BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — Cornelia Huetter of Austria navigated the tricky and steep terrain Saturday to win the first-ever women’s World Cup downhill held on the Birds of Prey course.
Huetter finished in 1 minute, 32.38 seconds to hold off Italian ski racer Sofia Goggia by 0.16 seconds. Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland wound up third.
Reaching speeds near 79 mph (126.94 kph), Huetter charged through a course filled with bumps, technical turns and steep sections. Huetter, the reigning World Cup downhill champion, stuck to her line – and it proved to be the swiftest path to the finish.
First, though, it took getting over some nerves.
“At the first inspection, I was like, ‘Are you (freaking) kidding me? It’s so deep. What the hell am I doing here?'” Huetter cracked. “I’ve never skied that steep before. All in all, it was amazing.”
Goggia made a successful return to racing with a runner-up performance. Her season ended last February when she broke her right leg while training for the giant slalom. Goggia was leading the downhill standings at the time, only to see Huetter go on to capture the discipline title on the last day.
“This summer, I was really close to quit,” Goggia said. “It would’ve been so perfect to win today. But I wasn’t so perfect in the bottom. I’m really happy with my comeback. I had a good race, but I think I skied 80% of my potential.”
The top American was Lauren Macuga, who was fourth and 0.52 seconds behind Huetter’s winning time.
“I kept looking at the scoreboard and I’m like, ‘Wow, my name is up there,'” said the 22-year-old Macuga, who turned in her best World Cup finish. “I knew I could ski this well. It’s just a matter of putting it out there. It’s such a rewarding feeling to come down and know I was able to accomplish that.”
All week long, the racers have been getting up to speed with the new downhill course. The men have been running the Birds of Prey downhill on the World Cup circuit for decades. But the women really haven’t raced a full-length downhill. They did step on part of the terrain for a rescheduled super-G in 2011 as Lindsey Vonn took the win.
On Saturday, Vonn served as a forerunner and tested out the course before the racers took the hill. The 40-year-old Vonn announced she would take part in a pair of World Cup super-G events in St. Moritz, Switzerland, next weekend as she returns to racing.
“I think this is the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen for a forerunner in my life,” Vonn said. “I got a cheer as if I was racing.”
