CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 10 : Downhill champion Breezy Johnson was heading for a golden “double double” at the Winter Olympics on Tuesday after dominating the opening leg of the women’s Alpine skiing team combined to set up U.S. first team partner Mikaela Shiffrin for the decisive slalom run.
Johnson and Shiffrin, the most successful World Cup skier of all time with a record 108 wins, are the world champions in the event. Johnson holds the world and Olympic downhill titles simultaneously after winning Sunday’s opening speed race.
Shiffrin, winner of seven of eight World Cup slaloms this season with the crystal globe in the discipline already secured, now has one run on the sparkling Olimpia delle Tofane piste between her and a first Olympic medal since Pyeongchang 2018.
The women’s team combined event is being held for the first time at an Olympics.
Johnson, who has never won a World Cup race, started 14th and set a time of one minute 36.59 seconds in gloriously sunny conditions, 0.06 faster than Ariane Raedler for Austria’s second team.
Laura Pirovano put Italy2 in third place with a run 0.27 off the pace and became the host nation’s main hope of a medal after Sofia Goggia, downhill bronze medallist, crashed out.
Goggia’s inside ski slid across and she lost her balance, ending the hopes of teammate Lara Della Mea. She was able to ski down to the finish and waved to the crowd.
USA2’s Jacqueline Wiles was fourth fastest, with serial podium finisher Paula Moltzan skiing the slalom leg, and the Austria1 pairing of Cornelia Huetter and Katharina Truppe were fifth.
Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann was sixth fastest with all-rounder Emma Aicher opting to do the slalom despite taking silver in the downhill last Sunday.
Switzerland’s Camille Rast, the only woman to beat Shiffrin in slalom this season, will have her work cut out after teammate Corinne Suter was only 12th and 1.51 seconds slower than Johnson.
The USA3 team of Isabella Wright and Nina O’Brien were knocked out of the event after Wright failed to finish.
The slalom run was due to start at 1300GMT.