Cornelia Hutter Wins Downhill Crystal Globe

An Austrian crowd has rarely cheered so loudly when a Swiss skier crossed the finish line, but unfortunately for Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI), the celebrations were for newly crowned World Cup downhill champion Conny Huetter (AUT).

With a storm coming in, there were several course holds and delays on Saturday due to high winds. It was a race to the finish for the downhill Crystal Globe. Austria’s Cornelia Huetter put on a show for the home crowd, finishing first and moving ahead of Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami to walk away with the globe. Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec and Italy’s Nicole Delago each slid across the finish line to round out the podium in second and third, respectively. 

After Huetter took the lead with bib No. 12, Gut-Behrami needed to finish ninth or higher to guarantee the globe. But she crossed the line in 11th to send the crowd into raptures, and ended up 17th.

The Austrian's title was only assured, however, when she withstood later challenges by runner-up Ilka Stuhec (SLO, +0.17s) and third-placed Nicol Delago (ITA, +0.49s), who could have bumped her down the list and restored Gut-Behrami's lead.

But Huetter prevailed to win her first downhill race in over six years and take home her maiden crystal globe after beginning the day 72 points behind Gut-Behrami.

"I'm really speechless," the 31-year-old said. "It's amazing to have a home race with this ending, I never can imagine it."

"I was nervous today and felt as though I was slow. I saw the number one displayed as I crossed the line, so it was a gripping finish. You can see how emotional, exciting and fun racing is. It's unbelievable,“ said a delighted Cornelia Hütter at the finish. "I know that I am still holding back a bit in the Downhill, so I'm very proud that I've managed to achieve this result over the whole season." 

"Cornelia Hütter skied a brilliant race. She has more than earned the Crystal Globe with this superb run. The first, second and fourth places in the Downhill overall ranking show the level we are at in this discipline. Stephanie Venier just missed out on third place, but she had an excellent season. It wasn't quite enough to take the whole podium in the Downhill, but we can handle that," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber.

On a difficult day for racing in soft snow, windy conditions and with two delays, Huetter took control in the technical middle section, overcoming early leader Christina Ager (AUT) to throw down the gauntlet to Gut-Behrami.

"This morning I woke up and I slept so bad, and I woke up and I thought, 'Give your best, it's the last chance today for this season,' and I did it," Huetter said.

Two skiers later, Gut-Behrami struggled in conditions unsuited to her and lost time at every split, ultimately finishing 1.89 seconds behind Huetter and foregoing the chance to add to her overall, super-G and giant slalom season titles.

"Of course when you are in the start you just want to try to give your best and try to win everything you can win," said the Swiss star, who did plenty of winning this season with eight triumphs in three disciplines in a spectacular campaign.

"But in the end I'm really happy about the season — altogether, I can't really complain."

Lost in the drama surrounding Huetter, Gut-Behrami and the crystal globe was that Slovenian veteran Stuhec almost won the race.

As the fourth-last starter in the field, the 33-year-old turned back the clock to lead Huetter at the final intermediate split but took a wide line shortly afterwards and just missed out on what would have been her first win of a difficult season.

"I'm really, really relieved," said Stuhec, who reached her first podium of the campaign. "It hasn't been my best season so far, I was struggling quite a lot. It didn't really come together as it should, so it was quite tough sometimes."

One racer before Stuhec, Delago also threatened to disrupt the celebrations and crossed the line in second place, breaking up the provisional all-Austrian podium, before being bumped to third by Stuhec.

In the end, Delago made the podium by the smallest margin measured in ski racing, one hundredth of a second, over Ager, who enjoyed the best of the conditions with bib No. 2 and set the early pace.

Delago's teammate Federica Brignone (ITA) finished ninth to cap off a stunning season in which she won six races and finished second to Gut-Behrami in the overall, super-G and giant slalom standings.

"Everything was such a gift this year," Brignone said. "I surprised myself this year and I'm really proud."

In her final race, retiring Norwegian great Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) skied cautiously and was the slowest of the finishers in 20th place.

The 31-year-old ends her decorated career with four World Cup wins, including a downhill triumph this season in Cortina d'Ampezzo, and four Olympic and world championship medals.

For the Americans 

Jackie Wiles snagged 13th place at the World Cup Finals downhill on Saturday, March 23, in Saalbach, Austria to close her impressive 2023-24 comeback season.

Wiles landed a career-best second-place finish in the downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy this season, six years after her first and only World Cup podium. After sitting out the 2022-23 season following surgery and rehab of a right knee full patella tendon reconstruction, Wiles’ goal heading into this season was simply “getting back to herself.” Finishing the season ranked 14th in the world in downhill was beyond her expectations.

“I’m psyched to be in the top 15 at the end of the season,” Wiles reflected. "Coming back this year, I had expectations to try and get back to myself, but after being away with injuries, you just never know. I knew that if I skied the best that I could, I could have a great season. So to be able to come out and actually execute this year, get past some fear, and feel confident, I’m really psyched.”

“The most rewarding moment this year was the podium in Cortina,” said Wiles. “I’ve had such a special feeling there, and to have everything come together on a day and have family and friends after so many tough years of injuries and coming back and being able to do that proved a lot to me. It was really special and meant a lot to me.”

Wiles is looking forward to heading into a summer prep period healthy for the first time in a while and to “coming back with a bit even more fierce and fight to me.”

Teammates Mikaela Shiffrin and Lauren Macuga watched the race from the finish, and Shiffrin was joined by Norwegian boyfriend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who was also injured in January. Kilde and the entire team celebrated Shiffrin’s third-place overall finish in the standings at the award presentation following the race. Gut-Behrami was first overall with 1,716 points, while Italy’s Federica Brignone was second with 1,581 points. Despite missing six weeks of competition, Shiffrin still amassed 1,409 points.