Who to watch? St. Moritz Women's Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill Races

Lindsey Vonn. Picture: Ski Paradise

Next Friday, the world's fastest Women will gather in St. Moritz for the first stop of the Alpine Ski World Cup speed calendar. Two Downhill and a Super-G races are scheduled to take place in the Upper Engadine Valley on the "Corviglia" racecourse.

St. Moritz (SUI)

December 12th Downhill / Women 10:15 LOC

December 13th Downhill / Women 10:45 LOC

St. Moritz first hosted a women’s World Cup race in 1971 and then again in 1973, but would not host another until 1999. Since then, St. Moritz has hosted a race in most seasons, for a total of 54 women’s World Cup races. Nineteen of those races were Downhill, with Mikaela Shiffrin winning the last Downhill held in 2023. The American skier finished ahead of the Italian duo, Sofia Goggia (+0.15) and Federica Brignone (+0.17).

Last season, Federica Brignone claimed her first career Downhill Alpine Ski World Cup Crystal Globe. The Italian skier secured the Downhill title with a total of 384 points. Her previous best finish in the Downhill standings was third place in 2019-2020. The 2024 Downhill World Cup winner Cornelia Hütter (368), and Sofia Goggia (350) took second and third place, respectively, in the discipline's rankings.

In the past three seasons, 18 of the 22 Women’s Downhill races have been won by skiers over the age of 30. Of the 10 skiers who won those 22 races, only three were under 30: Marta Bassino, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Emma Aicher.

For Breezy Johnson, Mirjam Puchner, and Ester Ledecka, the three skiers who finished on the Women’s Downhill podium at the 2025 World Championships in Saalbach, it was each skier’s first World Championship medal in any event. The last time all three downhill skiers on the podium won their first World Championship medal in any event was at the 1993 World Championships in Morioka, Japan, when Picabo Street, Miriam Vogt, and Chantal Bournissen finished on the podium.

Breezy Johnson delivered the performance of a lifetime to win Downhill gold at the Saalbach 2025 Alpine World Ski Championships, the first major title of her career, just weeks after returning from a 14-month ban. The 29-year-old American skier, whose career has been marred by injuries, has achieved seven World Cup podium finishes, but has never won a World Cup race. Her best results came in 2021 and 2022. In 2021, Johnson finished on the podium four times, taking third place in both the Val d'Isère Downhills and the St. Anton Downhill, and second in the Crans-Montana Downhill. In 2022, she got back-to-back second-place finishes in Lake Louise and another second-place finish in Val d'Isere.

Lindsey Vonn is the all-time leader among women and men for World Cup Downhill wins (43) and podiums (66). Vonn has more World Cup Downhill wins than all of the other starters this weekend in St. Moritz combined.

After nearly six years of retirement, American Alpine Ski legend Lindsey Vonn made a spectacular comeback in St. Moritz in 2024. Wearing bib number 31 in her 396th World Cup race, her first since January 2019 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, she finished 14th, 1.18 seconds behind Huetter.

Lindsey Vonn is one of the world's most successful ski racers. Vonn is the only American woman to claim Downhill gold at the Olympic Winter Games, has 82 Alpine Ski World Cup victories, 138 World Cup podiums, eight World Championship medals, and 20 World Cup titles, including four Overall World Cup Crystal Globes (2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012), eight Downhill Crystal Globes (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016), five Super-G (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015), and three Alpine Combined Crystal Globes (2010, 2011, and 2012).

Vonn is one of six women to have won Alpine Ski World Cup races in all five disciplines of Alpine Skiing: Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, and Super Combined.

Lindsey Vonn excelled in the first training run for the two World Cup Downhill races to be held in St. Moritz. Kajsa Vickhoff Lie finished in second place, trailing 0.59 seconds behind Vonn. Sofia Goggia and Laura Gauche secured third place, finishing 0.71 seconds after Vonn.

Sofia Goggia is a four-time winner of the Downhill Crystal Globe, having won in 2017-2018, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 winter seasons.

Goggia only won the Downhill at the iconic Cortina d'Ampezzo in January last season.

The 33-year-old Italian skier has won 19 World Cup Downhill races. If she wins a Downhill this week, she will become the fourth woman to win at least 20 World Cup Downhills, joining Lindsey Vonn (43), Annemarie Moser-Proell (36), and Renate Goetschl (AUT, 24).

Goggia came third in both Downhill training sessions held in St. Moritz.

Cornelia Hütter won the 2024 Downhill Crystal Globe, her first World Cup title, ending Goggia’s three-year reign.

Hütter won the first Downhill World Cup of the 2024-2025 season in Beaver Creek. She did not appear on a Downhill podium again until the races at Kvitfjell, where she finished 1st and 3rd.

Her victory in Kvitfjell ensured she has three World Cup wins across all

disciplines in one season, the first time she has achieved that feat.

Hütter narrowly missed out on a Downhill medal at Saalbach 2025, finishing in 4th place.