KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) — Sofia Goggia put the crystal globe on the ground, lay down and kissed the snow.
Earlier, the Italian star was in tears when she finished her winning run.
Goggia celebrated an emotional victory Sunday, winning her third super-G of the season at the World Cup finals to secure the discipline title.
“I had a really good, consistent season in super-G, so I think this globe is super well-deserved,” said the Italian, adding that the super-G title made her a “more complete skier” after previously winning four season titles and the 2018 Olympic gold medal in downhill.
It was Goggia’s 10th win in a super-G and 29th overall.
Sunday's race also saw Emma Aicher further close the gap to overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin.
Aicher, the only skier other than Goggia with multiple super-G wins this season, started the race 95 points behind the American following her fifth place in Saturday's downhill, which Shiffrin sat out.
Aicher had a solid run to place fourth and gain 50 points.
“It doesn’t help me when I start thinking about those points. I have to ski well, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t,” said the German, who still regards Shiffrin the strong favorite for the overall title.
“I have done so much right this year already that the rest will only be a bonus,” said the 22-year-old Aicher, who was 15th in the overall standings last year.
Racing in only her third super-G this season, Shiffrin was among the late starters and came in 2.78 off the pace in 22nd and didn't add to her tally because only the top 15 finishers get points in a race at the finals.
The American star now carries a 45-point lead into the last two races of the season – a slalom on Tuesday and a GS the following day – in her chase for a record-equaling sixth overall title. A race win is worth 100 points.
Shiffrin was joined for the pre-race course inspection by her fiancé, former overall champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
The Norwegian ended his season before the Olympics to further recover from a shoulder injury, but attended the finals as one of the forerunners, who test a course shortly before a race starts.
Shiffrin won five super-Gs in her career and the World Cup and world titles in that discipline in 2019, but has been hardly competing in speed events and mainly focusing on slalom and GS following two crashes in 2024.
On Sunday, Goggia confirmed her dominance in super-G this season.
A sixth place would have been enough for the Italian, who started the race with a commanding lead in the standings over her only remaining challenger, New Zealand’s Alice Robinson.
But Goggia didn't hold back and used a trademark gutsy run down the Olympiabakken.
“When you have pressure, you have to handle it. I’m happy for the outcome,” she said.
Robinson later had a wild run with costly mistakes and never threatened Goggia’s lead, finishing 2.41 seconds off the pace.
Robinson, who won the super-G season opener in December and had two more podium results, trailed Goggia by 163 points in the final discipline standings.
Former world champion Corinne Suter of Switzerland was 0.32 seconds behind in second and Aicher's German teammate Kira Weidle-Winkelmann trailed by 0.60 in third.
Goggia's win marked the third Italian victory from three races at the finals this weekend, after Laura Pirovano won the downhill and secured that discipline title on Saturday and Dominik Paris won the men's downhill.
Ilka Štuhec, the 2017 and 2019 world downhill champion, finished 2.56 behind Goggia in the Slovenian’s last race of her career.
Štuhec won 11 World Cup races between 2016 and 2023.
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