Brignone’s great redemption: first victory in the downhill!

Federica Brignone is one of the most successful athletes in skiing history. She had won an incredible 29 World Cup races to date, but not a single downhill race. That was about to change on this Saturday on a historic day in St. Anton am Arlberg.

11 January 2025

From: fop

In glorious sunshine in the North Tyrolean winter sports stronghold, Brignone broke the spell. At 34 years old and with 345 World Cup races under her belt, she crowned herself the downhill winner for the first time. She had previously been on the podium in this discipline seven times, but never on the top step.

Brignone had already underlined her ambitions on Thursday with a surprising best time in training, and now she got serious in the race and conjured up a truly fabulous time in the fresh snow on the Arlberg. There was great amazement at the finish. As a result, all of her competitors found her hard to beat.

Malorie Blanc sensationally made it onto the podium in her second World Cup race. © APA / EXPA/JOHANN GRODER

The most dangerous competitor for Brignone was the sensationally strong Swiss rider Malorie Blanc, who raced to second place with the high starting number 46. In the end, she was only seven hundredths behind. In only her second World Cup race, the 21-year-old relegated the Czech Ester Ledecka (+ 18 hundredths) to third place and pushed Laura Pirovano (+43 hundredths) off the podium. It would have been the Trentino native's first top-3 placing.

Vonn approaches the top

Brignone was delighted at the finish with her 30th World Cup victory and her 72nd podium finish. In the meantime, the Italian victory was threatened by Lindsey Vonn, who recklessly threw herself down the downhill slope. In sixth place, she made it into the top ten for the first time since her big comeback. The 40-year-old American showed that she is a force to be reckoned with from now on!

Lindsey Vonn gave free rein to her joy. © APA / BARBARA GINDL

This time, Sofia Goggia was in the shadow of Brignone and Pirovano. She showed a strong run, but then slipped on her inside ski in a left turn and slid along the safety net.

Goggia falls, Thaler scores

Unlike Goggia, Nicol Delago She did manage to finish, but as 28th she was once again denied a top ranking. She chose a good line, but was clearly lacking in speed compared to the top riders. The rider who had a serious fall in Beaver Creek Nadia Delago finished in 29th place, just one hundredth of a second behind her older sister. Behind her, the 20-year-old from Val Gardena Sarah Thaler in 30th place for the second time in her career. These remained Vicki Bernardi (39.) denied.

The World Cup programme at Arlberg will start on Sunday (from 11.15:XNUMX am in the SportNews ticker) with a Super-G.