Italy's Goggia off to fast start in alpine ski season with downhill gold at Lake Louise
Marie-Michèle Gagnon top Canadian on home course in 24th
Italy's Sofia Goggia won the first World Cup women's downhill race of the season Friday at Lake Louise by holding off Olympic champion Corinne Suter of Switzerland.
The ninth racer to take the course, Goggia finished in a time of 1 minute, 47.81 seconds, which edged Suter by 0.04 seconds. Cornelia Huetter of Austria was third for her 18th World Cup podium finish.
"I'm super-happy with the outcome and result but I'm still not happy with my performance because I think I was a bit too wild and dirty today," Goggia said.
Goggia is chasing after a third straight World Cup downhill globe this season. It would make her the first woman to win three straight World Cup downhill titles since Lindsey Vonn captured six straight from 2007-08 to 2012-13.
The 30-year-old Goggia won an silver medal in the downhill at the Beijing Olympics in February despite a bad knee. Goggia was 0.16 seconds behind Suter's winning time that day.
WATCH | Goggia golden in Lake Louise:
Goggia also is off to another fast start to the season; she won the first three women's downhill events last season, including two held in Lake Louise. In the end, Goggia ended up with four wins in nine downhill events.
Marie-Michèle Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Que., was the top Canadian, placing 24th with a time of 1:50.20.
"We did a lot of giant slalom training to improve my technique and hopefully take the next step, so we did a lot less downhill training," Gagnon said. "My feeling is a bit off right now as you can probably tell watching me go down. It's just not as dialled in as normal.
"It's a matter of just trying to find the good balance of attacking, but attacking in the right way."
Stefanie Fleckenstein, the only other Canadian in the field, finished 39th.
The 25-year-old from Whistler, B.C., skied as an independent Friday. She's trying to work her way back onto the national team.
"I've been independent for two years now," Fleckenstein said. "It's definitely tough as a speed skier because the national teams get priority with a lot of training.
"The goal is definitely to use my Nor Am spot this year on the World Cup and try to re-qualify, but it's going to be a battle."
Action from Lake Louise continues on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET with another downhill competition live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
WATCH | What to know about the downhill field:
Shiffrin, Ledecka absent
Last season's other winners included Lara Gut-Behrami, Suter, Ester Ledecka, Priska Nufer and Mikaela Shiffrin.
Ledecka, who also competes in snowboarding events, is sitting out the early season competitions to mend a collarbone injury.
Isabella Wright was the top American finisher in 13th place. Breezy Johnson tied for 16th in her return to racing after knee injury that kept her out of the Beijing Olympics.
Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia made quite a charge as she started 28th in the race and finished fifth overall.
With files from CBC Sports and The Canadian Press
