Italian Skier Sofia Goggia Finishes Strong Despite Suffering Two Broken Fingers



by FARUK IMAMOVIC

Italian Skier Sofia Goggia Finishes Strong Despite Suffering Two Broken Fingers
Italian Skier Sofia Goggia Finishes Strong Despite Suffering Two Broken Fingers

Italian skier Sofia Goggia sustained two broken fingers on her left hand during the downhill race at the World Cup in St. Moritz, but still managed to finish the race in second place, just 29 hundredths of a second behind compatriot Elena Curtoni, who took first place.

Switzerland's Corrine Suter came in third. Despite the injury, Goggia remained determined to finish the race and was transferred to Milan for surgery immediately after it ended. She is hoping to be ready for the next downhill race in St.

Moritz, which will take place the following day. "I felt immediately after the impact that something had happened to the hand," Goggia said. "At the finish I could hardly move it. It's too bad, because it was a great race. I'll do everything I can to be ready for Saturday's downhill.

Goggia is the Olympic downhill champion from the 2018 Pyeongchang games and won a silver medal in the same discipline at this year's Winter Olympics in Beijing.

World Cup standings

In the overall World Cup standings, she is currently in fourth place with 325 points, while American Mikaela Shiffrin leads with 425 points.

Goggia is also the leader in the downhill standings with 280 points, ahead of Suter, who has 200. Curtoni expressed her regret that Goggia was injured, saying that it seemed like a "curse" whenever she won a race and something happened to Goggia.

"It's too bad, because it would be great to share the celebration and anthem with her," Curtoni said. "It seems like a curse when I win that something happens to her. I'm not doing it on purpose, I swear." Despite the injury, Goggia remains optimistic and is determined to be ready for the next race.

She acknowledged that it was a tough race and that she knew something had happened to her hand as soon as she caught the gate with it, but was still able to push through and finish strong. Shiffrin, the overall World Cup leader, was racing the downhill in St.

Moritz for the first time. "That was my top form for today so I'm very happy with that," Shiffrin said. "I felt like I didn't risk something."