Federica Brignone claimed her second Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill victory in Garmisch. This marks Brignone's 10th podium finish in the discipline and her 32nd victory and 76th podium in the World Cup. The only Italian with over 32 World Cup victories is ski legend Alberto Tomba, who has 50.
With today's win, she moves into 11th place on the women's all-time list, one win behind Hanni Wenzel (33) in 10th.
For the third time in her career, she has won five World Cup races in a single season, two in Downhill, one in Super-G, and two in Giant Slalom, having previously accomplished this in 2019-2020 with five wins and in 2023-2024 with six wins.
Brignone confirms her position as leader in both the Overall and Downhill standings. Today's victory allowed Brignone to secure a 110-point lead in the Overall standings over Lara Gut-Behrami and a 29-point lead in the Downhill standings over Sofia Goggia.
"I've been working on my Downhill skills a lot, especially the flat part, to be more smooth, to be a better glider. It's been a good battle with Sofia. It was never a battle in Downhill until this year because she has been always better than me. And we were battling in Super-G, and then Giant Slalom was more me than her. I'm coming stronger, and she's coming stronger," Brignone said.
Sofia Goggia finished in second place, just 0.01 seconds behind her teammate. The 32-year-old Italian skier now has five career podiums in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, four in the Downhill, and one in the Super-G. She finished second in four consecutive races in the Kandahar in 2018 and 2019.
"I dislocated my shoulder and I didn't know how to keep the position in the last section because I couldn't move the arm, and so I was a bit in difficulty and this affected my race," said Goggia.
Corinne Suter finished in third place 0.19 seconds behind Brignone. She celebrated her season's second podium. The Swiss skier finished third at the Olimpia delle Tofane in Cortina d'Ampezzo last week a year after tearing her cruciate ligament. It was her first World Cup podium since finishing third in the downhill at Kvitfjell in March 2023.
"I wasn't completely happy with my run at the finish. But it was much better than yesterday. I think the part at the top I did very well and also the last part, but in the middle, with the bumps, I was not so close to the gate and I lost a bit of confidence. I knew I could ski faster. At the moment I'm still looking for the flow. But considering the gap, it's OK," Suter said.
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