Swiss skier Suter wins last downhill before Olympics

In the absence of Sofia Goggia, world champion Corinne Suter won the last downhill before the Beijing Olympics.

Suter had a dominate performance Saturday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, to finish 0.51 seconds faster than Swiss teammate Jasmine Flury for her first World Cup victory since Dec. 18, 2020. Cornelia Huetter of Austria was third, 0.78 behind.

Canada's Marie-Michèle Gagnon finished ninth, 1.05 seconds behind Suter. Gagnon's teammate, Roni Remme, was among three skiers to not finish the event.

Goggia would have been the overwhelming favourite to defend her Olympic downhill title but she was injured during a World Cup super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo last week. The 29-year-old Italian sprained her left knee, partially tore a cruciate ligament and has a "minor fracture" of the fibula, along with some tendon damage.

Goggia has started physical rehab with the aim of returning in time for the Olympic downhill at the Beijing Games on Feb. 15. She will likely miss the giant slalom on Feb. 7 and the super-G on Feb. 11.

WATCH | Goggia does splits, tumbles down course:

With the Winter Olympics around the corner, several top contenders skipped the races in Garmisch, including overall rivals Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova, and Lara Gut-Behrami — who had won the downhill in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee. Goggia won the other four downhills this season.

Out of the top 10 skiers in the overall standings, only Federica Brignone and Elena Curtoni raced. They finished 18th and 16th, respectively.

Suter moved into second spot in the downhill standings although she is still 69 points behind Goggia.

There is a super-G scheduled for Sunday before a pause for the Olympics.