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| Event type

Downhill, Women

Date21 February 2018 — 11:00
StatusOlympic
LocationJeongseon Alpine Centre, Mountain Cluster, Bukpyeong (Jeongseon Downhill)
Participants39 from 20 countries
Course SetterJean-Philippe VullietIFR
DetailsGates: 38
Length: 2,775 m
Start Altitude: 1,275 m
Vertical Drop: 730 m

The women’s downhill was the fourth female Alpine skiing race held in PyeongChang, and it was contested on the same slope as the Super G four days earlier and the same slope as the men’s speed races. The seasonal downhill World Cup was led by Sofia Goggia, followed by Lindsey Vonn and Tina Weirather. The reigning World Champion and downhill Crystal Globe winner from 2016/17, Ilka Štuhec, did not compete due to a torn ACL in her left knee in October 2017. Also not present in South Korea was the downhill 2013/14 World Cup winner, Maria Höfl-Riesch, as well as the two shared gold medalists from Sochi, Tina Maze, downhill World champion in 2015, and Dominique Gisin, as all three had already retired, with only the bronze medalist from Sochi, Lara Gut, competing in PyeongChang. The podium of the pre-Olympic downhill race held on this slope in March 2017 was topped by Goggia, Vonn, and Štuhec. With the absence of Štuhec, Goggia and Vonn were considered the big favorites. Vonn set the best time in the first training run, while Venier did so in the second and Michelle Gisin, younger sister of Dominique, in the third.

The starting order for speed events was changed since the last Olympics. The top 10 racers of the World Cup Starting List (WCSL), beginning with the leader, could choose an odd bib number from 1-19, while the next ten racers from the WCSL could choose an even bib number from 2-20. On race day the weather was still cold (-9° C.), but the conditions were otherwise perfect and the favorites delivered. Going down with bib #5 Goggia took the lead 0.63 seconds ahead of Weirather and when Vonn placed second 0.47 seconds behind Goggia, the race looked decided. Ragnhild Mowinckel with bib #19, however, blew up the top two to place second only 9/100ths of a second behind the leader.

Goggia won the race with an average speed of 100.69 km/h and 2.51 metres ahead of Mowinckel to become the first ever female Olympic downhill champion for Italy and the second overall for her country, following Zeno Colò, who won the 1952 downhill. Mowinckel, the only Norwegian skier competing in this race, became the first ever female downhill medalist for Norway. Goggia won the race on Atomic, as they won both female speed events at these Games, while places 2-6 all used Head skis.

PosNumberCompetitorNOCTime
15Sofia GoggiaITA1:39.22Gold
219Ragnhild MowinckelNOR1:39.31Silver
37Lindsey VonnUSA1:39.69Bronze
43Tina WeiratherLIE1:39.85
514Alice McKennisUSA1:40.24
62Corinne SuterSUI1:40.29
78Breezy JohnsonUSA1:40.34
813Michelle GisinSUI1:40.55
915Viktoria RebensburgGER1:40.64
1012Ramona SiebenhoferAUT1:40.98
116Kira WeidleGER1:41.01
1217Nicole SchmidhoferAUT1:41.02
=134Tiffany GauthierFRA1:41.04
=131Conny HütterAUT1:41.04
1510Laurenne RossUSA1:41.10
1623Jennifer PiotFRA1:41.17
1730Lisa HörnbladSWE1:41.63
1829Romane MiradoliFRA1:41.64
1924Maruša FerkSLO1:42.00
2026Greta SmallAUS1:42.07
2122Valérie GrenierCAN1:42.13
2225Laura GauchéFRA1:42.29
2327Roni RemmeCAN1:42.80
2434Maryna Gąsienica-DanielPOL1:43.30
2535Noelle BarahonaCHI1:44.24
2632Kateřina PauláthováCZE1:44.69
2728Alexandra ColettiMON1:45.04
2836Ania CaillROU1:45.06
2937Barbara KantorováSVK1:45.99
3038Kim VanreuselBEL1:46.51
3139Elvedina MuzaferijaBIH1:46.80
DNF9Lara GutSUI
DNF11Stephanie VenierAUT
DNF16Nadia FanchiniITA
DNF18Federica BrignoneITA
DNF20Jasmine FlurySUI
DNF21Nicol DelagoITA
DNF31Petra VlhováSVK
DNF33Candace CrawfordCAN