American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn continued her remarkable comeback season with a third-place finish in the women’s World Cup downhill at Val d’Isère on Saturday, marking her third straight podium in the discipline.
Austria’s Cornelia Hütter claimed victory with a time of 1:41.54, securing her 10th career World Cup win. Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann took second, 0.26 seconds behind, while Vonn crossed the line in 1:41.89, just 0.35 seconds off the pace for bronze.
The 41-year-old Vonn, racing in her final season before a planned retirement after the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, admitted to a costly mistake that prevented her from challenging for the win. “I skied out of the blue line a bit and lost some time,” she said post-race. Despite the error, Vonn extended her lead in the downhill standings to 240 points.
This result caps a dominant start to the speed season for Vonn, who won the opening downhill in St. Moritz last weekend—becoming the oldest skier ever to win a World Cup race—and followed it with a second-place finish the next day.2398a5
Lindsey Vonn secures third-straight World Cup downhill podium in …
Italy’s Sofia Goggia, a pre-race favorite and the 2018 Olympic downhill champion, led at the midway point but faltered with a balance error, finishing eighth.
Vonn’s podium is her 141st career World Cup top-three finish and her 10th at the demanding OK course in Val d’Isère, where she has seven prior victories.
The World Cup weekend in Val d’Isère concludes Sunday with a super-G, where Vonn will aim to build on her momentum ahead of the Olympics in February.
