Lindsey Vonn placed sixth in her first downhill World Cup in six years and her second World Cup race overall since retiring this season at age 40.
Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist, finished 58-hundredths of a second behind Italy’s Federica Brignone.
Brignone, 34, broke Vonn’s record as the oldest woman to win a downhill World Cup.
Brignone won by seven hundredths of a second over Switzerland’s Malorie Blanc (from number 46 in the second race of her World Cup career). She was followed by the Czech Ester Ledecka (18 hundredths away), the Italian Laura Pirovano (43 hundredths) and the Austrian Stephanie Venier (51 hundredths).
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As Vonn skied to fifth place, she raised her arms and waved them repeatedly with exuberance. Later, Blanc knocked her down a spot.
Vonn improved on her 14th place finish in her first World Cup race on December 21 (a super-G). She is the oldest woman on record to finish in the top 30 of a World Cup.
Like the Dec. 21 race, Vonn had a handicap and late number of 32 on Saturday. Normally, the slopes deteriorate after so many skiers. Vonn must accumulate good results to move up the starting order on her return.
She races again Sunday in a super-G at St. Anton at 5:15 a.m. ET, live Peacock.
Vonn said a goal is to hold a fifth Olympics at the Milan Cortina 2026 Games. Cortina will host a downhill and super G World Cup next weekend.
Vonn has the most World Cup wins in Cortina of any alpine skier: 12.
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Brignone, 34, earned his first downhill World Cup win after 29 previous wins across superG, giant slalom and combined.
Vonn has a record of 43 downhill World Cup wins, the last coming in March 2018 at age 33. Until Saturday, she was the only woman aged 33 or older to win a downhill World Cup.
Brignone again broke her own record as the oldest woman to win an Alpine World Cup race in any discipline. Twenty of his 30 titles have come since he turned 29.
Brignone is also the oldest woman to win an Olympic medal in combined (bronze, 2022) and GS (silver, 2022) and the oldest female world champion in any individual alpine event (combined, 2023).
About his age records, Brignone said: “I hope you can repeat it, once again, maybe in another discipline.”
Brignone’s last win in downhill at any level was at the 2010 Italian Junior Championships, according to his International Ski and Snowboard Federation profile.
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