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Lindsey Vonn built on her strong start to the Milan Olympics season in Cortina with a third-place finish on Saturday at the World Cup downhill event in Val d'Isere, France, won by Cornelia Hütter.
Vonn has a hat-trick of podium finishes – a win, a second place and now a third – in the first three World Cup downhill races over nine days of racing in Switzerland and France.
Racing just behind Vonn, Hütter was consistently slightly faster after the first split and reached 126 km/h (78 mph). She finished 0.26 seconds ahead of Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and 0.35 seconds ahead of the 41-year-old US star.
Val Grenier of St. Isidore, Ont., was the top Canadian athlete, finishing in 24th place.
Vonn increased her points lead in the World Cup downhill standings throughout the season.
Hütter's big threat on a cloudy day with poor visibility on the 2.8-kilometer (1 3/4-mile) OK circuit was 2018 Olympic champion Sofia Goggia.
Cornelia Hutter of Austria captures the women's World Cup downhill race in Val d'Isere, France.
Goggia, wearing the starting jersey number 14, was fastest at halfway and then had to stand almost straight to correct her balance on the exit of the corner. She was pushed into the rougher snow to reach the next gate.
Goggia finished 0.62 behind Hütter and shook her head at the finish. She ended up in eighth place.
Vonn also looked a little upset to see herself trailing previous leader Weidle-Winkelmann and spread her arms wide. She later congratulated Hütter with a smile and a hug as the 33-year-old Austrian was in the field leader's penalty area.
Hütter now has five downhill victories out of 10 career World Cup wins and won the season title in 2024. She should be a medal contender in the Olympic downhill competition scheduled for February 8 in legendary Cortina d'Ampezzo.
She has placed fourth in the downhill at each of the two world championships held since the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she finished seventh.
1:43.65 was Grenier's time at Saturday's World Cup downhill race in Val d'Isere, France, giving the Saint-Isidore, Ontario native a twenty-fourth-place finish.
Vonn's return last year after nearly six seasons in retirement was aimed at the Cortina Winter Games in Milan, which would be her fifth Olympics. She took gold in 2010 in Vancouver and bronze behind Goji at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics in South Korea.
Val d'Isere hosts a super-G on Sunday, a week after Vonn finished fourth in the event in St Moritz, won by New Zealand's Alice Robinson.
