Priska Nufer, 30, tops Olympic champs Ledecka, Goggia, Suter for breakout downhill win
Swiss skier earns 1st podium in nearly 150 World Cup races; Canada's Gagnon 11th
If Swiss skier Priska Nufer was going to have a breakout success at age 30, it surely was going to be on home snow at Crans-Montana.
Nufer won a World Cup downhill on Sunday — her first podium place in close to 150 races — finishing just ahead of three Olympic gold medallists in one minute 29.93 seconds.
In a 10-year World Cup career, Nufer never finished in the top five of any race until placing fourth in a downhill Saturday on the same Mont Lachaux course where she thrives.
With victory Sunday, she now has eight career top-10 finishes in World Cup races and six have been at Crans-Montana.
"I am so thankful for this moment," Nufer said. "Also in Switzerland, (near) by my home town and with all the friends and family."
On a sun-bathed south-facing slope, Nufer was 0.11 seconds faster than Ester Ledecka, who won the downhill on Saturday in 1:30.17. Sofia Goggia (1:30.16) was third, 0.23 behind Nufer, and new Olympic downhill champion Corinne Suter (1:30.20) was fourth, 0.27 back.
WATCH | Ledecka victorious in Saturday's World Cup race:
Goggia took downhill silver when defending her 2018 Olympic title in a rapid comeback from knee and leg injuries sustained crashing in January. Until then, she had dominated the downhill season.
"I'm pretty much satisfied about what I did today," said Goggia, "skiing at 70% or maybe a little bit less of the Sofia I was showing off in the first part of the season."
Goggia widens lead atop standings
Goggia extended her lead over Suter in the season-long downhill standings with one race left, on March 16 at Courchevel, France, during the World Cup finals meet.
Marie-Michèle Gagnon of Lac-Etchemin, Que., was 11th in 1:30.53 after finishing eighth in Saturday's race.
Mikaela Shiffrin had a small lead in the World Cup overall standings before the Olympics and took a calculated risk that paid off to skip the back-to-back downhills at Crans-Montana.
The American star's rival for the overall title, defending champion Petra Vlhova, posted a 16th-place finish Sunday to follow 29th a day earlier. They are now tied in the standings.
Shiffrin should return when the women's circuit stays in Switzerland next weekend for super-G and giant slalom races at Lenzerheide.
Though Nufer went to the Beijing Olympics, she was not selected in the four-woman Swiss team for the downhill or super-G speed races. They were won by Nufer's teammates Suter and Lara Gut-Behrami, respectively.
Gut-Behrami, who failed to finish on Saturday, placed 19th Sunday more than one second behind Nufer.
With files from CBC Sports
