Pirovano Claims Second Consecutive Downhill Victory

Pirovano wins Downhill Double in Val di Fassa

Laura Pirovano edges Cornelia Huetter to secure back-to-back World Cup downhill wins, overtaking Lindsey Vonn in the standings.

Italian skier Laura Pirovano wins her second downhill in a row in Val di Fassa, moving top of the World Cup standings...

Laura Pirovano dined on success in Val di Fassa, securing a stunning World Cup downhill double on home soil and drowning injured American Alpine ski great Lindsey Vonn's title hopes. Pirovano edged out Austria's Cornelia Huetter by a razor-thin 0.01 seconds, claiming her second win in as many days.

Vonn, 41, had dominated the discipline since the start of the season, bagging two wins and five podiums from five races. However, her season-ending leg break at the Milano Cortina Olympics last month left her with too few points to clove to the lead. Pirovano now tops the downhill standings with 436 points, 36 ahead of Vonn's pre-injury tally of 400.

Pirovano edged out Austria's Cornelia Huetter by the slimmest of margins on Saturday to claim her second consecutive downhill win in Val di Fassa, following up her career-first World Cup victory on Friday. The 28-year-old crossed the line 0.01 seconds faster than Huetter, with Switzerland's Corinne Suter a further 0.04 seconds back in third.

Pirovano now leads the standings with 436 points, ahead of Germany's Emma Aicher on 408, with one downhill left to run in Norway on March 21. Aicher finished 12th on Saturday.

“It's even more incredible than yesterday. I can't take it in. It's all surreal,” said Pirovano, whose 0.01 advantage translated into about ⁠28cm on the piste.

“The margin of one hundredth, twice in a row. I think it's payback for all those times the hundredths went against me.”

Vonn's pre-injury points tally of 400 kept her in contention, with Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (351), Huetter (344), and world and Olympic champion Breezy Johnson (333) all still in the mix. Johnson finished fourth on Saturday.

“Winning the title was my goal... and I came painfully close to achieving it,” Vonn said in an Instagram post before the race. 

“I clawed my way back to number one in the world after being retired for six years with a partial knee replacement and that alone was an incredible achievement I won't ever forget.

“Even ‌though in a few days no-one will remember that I almost won the season title, I will remember...I just ‌wish I had a chance to fight until the end to try and get it.”

LAURA PIROVANO L’HA FATTO ANCORA! 👏🌟

L'azzurra, che non era mai salita sul podio nel massimo circuito, fa doppietta in due giorni consecutivi. Dopo aver battuto per un centesimo Emma Aicher nella giornata di venerdì 6 marzo, è arrivato un altro successo - con lo stesso… pic.twitter.com/Z2us8iB1Fz

— Eurosport IT (@Eurosport_IT) March 7, 2026

Mikaela Shiffrin, the American Olympic slalom champion and most successful World Cup skier, is holding strong at the top of the overall World Cup standings with 1,133 points. She's not competing in downhill, but her consistent performance in other events has kept her ahead of all-rounder Emma Aicher, who's trailing by 117 points with 1,016 points.

The women's competition will continue with a super-G event on Sunday.