The Latest: Bad back forces Ligety to move up retirement

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The Latest from the skiing world championships (all times local):

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6:30 p.m.

Two-time Olympic champion Ted Ligety has had to move up his retirement by six days due to a bad back.

Ligety announced this week that the giant slalom at the skiing world championships would be the final race of his career.

But he writes on Instagram that on Friday he “woke up to the worst sciatic pain of my life.”

He adds that a scan revealed his back is “herniated to the point it’s not safe to ski right now.”

Ligety’s final race was slated for Friday.

He says “now it’s time to get my back healthy to support a lifetime of playing and skiing with my kids.”

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12:40 p.m.

Corinne Suter says her second place in Thursday’s world championship opener helped her believe she could win gold in downhill.

The Swiss skier says she “started with a silver medal in super-G. That was already amazing for me.”

Suter adds she “always knew in downhill there are more chances.”

Suter became the first women’s downhill world champion from Switzerland since Maria Walliser triumphed in 1989.

Teammate Lara Gut-Behrami won bronze after her gold in super-G to raise the Swiss team’s medal tally to four from two women’s events.

Sofia Goggia would have been the top favorite for gold after winning four straight downhills on the World Cup circuit but the Italian is out for the season with a knee injury.

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12:10 p.m.

Corinne Suter won the women’s downhill at the world championships to give Switzerland its second gold medal.

German skier Kira Weidle finished 0.20 behind for silver and Lara Gut-Behrami was 0.37 back in third.

Gut-Behrami won gold and Suter silver in Thursday’s super-G.

American racer Breezy Johnson came nine-tenths off the lead in ninth.

Two-time defending champion Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia finished 1.30 behind and outside the top 10.

Mikaela Shiffrin sat out the race to train for upcoming events.

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9:45 a.m.

Italian skier Francesca Marsaglia is set to open the women’s downhill at the world championships at 11 a.m. local time.

Super-G world champion Lara Gut-Behrami and American racer Breezy Johnson are among the medal favorites.

Only 31 racers take part as some big names are sitting out the event.

Sofia Goggia is out for the season with a knee injury after winning the last four downhills on the World Cup circuit.

Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova opt to train for upcoming events.

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More AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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