Lindsey Vonn sixth on sensational Downhill World Cup comeback in St. Anton as Federica Brignone wins
Published 11/01/2025 at 12:29 GMT
American skiing great Lindsey Vonn was sixth on her comeback to the Downhill World Cup, producing a very strong run and even looking poised for a podium spot as she returned to the event after over 2,000 days away. Federica Brignone set the benchmark time and held off a late challenge by Switzerland's Malorie Blanc to win her first-ever World Cup in this discipline, while Ester Ledecka was third.
‘Back in business’ – Vonn stars in first World Cup downhill race since comeback
Video credit: TNT Sports
Lindsey Vonn turned on the style as she recorded a sixth-place finish on her comeback to Downhill World Cup action in St Anton, Austria.
Italy's Federica Brignone set the fastest time in training on Thursday and backed that up with victory on Saturday, finally claiming a long-awaited first Downhill World Cup victory.
Swiss youngster Malorie Blanc was second, missing out on the win by just seven-hundredths of a second, with Czech skier/snowboarder Ester Ledecka third.
"I'm really proud, today was not easy," Brignone said afterwards. "I didn't make the perfect run, it was really not easy to ski, the surface made it more like surfing than skiing! I fought, I tried to be aggressive but also smooth. I'm really happy with my skiing right now.
"[It was a] super exciting race, Malorie was really fast in training, Lindsey too. I was waiting for them actually [to finish]."
St. Anton was the second stop on the Downhill World Cup circuit for this season, after Beaver Creek, USA in December.
- French skier Cyprien Sarrazin out of intensive care after horror training crash in Bormio
- Lindsey Vonn targets return to best form after World Cup comeback
- Mikaela Shiffrin targets imminent return to snow after puncture wound scuppered season
Speed specialist Vonn made her return to Downhill racing in St. Anton after initially retiring in 2019, and looked composed despite her long absence.
The 40-year-old leads the all-time list of World Cup downhill victories with 43 - constituting over half of her 82 World Cup wins - and won the Downhill event at St. Anton in 2007.
She kept well in touch with Brignone at the early splits and even looked on course for the win, but lost time in the final sector to finish provisional fifth and was eventually pushed down to sixth.
The triple Olympic medallist looked thrilled with her performance, and on the basis of her run in St. Anton, could well challenge for wins as the season progresses.
"I loved being back at the start, I feel a little bit more confident and comfortable in downhill than I do in Super-G," Vonn said. "I know this hill really well, so I knew the challenges that it had today and with the snow conditions, where you had to execute.
"I still made a couple of mistakes, I know I can be faster, but I think for the first Downhill race in six years it was a pretty good start.
"I was really close to being on the podium - I was also a little bit happier with fifth place than sixth place! But I was pleasantly surprised when I crossed the finish line to see fifth place."
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2025/01/11/image-c888b92e-f87c-4d6e-beee-818da6865da5-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
Lindsey Vonn of Team United States celebrates during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Downhill on January 11, 2025 in St. Anton, Austria.
Image credit: Getty Images
Heavy snowfall on Friday cancelled the second day of training, and the very powdery conditions and lack of grip caused by the new snow caused problems for the majority of the field.
Several of the big names, including Beaver Creek winner and reigning World Cup downhill crystal globe winner Cornelia Huetter, were out of contention for the podium early on.
Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, who was second-fastest in Thursday's training, drifted wide on a right-footed turn that caught out several other skiiers, while there was early disappointment for Italy's Sofia Goggia, who won the last time St. Anton featured in the Downhill World Cup series back in 2021.
Goggia was second in Beaver Creek but did not finish this time out after sliding out on a corner. She was caught out in the soft snow at the side of the course and crashed into the side netting, although she was able to quickly get up and was unhurt.
Her compatriot Laura Pirovano set the fastest time of the early racers and was only knocked off the top spot by Brignone, who made an excellent start and was fastest at every split. A couple of wobbles meant it wasn't a completely clean run, but she recovered from her mistakes to move into the hot seat for a nervous wait for the rest of the field to finish.
There was late drama for Brignone as Marte Monsen nearly knocked her off the top spot, who was faster at the first two splits but finished 22nd.
Switzerland's Malorie Blanc then produced a stellar run and led at the halfway point, just missing out on top spot by a fraction of a second. The 21-year-old was surrounded by jubilant team-mates at the finish line as she recorded her first-ever World Cup podium.
Stream the 2024/25 Alpine skiing season live on Eurosport and discovery+.
Related Topics
Thoughts?
Advertisement
Advertisement