Next Saturday the world’s fastest women skiers will once again gather on St. Anton to race in the challenging “Karl Schranz” racecourse. This will be the ninth time women compete in a World Cup Downhill event at St. Anton. To date, there have been eight women's World Cup Downhills on the Karl Schranz track in St. Anton, which took place in 1969, 1993, 1995 (twice), 1999, 2007, 2013, and 2021.
St. Anton (AUT)
January 11th Downhill / Women 11:15 CET
Defending World Cup Downhill Champion Cornelia Huetter won the first Downhill of the season in the Women's premiere at the Birds of Prey racecourse in Beaver Creek. Sofia Goggia finished in second place 0.16 seconds behind the Austrian. Lara Gut-Behrami rounded up the podium in third place +0.34 seconds off the pace.
Until Beaver Creek each of the last ten Women's Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill events, including all eight of the 2023-2024 winter season, had a different winner: Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (Kvitfjell), Ilka Štuhec (Soldeu), Mikaela Shiffrin (St. Moritz), Jasmine Flury (Val d'Isere), Sofia Goggia (Zauchensee), Stephanie Venier (Cortina d'Ampezzo), Ragnhild Mowinckel (Cortina d'Ampezzo), Lara Gut-Behrami (Crans Montana), Marta Bassino (Crans Montana), and Cornelia Huetter (Saalbach).
Huetter celebrated in the US ski resort her second consecutive Downhill victory, having also won the last race of last season at Saalbach during the Alpine Ski World Cup Finals. It was her third victory in this speed discipline.
The 32-year-old has stood on the top step of the World Cup podium eight times in her career. It was the first victory of the season for the Austrian Ski Team. She achieved 16 of her 30 World Cup podiums in the Downhill discipline.
Cornelia Hütter won the 2024 discipline Crystal Globe. The last time an Austrian skier led the Downhill standings was in 2019 when Nicole Schmidhofer won in front of an Austrian trio of Stephanie Venier and Ramona Siebenhofer.
The Styrian skier won in Saalbach her first Downhill race in over six years and took home her maiden Crystal Globe.
Austrian skiers have been the most successful in the eight Women's Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill races held on the Karl Schranz course in St Anton, with three victories to date, but no Austrian has won since Michaela Dorfmeister in 1995.
At least one Austrian has finished on the podium every time the Women's Downhill has been held in St. Anton. The only exception was in 2007.
Lara Gut-Behrami finished in 17th place at the Alpine Ski World Cup Finals in Saalbach, which meant that the Downhill Crystal Globe slipped out of the hands of the Overall World Cup winner at the very last moment.
Corinne Suter was the last woman from Switzerland to win the Downhill Crystal Globe in the 2019-2020 season.
Lara Gut-Behrami has 13 wins, tying her with Marie-Theres Nadig for eighth place in most World Cup Downhill victories among women. Swiss skier Maria Walliser ranks seventh with 14 wins.
Switzerland, with 99 victories to date, can become the second country to achieve 100 wins in Women's Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill events, following Austria, which leads with 124 victories.
Lara Gut-Behrami had a win, two podium places, and two further top-six finishes in her seven World Cup Downhills in 2024.
Sofia Goggia, a four-time winner of the Downhill Crystal Globe, finished third in the discipline standings last season. Unfortunately, she suffered an injury at the end of the competition, specifically a fracture of the tibia and tibial malleolus in her right leg. As a result, she missed the last three Downhill races in Crans Montana, and Saalbach. This injury occurred during a giant slalom training session in Ponte di Legno in February 2024.
Sofia Goggia won the last Downhill held in St. Anton in 2021. The Italian has the opportunity to become the first multiple-winner at the venue. The 32-year-old can also extend her record as the oldest Downhill champion in the Alpine Ski World Cup.
Second in Beaver Creek, Goggia has an extraordinary recent record: in her past 28 World Cup Downhills dating back to December 2020, Goggia has won 14 times and finished on the podium nine times. She has missed the podium just five times in the past 28 Downhill races over more than four years.
Stephanie Venier finished in fourth place in the Downhill standings last season. On January 26, 2024, she won the Downhill held in Cortina d'Ampezzo. For the 30-year-old Austrian skier from Tirol, it was her second World Cup victory, the first in almost five years, since she won the Downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on January 27, 2019.
On January 13, 2024, she finished second in the Downhill event held in Zauchensee, marking her first Downhill podium since February 2020 in Crans Montana.
Federica Brignone finished fifth in the Downhill standings last season, achieving two podium finishes in World Cup Downhill events: a second place in Crans Montana in February and a third place in St. Moritz in December. Despite her success, Brignone has yet to win a Downhill race in the Alpine Ski World Cup, having finished second five times.
In Semmering, Brignone secured her 29th Alpine Ski World Cup victory. The only Italian with over 29 World Cup victories is ski legend Alberto Tomba, who has 50.
22-year-old US rising star Lauren Macuga finished in 4th place in the first Downhill of the season in Beaver Creek. It was just her 13th Downhill start and the first time she had broken into the Top-10. Macuga did record two top-10 Super-G finishes last season and one this season, in St. Moritz.
Lindsey Vonn claimed one of her record 43 World Cup Downhill victories in St Anton in 2007. The 40-year-old US skier returned to the Alpine Ski World Cup stage in December, finishing 14th in the Super-G in St Moritz after almost six years of retirement.
US skiers have a strong record at St. Anton, with at least one finishing on the podium in all but one of the last five Downhill races at the Austrian ski resort.
Ester Ledecka was sixth in Beaver Creek last month, her best World Cup Downhill result in almost three years. Two years after winning her last World Cup race, Ledecka returned to the top of the podium in the last Super-G of the 2023-2024 season held in Saalbach. The Super-G Olympic champion celebrated her fourth Alpine Ski World Cup victory.
Update 01.09.2025: Federica Brignone was the fastest in the first downhill training session in St Anton. Lara Gut-Behrami was second, 1.31 seconds back. Sofia Goggia was third, 1.47 seconds behind her teammate.
21-year-old Swiss skier Malorie Blanc was the surprise of the day. With bib 49 she finished in 4th place 1.56 behind Brignone. Blanc delivered an outstanding performance at the Junior World Championships in Chatel in January 2024, winning the gold medal in the Super-G and securing a silver medal in the Downhill.
Lindsey Vonn finished in 10th position 2.55 seconds behind the Italian.
Update 01-10.2025: The second Downhill training session in St. Anton has been canceled due to heavy snowfall overnight. However, since the necessary training for the Downhill race occurred on Thursday, the race weekend can proceed as scheduled. The weather is also expected to improve.
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