After several seasons marred by setbacks and injuries, Slovenia's Ilka Štuhec has made a return by finishing second in the women's downhill in the Alpine Ski World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland on 17 December.

The 32-year-old finished 0.43 seconds behind Sofia Goggia of Italy, and ahead of the third-placed Kira Weidle of Germany (+0.52), for her first podium finish in nearly four years and her 18th career podium finish.

The downhill specialist from Maribor proved to herself and the world that she still has much gas in the tank and can reach for the top after being down on her luck and suffering injuries in recent years.

"I was actually surprised when I saw the time in the finish line, because I had a feeling that I was completely somewhere else," Štuhec said, still grappling with being once again in the top three at the highest level.

"I'm still not sure what a podium finish means to me after so much time. I started crying when I saw the time and it's really great, I'm very happy."

It was the first women's downhill on the Corviglia piste in St. Moritz since January 2010, while Štuhec won her first world champion title in the resort in 2017, when the competition took place on the Engiadina piste.

The Slovenian is currently third in the downhill standings with 192 points, trailing only Goggia (three wins, 380 points) and Corinne Suter of Switzerland (218).