KVETJER, Norway (AP) — Laura Pirovano won the final women’s downhill World Cup race of the season on Saturday and clinched the individual title, the prize Lindsey Vonn had most hoped for until she suffered an injury at the Olympics that ended her season prematurely.
Pirovano’s only remaining title challenger, Emma Aicher, finished fifth, with the German skier closing the overall points gap on leader Mikaela Shiffrin to 95 points with three races remaining.
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Shiffrin has not competed in a downhill race since an accident at a World Cup race at the Olympic circuit in Cortina d’Ampezzo in January 2024, but the American is expected to start in Sunday’s super-G.
Pirovano capped off an amazing downhill season with her third career win, defeating Olympic and world downhill champion Breezy Johnson in what would be Team USA’s first World Cup win.
Pirovano beat Johnson by 0.15 seconds, with Eicher’s German teammate Kira Weidle-Winkelmann finishing third 0.25 seconds behind.
“I knew it was going to be very difficult, so I didn’t feel good to be honest,” Pirovano said in an on-court interview.
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“I was scared when I crossed the finish line and I was so surprised when I saw the green light. It’s all still unbelievable.”
The Italian had never finished on the podium in 124 career World Cup races until two weeks ago when he claimed back-to-back victories by a mere hundredth of a second on the snow at home in Val di Fassa.
Those results moved her ahead of Vaughn in the subject rankings.
The year after his first retirement in 2019, the 41-year-old Vonn dominated the first half of the season, taking two wins and three additional podiums in the first five downhills.
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Vonn held a commanding lead in the downhill standings and was on course for a record-tying ninth title, but she was unable to add to her season tally.
She fell for the first time and tore her left anterior cruciate ligament in her final downhill race before the Cortina Games in Milan, and the race was subsequently cancelled. A week later she was involved in a horrific crash during an Olympic downhill race, seriously injuring her left leg and leaving her future in the sport uncertain.
The women’s downhill race on Saturday used the same route as the men’s but started on a lower hill and shaved about 15 seconds off the running time.
Dominik Paris won the men’s event as Italy opened their World Cup finals with two wins.
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AP Skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
