Štuhec's victory came as no surprise, as the 26-year-old had rocketed to the top of this season's downhill World Cup rankings with three victories in December.

The downhill title thus remains in Slovenian hands, as Štuhec succeeds the retired champion Tina Maze, who won gold in Vail in 2015.

This is the first medal at major events for Štuhec, who managed to handle the increased pressure after she had finished a disappointing 11th in the super-G and crashed in the super combined race in St. Moritz.

* Results: downhill, women:
 1 Ilka Štuhec (Slo) 1:32.85
 2 Stephanie Venier (Aut) 1:33.25 + 0.40
 3 Lindsey Vonn (US) 1:33.30 + 0.45
 4 Sofia Goggia (Ita) 1:33.37 + 0.52
 5 Laurenne Ross (US) 1:33.57 + 0.72
 6 Christine Scheyer (Aut) 1:33.79 + 0.94
 7 Fabienne Suter (Swi) 1:33.88 + 1.03
 8 Michelle Gisin (Swi) 1:33.89 + 1.04
 9 Ramona Siebenhofer (Aut) 1:33.97 + 1.12
10 Tina Weirather (Lie) 1:34.03 + 1.18
...
23 Maruša Ferk (Slo) 1:35.23 + 2.38