Italian Federica Brignone won the women’s World Cup downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday with comeback queen Lindsey Vonn failing to finish.
Brignone defeated her fellow Italian Sofia Goggia, who suffered a dislocated shoulder during her run, by just one hundredths of a second.
The veteran Brignone, who celebrated the first downhill victory of her career last week, finished in one minute and 35.83 seconds to narrowly deny Goggia.
Switzerland’s Corinne Suter finished 0.19 seconds back in third.
The race was overshadowed by Nina Ortlieb’s horrific high speed crash, with the Austrian screaming in pain before being helicoptered off the course.
The Austrian Ski Federation later announced: “Unfortunately suspicions of a serious injury are confirmed with the x-ray test detecting a lower right leg fracture”.
Brignone, who finished third behind Goggia in the downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo last Saturday, overcame slow times in training this week to triumph in Germany.
“I tried everything and did well today. In training I didn’t do each split well, but today I put the pieces of the puzzle together,” she told Germany’s ZDF network.
“I didn’t think I’d be in first today. There’s no secret recipe. I’ve trained a lot with my brother in these conditions, on the long curves. It’s five years of training and I’m very happy.”
The 34-year-old credited her “mental strength” for the victory and said she was “ready” for the upcoming World Championships, but was first focused on Sunday’s Super-G.
The 32-year-old Goggia revealed after the race she dislocated her shoulder.
“I wasn’t in the position to push for more speed because of my right shoulder” the 2018 Olympic downhill champion said.
Goggia is returning from injuries sustained from a crash in training in 2024 and said she was not yet back at 100 percent.
"(The shoulder) isn’t very stable. It happens to me all the time when I lose muscle mass.”
- Vonn eyes next season -
Vonn, returning to one of her favourite pistes where she has celebrated nine of her 82 World Cup victories, lost her footing midway through the race while taking a turn and skied out with seven gates remaining.
She did not finish for the second race in a row after her crash in last Sunday’s super-G at Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The 40-year-old retired in 2019 but announced a surprise comeback this year and is racing with a titanium knee.
After initially impressing on her comeback with fourth and sixth placings in St Anton, Vonn finished 20th in the downhill at Cortina -- the site of next year’s Winter Olympics -- and was unable to add to her tally of five downhill victories in Garmisch.
“I got hit at the wrong moment but that’s how it is. Maybe I would have had a chance to fight, but for me it was too much of a risk,” Vonn told reporters.
“I made a mistake. It can happen. I wasn’t as fast as I wanted, but I have to stay patient.”
Vonn was upbeat, saying she was ahead of schedule and had her sights set on next year and the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“I’m having fun and enjoying my time. My goal is really next season.
“This season is much more than I thought. My first downhill in St Anton was certainly much faster than I thought.”
