Sawt Falasteen - Goggia claims Crans-Montana downhill after World Championships woe

Goggia was hot favourite to claim downhill gold at Meribel last week but ended up disqualified, with the world title going to Swiss outsider Jasmine Flury.

Goggia put that reverse behind her to notch up her 22nd World Cup win and tighten her grip on a fourth downhill World Cup crown.

The Olympic silver medallist, who bagged gold in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, came in 0.15sec clear of her compatriot Federica Brignone, with Laura Gauche (0.41) in third for the French skier's first podium finish on the elite circuit.

Goggia's win in a race delayed 24 hours due to poor conditions at the Swiss ski station came after an inauspicious build-up with a fall in training on Friday.

That accident left her walking "with difficulty" on Saturday, the 30-year-old said.

But she delivered when it mattered most with all her habitual verve and risk-taking to secure a fifth downhill of the season.

It pushed her 179 points clear of Slovenia's Ilka Stuhec in the discipline's standings with just the downhills at Kvitfjell in Norway next weekend and at the finals in Soldeu in Andorra to come.

Missing this weekend was Mikaela Shiffrin who has decided to keep her powder dry and prepare for next weekend where she is setting her sights on an 86th World Cup success to draw level with the overall record held by Ingmar Stenmark.

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST