Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) (AFP) – Breezy Johnson gave herself a great chance of claiming double Olympic gold on Tuesday after being fastest in the downhill run of the women’s team combined, setting up Mikaela Shiffrin to give the USA more alpine skiing success at the Milan-Cortina Games. American Johnson showed why she is the new Olympic downhill champion by finishing with a time of 1min 36.59sec, 0.06sec ahead of Ariane Raedler of Austria’s second team. That is a slender lead, but Johnson has been paired with her close friend Shiffrin, the most successful skier of all time, making her debut at these Olympics in the slalom run — her specialist event — which starts at 1300 GMT.
“We talked and I was like, listen, there’s no pressure on my side. I already have my Olympic gold,” Johnson told reporters. “I’m going to go do my best. You go do your best. Check out the slalom course. Have some fun.” To be able to have a moment where you win a gold medal with one of your best friends is not something that a lot of people get to experience in their life. And it’s really cool.”
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Shiffrin will be raring to go on the Olimpia delle Tofane piste, hoping to banish tough memories of her disastrous last Olympics in Beijing where she failed to claim a single medal. The 30-year-old has won a record 108 races on the World Cup circuit, including seven of this season’s eight slalom races, and the USA look nailed on for more gold in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Camille Rast, who is Shiffrin’s closest rival in the World Cup slalom standings, has a mountain to climb as her Switzerland 1 partner and former Olympic downhill champion Corinne Suter finished 1.51sec behind Johnson. Italy’s top team will not compete in the slalom run after Sofia Goggia lost control of her skis and skidded off the piste, thankfully keeping enough control to not smash into the netting. The mistake from Goggia, who claimed bronze in the downhill, meant Lara Della Mea will have to cheer on her teammates from the finish.
But Laura Pirovano gave the host nation some pride with a good run, which left Italy 2 0.27sec behind the leading American pairing. The team combined is making its Olympic debut at the Milan-Cortina Games, with Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen and Tanguy Nef winning the men’s event on Monday. It comprises two racers from the same nation racing a downhill and a slalom, with the fastest aggregate time earning the gold medal. Countries are allowed to enter multiple teams in the event, with women’s skiing powerhouses the USA, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria each having four pairings entered on Tuesday.
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