Federica Brignone Extends World Cup Lead with Cortina Victory

Federica Brignone won the super-G at Cortina d'Ampezzo, extending her World Cup lead, while Lindsey Vonn crashed out and finished 20th in the downhill.

Federica Brignone continued her exceptional season by winning the super-G at Cortina d'Ampezzo on Sunday, extending her World Cup lead. The 34-year-old Italian veteran, already the oldest woman to win a World Cup race, took the top spot with a time of 1:21.64, finishing 0.58 seconds ahead of reigning overall and discipline champion Lara Gut-Behrami. Meanwhile, comeback queen Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the competition.

Brignone's victory marked a double celebration for Italy at Cortina, following Sofia Goggia's downhill win on Saturday, her fourth victory of the season. Notably, Brignone's win was her first-ever on the Olimpia delle Tofane piste, which will host women's alpine events at the Winter Olympics next year. Brignone shared her thoughts on the win, saying, “I like this more spring-like snow because I can slide down the piste more and every mistake gets punished.”

Brignone reflected on her performance, stating, “All I can do is keep skiing like I have been doing, with a clear head. I just want to put in my best performances and today I managed to do that.” With this win, Brignone solidifies her position as a top contender in the World Cup, and her confidence will likely carry over to future competitions.

Lindsey Vonn's impressive comeback since retiring for nearly six years was halted by a poor performance on one of her favorite courses. The 2010 Olympic downhill champion, who boasts 20 podium finishes, including 12 wins, in Cortina, struggled over the weekend. Vonn slid off course after finishing 20th in the downhill on Saturday.

Vonn reflected on her performance, saying, “I think this weekend was a good learning experience for me, I haven't really trained downhill or super-G with this kind of speed yet, so I need a little bit more time.” She acknowledged that she needs to train more, considering she has only had a few months and days of training. Vonn added, “I really need to... understand that I've only had a few months, and a few days of training, and I can't expect always to have a perfect day.”

Vonn plans to compete in the downhill and super-G events at Garmisch next weekend. She will also participate in the giant slalom at Kronplatz on Tuesday, as athletes prepare for the World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm next month. Meanwhile, Sofia Goggia finished seventh, 1.25 seconds behind her compatriot and rival Federica Brignone, who is bidding for her second overall World Cup title.

Goggia expressed disappointment with her performance, saying, “I didn't ski with the same flow as I did yesterday, I was imperfect everywhere.” She attributed her poor start to her failure to secure a podium spot, stating, “I wasn't able to get into the rhythm of the piste, but I lost the podium coming out of the gate... I could tell straight away that I'd lost it there. I could have got a podium place but I started far too badly.”