Lindsey Vonn loses lead in World Cup downhill standings as Laura Pirovano wins by 0.01 again
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VAL DI FASSA, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn finally lost her lead in the World Cup downhill standings Saturday when Laura Pirovano won by the smallest margin of 0.01 seconds on back-to-back days.
Vonn was the standout downhill racer through January but her season-ending crash at the Olympics last month left her too few World Cup points in hand with four races left in her favored event.
Pirovano is now the surprise standings leader because of a stunning and career-defining weekend on home snow in the Dolomites.
“This is a crazy sport,” said the 28-year-old Italian, who had never finished on the podium in 124 career World Cup races — until her win Friday.
Pirovano followed up Saturday by edging inside Cornelia Huetter’s time. Minutes later, the 2022 Olympics downhill champion Corinne Suter raced into third, 0.05 outside Pirovano’s time having led for most of her run and touched close to 133 kph (83 mph).
They pushed the early leader Breezy Johnson, the Olympic and world champion in downhill, down to fourth, trailing Pirovano by 0.64.
“I’ve always been not so lucky but I think yesterday and today I’m done with luck,” Pirovano said about her consecutive wins by the minimum margin.
She was a popular winner, with Huetter saying: “I know I have to be happy. And I’m also super happy for Lolly (Laura).”
Pirovano’s 100 race points lifted her atop the downhill standings, 36 ahead of Vonn who was pursuing a remarkable ninth career season-long downhill title at age 41. Emma Aicher is in second place with one race left, on March 21 at Kvitfjell, Norway.
Aicher placed in a tie for 12th, trailing Pirovano by 1.06. She had been runner-up Friday.
That unexpected result for Aicher also was good for Mikaela Shiffrin, whose lead in the overall World Cup standings has been cut back because she no longer races in downhill.
Shiffrin’s lead over Aicher in the overall standings is still 117 points ahead of a super-G scheduled Sunday that the United States star could start.
The women’s World Cup season now has seven scheduled races left as Shiffrin chases a sixth career overall title, and her first for three years.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing