Hütter wins first women’s World Cup downhill on Birds of Prey course

Cornelia Hütter killed two birds with one stone Saturday in Beaver Creek. The Austrian skier began her downhill discipline title defense with a victory, etching her name into the history books in the process as the winner of the first women’s World Cup downhill held on the Birds of Prey slope.

“It’s unbelievable and it’s such an honor to be in the first position,” Hütter said after claiming her seventh-career World Cup win. “I’m really satisfied with it.”

Hütter gained speed throughout the 705-meter drop, coming into Red Tail Stadium in 1 minute, 32.38 seconds. Sofia Goggia — competing in her first race since suffering multiple fractures during a giant slalom training run last February — finished 0.16 seconds back and Lara Gut-Behrami rounded out the podium in third.

“I know it’s a comeback race, but it feels like it’s not a comeback race,” Goggia said. “This is my job, this is my passion, it’s a lot of years I’m doing these and today I felt like I never left for the injury.”

Goggia trademark tight lines and aggressive nature played well on the Birds of Prey course, particularly in the lower sections: the four-time downhill title winner posted the second best third sector and the fastest fourth.

Support Local Journalism

Donate

Gut-Behrami followed her example, riding a sharp angle into the Talon turn and making up ground going into Pete’s Arena. Clean on her edges, the defending overall, GS and super-G globe winner built a 0.26 lead on the Italian by the halfway point. But the Swiss star wasn’t able to carry her speed across the flat coming into Golden Eagle, the crux of the course for everyone throughout the day.

“I lost a lot of speed and a lot of time down there,” she said. “I’m a little bit disappointed about that but in the end I’m also happy to be on the podium in the first downhill.”

Goggia wasn’t able to get too comfortable in the leader’s chair, however, as Hütter stepped on the gas in all the critical sections. The 32-year-old stood on her left ski into The Brink and applied her super-G skills to ride a clean edge through Pete’s Arena, gaining a 0.21-second lead by the second time check. She still saw green through the middle of the slope, but was only clinging to a 0.05-second advantage coming off Golden Eagle.

“I think the steep part was not that solid skiing, but I was only racing and try to push my skis as hard as I can,” Hütter said. “Before Golden Eagle I said to myself, ‘ok you have now the right line.’ … I think that was key.”

Macuga leads Americans with career-best performance

Lauren Macuga delighted the partisan crowd with a career-best fourth place finish, rocketing into Red Tail just 0.52 seconds off of Hütter’s mark.

“Couldn’t be happier. I want more obviously, but I don’t think today I could have asked for more,” said the 22-year-old Park City native, who has sisters on the U.S. moguls and ski jumping teams and a brother coming through the Alpine ranks.

Macuga is coming off a breakout 2023-2024 season that saw her claim three top-10 finishes, albeit in super-G. She said finishing second in Friday’s training run, which began at a lower start, gave her confidence she could find speed at the bottom of the full course. Throughout Saturday’s race, she said her primary focus was getting over her outside ski.

“Coming over The Brink, I knew I needed to get more room there and I was able to do that,” she said. “And I think it set me up really nicely coming into the pitch.”

Despite coming into the Talon turn “a little tight,” Macuga recovered, arching together a series of beautifully connected turns.

“I think it made the difference down on Russi’s (Ride) coming into Screech Owl,” Macuga continued. “I got a little late there but let it run out and just kind of connected skiing there to try to take as much speed as I could into the bottom.”

The American flew into Red Tail Stadium at 130.97 kilometers per hour, the top speed of any skier. When she arrived at the finish, she also received the loudest applause.

“It’s fantastic,” she said of racing in the U.S. “To come down to a home crowd — in Europe there are some U.S. fans there — but to come down and have (them) cheering for you is such a nice feeling.”

Hütter also praised the American crowd’s electric energy.

“I like racing here,” she said before adding that the surface delivered, too. “It’s the hero snow. You have to ski with all your feelings.”

After more than two decades of men’s World Cup events, the women finally got their chance on the famed Beaver Creek downhill course.

“I think it was one good step forward,” Hütter said. “And I think we showed the whole world that we can race Birds of Prey.”