Austrian skier Stéphanie Venier won a World Cup downhill on Friday on the course that will be used in two years for the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, after Mikaela Shiffrin and several other rivals fell.
Shiffrin crashed into the safety nets after losing control during a jump in the upper part of the course.
She was helped to leave the track, her left boot raised.
After the fall of Shiffrin and her compatriot Federica Brignone, former overall champion, as well as Olympic champion Corinne Suter, Venier held off the tough Olympia delle Tofane track.
Venier finished 0.39 seconds ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami and 0.71 seconds ahead of three skiers tied for third: Franco-Ontarian Valérie Grenier, Christina Ager of Austria and local favorite Sofia Goggia – creating a rare podium of five people.
Grenier deserved a fourth World Cup podium, a first in downhill.
In giant slalom, she won two gold medals and one bronze.
“I still can’t believe it,” Grenier said. I felt very good. There were no expectations today and my team kept it pretty relaxed during the warm-up. Sometimes it helps to just relax before hitting the track. »
There hadn’t been a Canadian on a downhill podium since 2016, when Larisa Yurkiw finished second in Cortina.
It was Venier’s eighth career World Cup victory.
American Shiffrin, who has a record 95 World Cup victories, hit the net at high speed.
Doctors immediately attended to her and she eventually got up and limped off to get more treatment.
Shiffrin’s team says she was “taken by ambulance to the Cortina clinic and is being evaluated for an injury to her left leg.”
Brignone crashed shortly after the race restarted following a delay caused by Shiffrin’s crash. But Brignone got up and started to go down. She was not injured.
Suter then stopped midway through her run, appearing to have an injured left knee.
Michelle Gisin, two-time Olympic alpine combined champion, also fell, but did not seem seriously bothered.
The race took place in clear and sunny conditions, but with warm temperatures.
In total, 12 of the 52 participants did not finish the race.
Another descent is planned in Cortina on Saturday, followed by a super-G on Sunday.