Pirovano completes World Cup downhill coup; Aicher trims Shiffrin’s overall lead to 95 points

KVITFJELL, Norway — Laura Pirovano capped one of the most improbable runs in alpine skiing history on Saturday, earning her third consecutive downhill victory and clinching the World Cup discipline title after entering March without a single podium in 124 career starts.

The 28-year-old Italian edged Olympic and world champion Breezy Johnson by 0.15 seconds on the Kvitfjell course, with Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann taking third, 0.25 back. The result denied Johnson a maiden World Cup triumph and sealed a crystal globe that had appeared destined for Lindsey Vonn before the American’s season-ending injuries.

“It’s not possible, it’s crazy,” Pirovano said. “I have a lot of emotion, I still can’t understand everything. I am just beyond happy.”

Pirovano’s surge began two weeks ago on home snow in Val di Fassa, where she posted back-to-back wins by the slimmest possible margin of one-hundredth of a second. Those results propelled her past Vonn in the standings and set up Saturday’s winner-take-all showdown.

Emma Aicher, the only racer who could still overtake Pirovano, finished fifth, enough to trim Mikaela Shiffrin’s overall World Cup lead to 95 points with three races remaining. Shiffrin, who has not started a downhill since her January 2024 crash in Cortina d’Ampezzo, is expected to return in Sunday’s super-G.

The women’s downhill used the same Kvitfjell slope as the men but from a lower start, cutting run times by roughly 15 seconds. Dominik Paris had claimed the men’s race earlier in the day, giving Italy a sweep of the opening finals events.

Vonn, 41, had dominated the season’s first half with two victories and three additional podiums in the opening five downhills. A torn ACL sustained in a pre-Olympic crash and a subsequent leg injury in the Olympic race brought her campaign to an abrupt halt, leaving her pursuit of a record-equaling ninth discipline title unfinished.

Pirovano, still absorbing her whirlwind success, offered no secret formula for the turnaround. “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.”

With the downhill crystal globe decided, attention shifts to the remaining technical events and the fight for the overall crown, where Aicher’s late charge has set up a tense finale.