Lindsey Vonn smiled, she received a standing ovation, but the cheers from the audience at the foot of the Olimpia delle Tofane in Cortina d’Ampezzo were just a pure expression of sympathy. The American had nothing to do with victory in the downhill on the 2026 Olympic course in the fifth race of her comeback in the World Cup. Three days after a fall in training, she only finished 20th after an accident in the lower section of the route.
Vonn was 1.68 seconds behind the winner Sofia Goggia. The Italian had followed the 40-year-old’s journey with fascination; beforehand she didn’t want to let her compatriots celebrate her 26th World Cup victory. The 2018 Olympic champion’s second success of the season had already remained untouched; the Norwegian Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (+0.42 seconds) and teammate Federica Brignone (+0.55) came closest to her.
Some cheered under the bright blue sky in the Dolomites, while Kira Weidle-Winkelmann, on the other hand, threw her hands pleadingly into the sky and then hit herself on the helmet with a mixture of anger and annoyance: her trip full of mistakes was enough on the Tofana, where she had won silver at the World Cup in February 2021, only finishing in 17th place (+1.33).
Weidle-Winkelmann takes “anger in his stomach” with him
Things fared even worse for Emma Aicher, who finished 31st and narrowly missed the points (+2.05).
“The idea I had there was basically the right one, but the whole thing was once again cramped, not loose enough,” said Weidle-Winkelmann on “ARD”. Therefore, “it didn’t fit together from top to bottom.”
She now wants to translate her “anger in her stomach” into a good Super-G on Sunday: “don’t think so much, then go skiing.”