An Italian Hat Trick For Women's World Cup Downhill
For only the fourth time in World Cup history, the Italian Women's ski team took all three spots on the podium. It happened before in Narvik GS (NOR) - 1996 with Deborah Compagnoni, Sabina Panzanini, and Isolde Kostner, Aspen GS (USA) - 2017 with Federica Brignone, Sofia Goggia and Marta Bassino and Bad Kleinkirchheim DH (AUT) 2018 with Sofia Goggia, Federica Brignone, Nadia Fanchini. Once again Federica Brignone and Marta Bassino share the victory with a third teammate, this time Elena Curtoni, in Bansko, Bulgaria.
The second Downhill race of the weekend at Bansko saw Elena Curtoni starting with the number 28 bib, but pushing her way to the top for her first World Cup victory. Though she has been on the podium before, it has been almost three years since her last podium appearance. Today she stood at the top with a finishing time of 1:29.31
Standing to Curtoni's left and right were teammates Marta Bassino in second and Federica Brignone in third. The race for those spots was very tight, with Bassino finishing only 0.1 of a second behind the leader for second place, and Brignone only 0.14 off the leader for third. It doesn't get much closer than that.
The third-place finish for Brignone brings a back to back podium runs in Downhill. She finished in second yesterday, just 0.18 of a second behind the winner, American skier Mikaela Shiffrin.
As for Shiffrin in today's downhill, she was able to come in fourth place. This fourth place win keeps her overall points lead at 270 ahead of Federica Brignone and takes her to within 16 of the leader of the Downhill standings, Switzerland's Corinne Suter.
Rounding out the top 5 for the day was another American, Breezy Johnson. Johnson ran her second and third Downhill races this weekend after returning from a knee injury she sustained this past summer. She continues to fight the good fight, having made a top ten finish yesterday at the Bulgarian venue and moving up to a top-five finish today.
Thumbnail Credit: FIS Alpine World Cup Tour/FB
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