27-year-old world champion clocked 1min 31.87sec down the "Rock" course in Yanqing
Corinne Suter has won the gold medal for her country at Beijing Olympics. She streaked to victory in the women's downhill for Switzerland’s fourth gold medal in the mountains.
The 27-year-old world champion clocked 1min 31.87sec down the "Rock" course in Yanqing, finishing 0.16sec ahead of defending champion Sofia Goggia of Italy, whose silver capped a remarkable return to form after she injured her knee in a crash last month.
It was the first Olympic medal for Suter, 27, who is also the reigning downhill world champion. Suter has four World Cup victories, all in the speed disciplines of downhill and super-G. A two-time world junior champion, she made her debut on the World Cup circuit as a 17-year-old in 2011.
Among the three medalists, it was Delago who initially had the best time when she posted a 1:32.44. Two skiers later, Delago was overtaken by her fellow countrywoman as Goggia finished her run in 1:32.03.
But Goggia's time spent atop the leaderboard was just as short as Delago's. Racing two spots after Goggia, Suter bested the reigning champ a time of 1:31.87.
Suter was the 15th of 36 skiers to race, but the closest anyone came to her time the rest of the way was Germany's Kira Weidle, who completed her run in 1:32.58 for a fourth-place finish.
Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel, the reigning silver medalist, came in 14th with a time of 1:33.97.
Suter, 27, finished sixth in downhill at the 2018 PyeongChang Games. She won gold in the downhill at the 2021 World Championships, and now has an Olympic gold to add to her hardware collection.
Suter's gold continues a strong performance for Switzerland in alpine skiing at the Beijing Games. Switzerland owns the most alpine skiing golds (four) and total medals (seven) so far.
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