Olympic champion Sofia Goggia was satisfied with her performance after the second downhill training session at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Centre on Monday (14 February)
“Today felt great. I had a nice training run, I felt good on my skis and this was the most important thing,” the 29-year-old Italian said one day ahead of her competitive debut at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
After a positive opening run on Friday, Goggia clocked the fourth fastest time on the ‘Rock’ course, finishing 0.61 seconds behind the leading mark set by Joana Haehlen of Switzerland.
“I was not perfect in some lines at a lot of points on the track, and especially in the last part I really had a bad turn in the entrance of the flat (section of the course),” she said.
“I didn’t think about the race today, as you could see. I was focussed on my technique, instead of listening to any warning signs from my body. This good test demonstrates that even after just two runs and a serious injury I could keep the focus on myself.”
Goggia: Olympic dream
Goggia said she would visualise in her head “the best downhill that it can be” and added: “The work and analysis with my coaches today are going to be mandatory and really important.”
Only 22 days ago, the Italian suffered a crash in the Cortina Super G, which could compromise her attempt to race in Beijing.
After the cancellation of Sunday’s training session due to heavy snowfall, Goggia wrote on Instagram: “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else if not here at Beijing 2022 to do my best: I’m proud and honoured to represent my nation.”
“The Olympics: the place where the dreams in the kid’s heart can come true,” she added.
Shiffrin: Sofia deserves to race here
After showing her support on social media, Mikaela Shiffrin is pleased that the Italian has the chance to race and defend her title: “We all just want to see her racing here,” the American said.
“Mentally she’s strong, that’s really good for us to see especially because Breezy (Johnson) is also not able to be here and that’s our top two downhill skiers on the women’s circuit in the world so it’s important to have her here because it’s the Olympics and because she just deserves to be able to ski this race no matter what happens.”
The women’s downhill takes place on Tuesday (15 February) at 11:00 local time (4:00 CET, 19:00 PST on Monday).