Gut Wins Maiden Downhill in Val d’Isere as Lindsey Vonn Crashes

Lara Gut won the first World Cup downhill race of her career in Val d’Isere, as Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn crashed.

Switzerland’s Gut, 21, finished in a time of 1 minute, 19.75 seconds. Gut had been the second skier down the 2,143- meter long French course, where the start gate had been lowered by 100 meters because of high winds. Leanne Smith of the U.S. was second at 0.16 second back, while Switzerland’s Nadja Kamer clinched third spot at half a second behind.

Vonn, the Olympic champion from the U.S. who had won the first four speed races of the season, caught an edge and crashed at the top of the course.

To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Rossingh in London at drossingh@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Danielle Rossingh at drossingh@bloomberg.net