There’s enjoying skiing, there’s being committed to skiing, and then there’s Italian skier Sofia Goggia. On Friday, Dec. 17, Sofia broke two fingers after hitting a gate at the women’s alpine World Cup race in St. Mortiz, Switzerland, heading straight to a hospital after finishing second. According to ESPN, a metal rod and screws were put inside her hand and a cast was wrapped around the injury, but the injury, the hospital visit, and the surgery still wasn’t enough to stop her from showing back up on Saturday.
“When I understood today that I could make it, I think there was no girl who was (as) happy as I was today at the start gate. It was not guaranteed that I could be at the start today.” – Sofia Goggia
Since she was almost completely unable to move her left hand, Goggia duct tapped her pole to her palm and lined up at the start gate. From there, Sofia took first place, finishing .52 seconds ahead of the leader at the time. Mikaela Shiffrin threatened the Italian’s standing for a brief period, staying a few hundredths of a second ahead of Goggia through the first two sections, but ultimately falling .61 seconds behind first. Slovenian Ilka Stuhec took second on Saturday and German Kira Weidle took third.
There are not many words to describe @goggiasofia ‘s feat today…
A podium, a broken hand, a surgery, 9 screws, a victory… all in 24 hours! 🎩#fisalpine pic.twitter.com/yEn7eSam3Q
— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) December 17, 2022
Mikaela Shiffrin had more luck at Sunday’s super-G, according to the FIS, taking first place by .12 seconds. With her third win of the season, she’s now just five victories away from Lindsey Vonn’s women’s record of 82 World Cup wins. Shiffrin was followed up by Italian Elena Curtoni and French Romane Miradoli.
See who is back on the top step of the podium in Super G….
1️⃣ @MikaelaShiffrin 🇺🇸 77 World Cup Victories 🤯
2️⃣ Elena Curtoni 🇮🇹 second podium in @stmoritz_ch this weekend
3️⃣ Romane Miradoli 🇫🇷 second career World Cup podium
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#fisalpine pic.twitter.com/Vx6hp6mg7w— FIS Alpine (@fisalpine) December 18, 2022
Featured Image Credit: Sofia Goggia via Instagram