The women's downhill in the 2025 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup consisted of six events, including the final. A seventh scheduled downhill at La Thuile in mid-March was cancelled due to excessive snowfall, which forced both training runs to be cancelled, thus preventing the race from taking place, and then the downhill at finals was cancelled due to fresh snowfall and high winds. After the elimination of the two downhills scheduled in November on the "Gran Becca" course on the Matterhorn from the 2025 schedule, the first race of the season in this discipline did not take place on 14 December in Beaver Creek, Colorado, United States. Italy's Federica Brignone not only won her first downhill during the season but (with the two season-ending cancellations) defeated defending champion Conny Hütter of Austria and her countrywoman (and four-time discipline champion) Sofia Goggia to win her first crystal globe in the discipline this season (to go along with the overall championship, which she had already clinched).
The season was interrupted for the Alpine Skiing World Championships, this time in Saalbach, Austria during 4–16 February 2025. The championship in women's downhill took place on Saturday, 8 February, and was won by American Breezy Johnson, who had returned from a suspension in December 2024 but was only ranked tenth so far this season.
Season summary The first downhill of the 2025 season was held on the very steep Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek, Colorado, United States, the first time the women World Cup racers had ever held a competitive event on the course (although the men have been running the course for decades), and defending discipline champion Cornelia Hütter of Austria (who commented, "I've never skied that steep before.") edged past both Sofia Goggia of Italy, the four-time discipline champion in her first race back from a season-ending injury in February, and defending overall champion Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland. The next downhill, one month later in St Anton, Austria, produced several surprises: a victory by Federica Brignone, at 34 the oldest winner ever on the women's World Cup circuit, winning her 30th World Cup race and her first downhill ever; a second place by rising Swiss star Malorie Blanc in her second-ever World Cup race; and a sixth place by 40-year-old Lindsey Vonn, an 8-time downhill discipline champion now returning to the circuit after six years in retirement and a complete knee replacement with titanium. Goggia returned to the winner's circle back in her home country in the next race at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, with her countrywoman Brignone, who finished third, taking over both the lead in the discipline and the overall lead.
In the last downhill before the World Championships, Brignone won the downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany by 1/100 of a second over Goggia, enabling her to expand her lead in the discipline over Goggia to 29 points, with defending champion Hütter 81 points back. But in the World Championships, American Breezy Johnson, who had never won a World Cup race despite seven top-three finishes, surprisingly turned in the winning time as the first skier on the course. In the first of two downhills at Kvitfjell after the worlds, Hütter recovered from failing to podium before home fans at Saalbach and won her second downhill of the season, edging out (by .05 seconds) Germany's Emma Aicher, a 21-year-old all-events skier reaching her first World Cup podium ever, with Johnson third for her first World Cup podium of the season. In the second race, Aicher edged out 22-year-old American Lauren Macuga by .03 seconds for her first World Cup win, with Hütter finishing third and closing to 16 points behind Brignone for the season lead (with Goggia another 18 points back and two races to go). The snowout at La Thuile then delayed the three-woman showdown for the discipline championship until finals.
Finals The World Cup finals in the discipline were scheduled to take place on Saturday, 22 March 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho, United States. Only the top 25 skiers in the World Cup slalom discipline and the winner of the Junior World Championship in the discipline (Stefanie Grob of Switzerland), plus any skiers who have scored at least 500 points in the World Cup overall classification for the season, were eligible to compete in the final, and only the top 15 would earn World Cup points. This season, there was a tie for 25th place, so both were permitted to enter. The only entry to utilize the 500+-point scoring rule was Alice Robinson of New Zealand, and two eligible skiers -- Grob and Ester Ledecká of Czechia -- did not enter due to scheduling conflicts, thus creating a field with 26 entries for finals. After the second training run, two more skiers (Michelle Gisin of Switzerland and Stephanie Venier of Austria) withdrew due to injury, reducing the field further to 24. However, a combination of fresh snow in the morning and high winds in the early afternoon forced the downhill finals to be cancelled, thus handing the discipline crown to current leader Brignone.
Standings VenueWC #SkierTotal Federica Brignone 2910060100⑩4550 x x3842 Cornelia Hütter100364032④10060 x x3683 Sofia Goggia80DNF10080⑯5040 x x3504 Lauren Macuga 50291540⑤1680 x x2305 Lara Gut-Behrami60205045DNF2232 x x2296 Laura Pirovano 24502426⑬4045 x x2097 Breezy Johnson2024950①6026 x x1898 Ester Ledecká406032DNS③2922 x DNS1839 Emma Aicher 0DNF0DNS⑥80100 x x18010 Corinne Suter 10164560⑦1829 x x17811 Kajsa Vickhoff Lie22188022⑭1511 x x16812 Ilka Štuhec 2614299⑪3620 x x13413 Jacqueline Wiles2DNF3624DNF3218 x x11214 Mirjam Puchner 16132615②2413 x x10715 Ariane Rädler8261836⑰135 x x10616 Stephanie Venier14452211⑨5DNS x DNS9717 Kira Weidle-Winkelmann DNS221429⑫26DNF x x9118 Malorie BlancDNS807DNS⑲20 x x8919 Lindsey VonnDNS4011DNF⑮2015 x x8620 Marte Monsen68014⑰1136 x x7521 Marta Bassino 36DNS1322DNS00 x x7122 Michelle Gisin 3210014DNS46 x DNS6623 Nicol Delago 03818⑧1414 x x5724 Laura Gauché 3152210⑳05 x x5525 Nadia Delago 42012DNS1224 x x54 Christina Ager117167DNS310 x x5427 Ricarda Haaser4562DNFDNS x NE5328 Priska Ming-Nufer 18DSQ18㉑716 x NE5029 Elena Curtoni712DNF16DNS92 x NE4630 Nina Ortlieb9324DNFDNS x NE4531 Romane Miradoli 12956㉓13 x NE36 Delia Durrer10123DNS119 x NE3633 Magdalena EggerDNS065DNS013 x NE2434 Janine Schmitt DNS1200DNS08 x NE2035 Nadine Fest DNS5DNS0DNS68 x NE1936 Jasmina Suter 1500DNS x NE1537 Roberta Melesi13DNF00DNS0DNS x NE1338 Valérie GrenierDNS010DNS00 x NE1039 Isabella Wright000DNFDNS8DNF x NE840 Elvedina Muzaferija 6000㉓00 x NE6410400㉒00 x NE4 Alice Robinson DNS0DNS4DNS0DNS x x443 Keely Cashman 0030DNSDNF0 x NE344 Vicky Bernardi 0002DNS00 x NE245 Sara Thaler01DNFDNS x NE1 Joana Hählen DNF0DNF1DNS0DNS x NE1 Haley Cutler0000DNS01 x NE1References
Legend
DNF = Did not finish DSQ = Disqualified
See also 2025 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women's summary rankings 2025 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women's overall 2025 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women's super-G 2025 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women's giant slalom 2025 Alpine Skiing World Cup – Women's slalom World Cup scoring system
References
External links Alpine Skiing at FIS website