On Saturday 25th, January 2025 Garmisch-Partenkirchen will host a Downhill Alpine Ski World Cup on the famous Kandahar slope, considered one of the most demanding race courses in the World Cup Tour.
Garmisch Partenkirchen (GER)
January 25th Downhill / Women 10:15 CET
Defending World Cup Downhill Champion Cornelia Hütter 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).
Hütter 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.
Federica Brignone claimed her first Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill victory in St. Anton. Her win marks Brignone's eighth podium finish in the discipline.
Swiss young talent Malorie Blanc finished in second position just 0.07 seconds behind the Italian. With bib 46 the Super-G Junior World Champion delivered an outstanding performance to achieve her first podium in her second race in the World Cup. Remarkably, the 21-year-old reached the podium in her first Downhill race only a month after her World Cup debut in St. Moritz. Her result in St. Anton is even greater when you consider that she tore her cruciate ligament in February, shortly after winning gold in the Super-G and silver in the Downhill at the Junior World Championships in Chatel in January 2024.
Ester Ledecka finished in third place 0.18 seconds behind Brignone, her best World Cup Downhill result in almost three years. The Super-G Olympic champion celebrated her 11th Alpine Ski World Cup podium.
Sofia Goggia won the third Downhill of the Alpine Ski World Cup season in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Goggia imposes her all-on aggressive style at the iconic Olympia delle Tofane today to win her first World Cup Downhill of the 2024-2025 winter season.
The 32-year-old extended her record as the oldest Downhill champion in the Alpine Ski World Cup.
It's her 4th win at the Olympia delle Tofane (2018, 2022, 2023, and 2024), her second season's win, and her 26th Alpine Ski World Cup win.
Kajsa Vickhoff Lie finished in second position 0.42 seconds behind Goggia to achieve her 7th podium in the Alpine Ski World Cup the 3rd one in the Downhill.
Federica Brignone rounded up the podium in third place 0.55 seconds behind her teammate. It's Brignone's ninth podium finish in the discipline and her best result in 24 World Cup races in Cortina d'Amppezo.
Federica Brignone (189 points) leads the Downhill standings, nine points ahead of Sofia Goggia (180), with Cornelia Hütter (176) in third place, 13 points behind.
Brignone (639) leads the Alpine Ski World Cup Overall standings ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami (584) and Camille Rast (562).
Sofia Goggia has won 19 World Cup Downhill races and can become the fourth woman to win 20, joining Lindsey Vonn (43), Annemarie Moser-Pröll (36), and Renate Götschl (24). In her last 17 World Cup Downhill races dating back to December 2022, Goggia has 14 podiums (seven wins, five seconds, and two-thirds), one-fourth, and two DNFs.
The 32-year-old Italian skier has won 26 Alpine Ski World Cup races in all disciplines and can equal Maria Höfl-Riesch in 15th place on the all-time women's list with 27 victories.
She has four career podiums in Garmisch, three in the Downhill, and one in the Super-G. She finished second in four consecutive races in the Kandahar in 2018 and 2019.
Lara Gut-Behrami has the chance to secure her 14th World Cup Downhill victory, matching Maria Walliser for seventh on the all-time women's list. This victory would also mark her 46th Alpine Ski World Cup win, tying her with Renate Götschl for fifth on the all-time women's record.
The 33-year-old has not yet claimed a victory on the World Cup tour this season. Over the past 12 seasons, beginning with 2012-2013, she has won at least one race each season, except for the 2018-2019 season.
She achieved her 96th World Cup podium, surpassing Anja Pärson to claim sixth place on the all-time women's list.
Federica Brignone has claimed victory in 31 World Cup races across all disciplines. This season, she has secured four World Cup wins: one in Downhill, one in Super-G, and two in Giant Slalom. She has the opportunity to win five World Cup races in a single season for the third time in her career, having previously accomplished this in 2019-2020 with five wins and in 2023-2024 with six wins.
Lindsey Vonn 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. In St. Anton in the Downhill, Lindsey Vonn put in an unexpectedly strong performance in her second race, finishing sixth.
The next day, in the Super-G, she gets closer to her first podium finish since her comeback. With starting number 31, put in another furious performance and finished 4th, 1.24 seconds behind the winner Lauren Macuga.
Vonn who won the Cortina Downhill six times in her career, was far from the top spots this time and ended up in 20th place, 1.68 seconds behind Goggia.
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.
Update 01.23.2025: Nadine Fest set the fastest time in the first Downhill training session in a shortened racecourse in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Teammate Magdalena Egger, tied with Ester Ledecka, finished in second place 0.04 seconds behind. The Austrians benefited from the increasingly faster course, which brought many skiers with higher starting numbers into the top places. The main favorites finished far behind with Sofia Goggia 22nd (+1.69), Federica Brignone 37th (+2.57), Lara Gut-Behrami 38th (+2.60), and Lindsey Vonn 41st (+2.82).
Update 01.24.2025: Sofia Goggia set the fastest time in the second Downhill training session. Breezy Johnson finished second 0.37 seconds behind the Italian. Ricarda Haaser was third 0.52 seconds off the pace.
Comments