'Pain inside of my soul': Goggia channels emotion to win Sunday's Super G

Pain, disappointment, anger, and a lot of tears.

Sofia Goggia (ITA/Atomic) channeled all of that emotion from the Downhill she threw away on Saturday to win Sunday's Super G in Val d'Isère and claim her first victory of the season.

After making a big mistake 24 hours earlier while leading the race to fall out of contention and eventually finish eighth, Goggia skied with more control on Sunday and mastered windy conditions on the O.K. course to win in 1:20.24.

By finishing ahead of two of this season's headline acts, Alice Robinson (NZL/Salomon, +0.15s) and Lindsey Vonn (USA/Head, +0.36s), Goggia won her 27th World Cup race to equal Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER) in equal 15th place on the all-time women's list.

"Yesterday was really an emotional day for me, I was really angry, I was really disappointed with myself," the Italian said. "I've been crying for one hour at least when I came back in my room in the hotel.

"I felt really pain inside of my soul, and I think the pain I felt yesterday was the gasoline I put on my race today."

Skiing as the first of the top 10 seeds with bib No.6, Goggia lit up the race by taking a big early lead and she continued to build all the way down the course, finishing nearly a second ahead of all others who had gone before her.

Despite drifting wide at one point before the final jump, she avoided the major error that cost her on Saturday, though she still wasn't completely impressed with her performance.

"I am a bit surprised because I skied the whole course with so much (in) reserve in my skiing, so I thought when I came down that it wouldn't have lasted," the 33-year-old admitted.

But it held up to deliver Goggia her eighth World Cup Super G win despite strong challenges by in-form skiers at either end of the age spectrum: 24-year-old Robinson and 41-year-old Vonn.

Skiing next after Goggia, New Zealand star Robinson continued the impressive form that has yielded three World Cup victories already this season across Giant Slalom and Super G.

Full of confidence after her first Super G win last Sunday in St. Moritz, Robinson posted the fastest second sector of all to find herself ahead of Goggia's splits, only to fall behind after the tunnel jump as the wind picked up.

Robinson's rapid rise to become a legitimate speed contender this season is reflected in the fact that she is no longer content to settle for what would have been a career-best Super G finish had it taken place two weeks ago.

"I was a little annoyed when I came through the finish because it was so close and I thought I could have done it better," the Salomon skier said.

"I'm happy that I was still able to stay in touch on that kind of course where I'm not always the best."

The race was put on hold briefly after Robinson's run as the wind wreaked havoc with an inflatable cheese alongside the track.

When the action resumed, the rest of the top seeds enjoyed slightly better light, but they had to contend with more wind on the lower part of the course.

Vonn managed those changing conditions the best with bib No.13, making her fourth podium in five speed races in the last 10 days to continue her spectacular comeback.

Like Goggia, Vonn didn't make any major errors as she did on Saturday, but took a different line in and out of the jump at the top of the course to put her behind the pace, and she was forced to play catch-up the rest of the way.

"I didn't quite have enough direction on the first jump," she said. "I thought I was fine but I think it cost me some time. After that, I skied well."

She did indeed, making up time with the fastest mid-section of the race and then being the only top-10 finisher to come close to Goggia's leading split in the crucial, wind-affected fourth sector.

"All in all, I'm not disappointed in my skiing," Vonn said. "Yesterday I made a mistake; today, I just had the wrong direction but it wasn't really a mistake, so I'm happy with it.

"It's really hard to always be on the podium, so I'm walking away with a smile."

Smiling too will be Camille Cerutti (FRA/Atomic), who was the biggest surprise of the day with bib No.27, leading Goggia through three intermediate splits before fading but still finishing fifth for her first World Cup top 10 result.

In fact, the least joyous among the top finishers on Sunday might be Goggia herself, as her quest for redemption succeeded on the results sheet, but not quite in her heart.

"I am still disappointed for yesterday — it still hurts," she admitted.

Click here for full results from Sunday's race.