Lillehammer (Norway) (AFP) – Italy’s Laura Pirovano claimed the women’s downhill World Cup title with victory in Lillehammer on Saturday, as Emma Aicher closed the gap on leader Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall standings. The 28-year-old Pirovano had never even finished on a World Cup podium until earlier this month. But her third successive downhill win, beating Breezy Johnson by 0.15 seconds, delivered the crystal globe in a discipline which was dominated earlier this season by Lindsey Vonn before injuries struck the American great. Pirovano ends the campaign 83 downhill points clear of second-placed Aicher.
“It’s more than a dream,” said Pirovano. “I didn’t even dream about it, it was something too big. To win a World Cup race yes, but to win this baby here, no, it was too much for me and that’s why it was unbelievable.” Kira Weidle-Winkelmann rounded off the podium ahead of Ariane Raedler and Aicher, who kept her hopes of a remarkable overall triumph alive. The 22-year-old German, the revelation of the season, was 0.37 seconds slower than Pirovano in fifth. She will head into the last three races of the season in Norway 95 points behind five-time overall champion Shiffrin, who is eyeing her first big crystal globe since 2023.
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“Of course, like you said, the season has been pretty good,” Aicher said. “The skiing is great, so just got to learn from this.” Weidle-Winkelmann needed her first-ever World Cup win to have any chance of snatching the downhill globe and she set the early pace in bib number six. She was knocked out of top spot, though, by Olympic gold medallist Johnson, before all eyes turned to Aicher.
The all-rounder, who will race every discipline in Lillehammer in her bid to overhaul Shiffrin, could not post her 10th podium of the season despite gaining time on Johnson in the closing sectors. But Aicher did manage to accrue what could prove to be a crucial 45 points on Shiffrin in the overall standings ahead of Sunday’s super-G. Shiffrin may compete in that race, but in her two previous super-Gs this season she came 23rd at Val di Fassa and failed to finish in St Moritz.
Pirovano took to the piste knowing she would seal the downhill title if she beat Aicher’s time. She did even better, taking the race lead with a daring run to cap a remarkable finish to the campaign with a third straight downhill victory after her double success at Val di Fassa earlier this month.
© 2024 AFP
