Nicol Delago earns Italy's ski team another win as home Olympics near. Lindsey Vonn 3rd in downhill

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TARVISIO, Italy (AP) — The Italian ski team is on a roll with less than three weeks to go before a home Olympics. And so is 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn.

Nicol Delago claimed her first World Cup victory in a downhill on home snow Saturday, with Vonn in third place for her fifth podium in five downhills this season.

Delago matched Italian teammate Giovanni Franzoni, who claimed his first victory in a super-G in Wengen, Switzerland, on Friday.

“It certainly hasn’t always been easy over the years, so today is huge,” Delago said. “Yesterday I watched the video of Franzoni’s race and that provided extra motivation.”

The Milan Cortina Winter Games open on Feb. 6 with the women racing in Cortina d’Ampezzo and the men in Bormio.

Delago, who also led the final training session on Friday, finished 0.20 seconds ahead of Kira Weidle-Winkelmann of Germany and 0.26 ahead of Vonn.

Delago’s previous best finishes were three second-place results and two third-place results. Her younger sister, Nadia, won the bronze medal in downhill at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Nadia Delago was 10th Saturday.

“We motivate each other both on the positive days and the negative days,” Nicol Delago said of her sister.

It was the first World Cup downhill in Tarvisio in 15 years and Vonn was one of only two athletes in the current field who had raced it before. In her six previous races in Tarvisio across downhill, super-G and super-combined, Vonn earned two wins and four runner-up finishes.

“I don’t really remember the track,” Vonn said. “But I do remember that the atmosphere was amazing and the people were amazing. ... And I met some fans earlier and they were singing songs about me. It was awesome. So I’m so happy to be back on the podium again under tough conditions. So it couldn’t be better.”

In the downhill standings, Vonn increased her advantage to 144 points ahead of Emma Aicher of Germany. Four World Cup downhills remain this season.

In the overall standings, Vonn moved up to third place with 510 points, trailing only American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin (923 points) and Camille Rast (753) — neither of whom are currently racing downhill.

The race was characterized by fog hovering over the course midway down — limiting visibility.

Nicol Delago nearly lost control in the foggy section as her skis split apart. But she quickly recovered and then added to her advantage at every check point. At the finish, she celebrated with a big smile and kissed one of her skis, even though with the No. 3 bib most of the favorites were still to come down.

Vonn was fastest at both speed checks, registering 136.3 kph (84.7 mph) on top. But with such high speed she veered off course into fresh snow midway down — slowing her slightly.

The Olympic downhill in Cortina is scheduled for Feb. 8.

A super-G is scheduled for Tarvisio on Sunday.

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics