up our racing line around the curves. You also have to have quite high endurance levels because the runs are longer and longer. They can last up to one minute and 30 seconds. You have to do that twice so it can be extremely exhausting.”
At the summit
ADVERTISEMENTIn the Matt family, we already know well Mario, the 2014 Olympic champion and two-time world slalom champion.
But on Sunday his younger brother, Michael, stole the limelight Kranjska Gora.
Michael Matt handled the challenging conditions at the Slovenian resort like a seasoned pro to opened up his World Cup account.
The 23-year old Austrian was second behind Italian Stefano Gross after the first run but he cruised over the wet, soft snow in the second with a blistering time that no other skier could match.
He claimed the first World Cup victory of his career with a combined time of one minute and 48.26 seconds.
ADVERTISEMENTGross had to settle for second place while Germany’s Felix Neureuther celebrated his fifth podium of the season with third.
Austrian Marcel Hirscher took fourth place.
With rival Henrik Kristoffersen failing to make the second run Hirscher’s result secured him the slalom title.
He leads the Norwegian by 110 points in the standings with only one slalom race at the Finals in Aspen to go.
Hirscher continues to cement his status as an all-time great and has now sealed this season’s overall world cup title, the slalom and the Giant Slalom crown.
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