In a heart-stopping women’s World Cup downhill on Friday, Italy’s Laura Pirovano delivered the breakthrough moment of her career, claiming her maiden victory by the narrowest margin possible — just 0.01 seconds — on home snow.
The 28-year-old Pirovano, who had never before reached a World Cup podium in 125 starts, mastered the fast and demanding La VolatA course under perfect sunny conditions, hitting speeds over 130 km/h (81 mph) to edge out Germany’s Emma Aicher. Olympic champion Breezy Johnson (USA) rounded out the podium in third.
Pirovano’s emotional triumph not only thrilled the Italian crowd but also shook up the season standings dramatically.
With superstar Lindsey Vonn sidelined after a devastating knee injury at last month’s Milan-Cortina Olympics — which ended her remarkable comeback season at age 41 — Aicher seized the opportunity. The Olympic downhill silver medalist grabbed 80 crucial points with her runner-up finish, slashing Vonn’s lead in the downhill discipline to a mere 14 points with just two races remaining.
The drama doesn’t stop there: Aicher’s strong showing also chipped away at Mikaela Shiffrin’s advantage in the overall World Cup standings, reducing the American icon’s lead to 139 points heading into Saturday’s downhill and a potential super-G on Sunday. Shiffrin, chasing a sixth career overall crystal globe title, has built her points exclusively in technical events (slalom and giant slalom) so far this season — making any late speed-discipline surge a game-changer.
Friday’s race served as a rescheduled event from Crans-Montana, abandoned after Vonn’s crash five weeks ago that tore her left ACL.
Pirovano, known for her consistency with multiple top-10 finishes this season and a sixth-place Olympic downhill result in nearby Cortina d’Ampezzo, rocketed to third in the downhill standings — now 50 points behind Aicher and 64 behind Vonn.
Meanwhile, former Olympic champions struggled on the lower section of the 2.3-km track: 2022 gold medalist Corinne Suter (SUI) finished eighth (+0.49), while 2018 champion Sofia Goggia (ITA) placed 17th (+0.90).
With the crystal globe races heating up and only eight events left overall, the women’s World Cup has rarely felt this wide open — or this exciting.
(Originally reported by The Associated Press)
