Alpine skier Corinne Suter of Switzerland earned her first Olympic medal by winning the women's downhill on Monday night.
Italy claimed the two other spots on the podium, with defending Olympic champion Sofia Goggia earning silver and Nadia Delago taking bronze.
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, and 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.
Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
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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.
Goggia and Delago were the second and third Italians to finish atop an alpine skiing podium in Beijing. Goggia managed to win her second downhill medal just three weeks after suffering multiple leg injuries in a crash at the World Cup. Meanwhile, Delago is a first-time medalist.
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Keely Cashman had the best finish of the four Americans in the event, placing 17th with a time of 1:34.13. Mikaela Shiffrin saw her medal drought in Beijing continue, finishing right behind Cashman in 18th (1:34.36). It was the first time Shiffrin competed in the downhill at an Olympics.
Jacqueline Wiles (1:34.60) came in 21st while Alix Wilkinson was one of five skiers who failed to finish the race.
The individual women's alpine skiing events at the 2022 Games wrap up with the combined, starting with the downhill on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET and the slalom on Thursday at 1:00 a.m. ET.
