Sofia Goggia wins World Cup downhill in St Moritz despite two broken fingers
- Published
Goggia overcame the pain to continue her good run of form
Sofia Goggia returned from overnight surgery on broken fingers to win the second women's World Cup downhill race in St Moritz on Saturday.
The Italian broke two fingers on the way to second place in Friday's downhill and travelled to Milan for an operation.
She returned to Switzerland for Saturday's race and competed with her left hand taped to her ski pole.
"Yesterday it was broken, today it was already fixed," said the 30-year-old.
"I'm really happy today and I'm really grateful because it was not guaranteed at all that I could be at the start gate today.
"I have to say huge thanks to the people who helped me out here yesterday, from the doctor to the driver who brought me."
Goggia, the 2018 Olympic champion, raced with a plate and nine screws inserted in the left hand and also had holes cut into her glove as she claimed her 11th victory in the past 16 World Cup downhill races she has competed in and her 20th overall.
Her time of one minute 28.85 seconds saw her finish 0.43secs ahead of Slovenia's Ilka Stuhec with Germany's Kira Weidle a further 0.09secs back.
"I couldn't push at the start gate and this is why I didn't have the gap of the training runs, but half a second is enough," she said of the victory margin. "Also one hundredth of a second is enough."
Goggia's aggressive style has led to a string of injuries. In 2021, she missed the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo because of a right knee injury and earlier this year she won an Olympic downhill silver medal with a sprained knee.
"I really understand that it was a bit risky," she added. "But I said to myself that after Beijing, I could endure everything and this is exactly what I did."