Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Until the beginning of March, Laura Pirovano had never been on a World Cup podium in 124 races.
On Saturday, the Italian earned her third downhill victory and secured the discipline title, a prize Lindsey Vonn was favourite to win until getting injured at the Olympics and ending her season prematurely.
“It’s not possible, it’s crazy,” the 28-year-old Pirovano said. “I have a lot of emotion, I still can’t understand everything. I am just beyond happy.”
Pirovano’s only remaining challenger for the title, Emma Aicher, finished fifth, as the German skier reduced the gap to leader Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall standings to 95 points with three races remaining.
Shiffrin has not raced in downhill since her crash in a World Cup race on the Olympic course in Cortina d’Ampezzo in January 2024, but the American was expected to start in Sunday’s super-G.
Pirovano completed her stunning downhill season by denying Olympic and world downhill champion Breezy Johnson what would have been the American’s first-ever triumph on the World Cup.
Pirovano beat Johnson by 0.15 seconds, with Aicher’s German teammate Kira Weidle-Winkelmann finishing 0.25 behind in third at the World Cup finals in Kvitjfell, Norway.
The Italian skier topped the field with a time of 1:30.85 for her third victory of the season. With the win, Pirovano claimed the downhill Crystal Globe, the FIS World Cup season points title.
“I knew the race would have been really difficult so I felt honestly not so good,” Pirovano said in a course-side interview.
“I was afraid to watch the times when I crossed the finish line and I was so surprised to see the green light. Everything is still unbelievable.”
The Italian had racked up four fourth places but never better until getting back-to-back wins, both by the smallest margin of one-hundredth of a second, on home snow in Val di Fassa two weeks ago.
Pirovano said she had no explanation for her sudden and repeated success this month.
“I don’t know, truly. Skiing the other races of the season, the feeling was the same. I don’t know what’s happening, honestly,” she said.
Watch the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup women’s downhill season finale from Lillehammer, Norway.
Those results saw her overtake Vonn in the discipline standings.
In her second year back after her initial retirement in 2019, the 41-year-old Vonn dominated the first half of the season with two wins and three more podiums from the first five downhills.
Taking a commanding lead in the downhill standings and positioning herself for what would be a record-equaling ninth discipline title, Vonn then wasn’t able to add to her season tally in the last four races of the season.
She first crashed and tore her left ACL in the last downhill before the Milano-Cortina Games — a race that was then cancelled — before badly damaging her left leg in a frightening crash at the Olympic downhill a week later, leaving her future in the sport undecided.
On Saturday, the women used the same course as the men for their downhill but started lower down the mountain, reducing run times by around 15 seconds.
Dominik Paris won the men’s race as Italy opened the World Cup finals with two victories.
Watch live coverage of the World Cup finals on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem, continuing with the women’s super-G on Sunday at 5:45 a.m. ET. The full live streaming schedule is available here.
Source link
