PREVIEW LADIES' DOWNHILL – Saturday 23 Feb 2019 Siebenhofer, Schmidhofer and Venier • Austrian women have won five of the six ladies' downhill events this World Cup season: Nicole Schmidhofer won both events in Lake Louise in December, Ramona Siebenhofer both events in Cortina d'Ampezzo in January and most recently Stephanie Venier in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 27 January. • This century, only one country won at least six ladies' downhill events in a single World Cup season: United States in 2009/10 (6, all by Lindsey Vonn). • Austria could win six ladies' downhill races in a World Cup season for the first time since 1998/99 (6). • Austria could win four consecutive ladies' downhill World Cup races for the first time since December 2002 to March 2003. • Siebenhofer and Schmidhofer could both become the first Austrian woman to win three World Cup downhill events in one season since Renate Götschl in 2006/07. • Austrian women have claimed seven podium finishes in ladies' downhill World Cup races in Crans-Montana, including three victories, more than any other country. • The last ladies' downhill World Cup race in Crans Montana on 2 March 2014 had a 1-2 finish for Austria as Andrea Fischbacher won ahead of Anna Veith. Ilka Štuhec • Ilka Štuhec is the only non-Austrian skier to win a ladies' downhill event this World Cup season, in Val Gardena on 18 December. • In Åre on 10 February, Štuhec won her second world title in the ladies' downhill, after 2017. She was the first skier to successfully defend the world title in the ladies' downhill since Maria Walliser in 1987-1989. • In 2017, Štuhec finished in third place in the first World Cup downhill event after the world championships. She finished behind Sofia Goggia (first) and Lindsey Vonn (second) in Jeongseon on 4 March 2017. • The last skier to win the first ladies' downhill World Cup event after winning the downhill world title was Renate Götschl in February 1999. • Štuhec has won a total of five ladies' downhill races in the World Cup. Among active female skiers, only Lara Gut-Behrami (7) has won more downhill races. • Štuhec (9) could become the second skier (male/female) representing Slovenia to claim 10 World Cup victories in all disciplines, after Tina Maze (26). Information provided by Other contenders • In Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 27 January, reigning Olympic champion in the downhill Sofia Goggia made her first appearance in a World Cup downhill event this season. She finished in second place behind Stephanie Venier. • Goggia has finished on the podium in six of the last seven World Cup downhill races in which she participated, including a second place in each of the last four. • Goggia (24) could become the fourth Italian woman to claim 25 World Cup podium finishes in all disciplines, after Isolde Kostner (51), Deborah Compagnoni (44) and Federica Brignone (26). • Kira Weidle has finished on the podium of a ladies' World Cup downhill twice this season, third in Lake Louise and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. • The last German woman to win a downhill race in the World Cup was Maria Höfl-Riesch in Cortina d'Ampezzo on 24 January 2014. • Corinne Suter finished in second place in the ladies' downhill at the 2019 world championships. Suter has never finished on the podium of a World Cup race (any discipline). • The last Swiss woman to win a downhill race in the World Cup was Lara Gut-Behrami in Cortina d'Ampezzo on 28 January 2017. • No currently active skier has won a ladies' downhill World Cup race in Crans-Montana. Gut-Behrami is the last Swiss skier to win a World Cup downhill race on home snow when she won in St. Moritz on 24 January 2015. International Ski Federation www.fis-ski.com Gracenote Sports on Twitter @GracenoteGold Information provided by .