Cornelia “Conny” Hütter / GEPA pictures
The 2024 World Cup downhill champion, Cornelia “Conny” Hütter, announced Monday, May 4, in Austria that she will continue her career for one final season.
A clear target
Hütter did not leave much room for interpretation. Her focus is the 2027 World Championships in Crans-Montana, scheduled for Feb. 1–14.
The venue carries meaning. She won two medals there at the 2011 World Junior Championships, taking bronze in downhill and super-G. Sixteen years later, she returns with one goal still missing—a world title.
Earlier in the season, that possibility looked unlikely.
“It was 99.9 percent over after this winter,” Hütter said.
Then came the Olympic week.
“During the Olympic week, I felt that I really enjoy skiing. That’s why I decided that I don’t want to sit on the couch,” she said.
That moment shifted the decision. What looked like an ending now becomes one final push.
“This will be 100 percent my last season,” she said.
A career built at the limit
Hütter made her World Cup debut in Lake Louise, Alberta, in December 2011. Since then, she has made 170 starts and established herself as one of the sport’s most consistent speed skiers.
Over more than 15 years on the circuit, she has won 10 World Cup races—five in downhill and five in super-G—including a downhill victory in Val d’Isère last December.
Her consistency shows in the numbers. She has 34 World Cup podiums, with 20 in downhill and 14 in super-G. Two of those came during the 2025–26 season, including a second-place finish in Val di Fassa where she missed victory by just 0.01 seconds.
At major championships, she has delivered as well. Hütter competed at three World Championships and earned super-G bronze in Courchevel/Méribel 2023, tying Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie.
Her breakthrough came one season later.
At the 2023–24 World Cup Finals in Saalbach, she held off Sofia Goggia and Stephanie Venier to secure the downhill Crystal Globe—the first of her career.
Still in contention
Hütter remains competitive across both speed disciplines.
She finished sixth in downhill and ninth in super-G in the 2025–26 standings. At the Olympics in Cortina this February, she added a super-G bronze medal.
She also came close to a second medal. In downhill, she finished tied for fourth with Jacqueline Wiles, just 0.27 seconds off the podium.
One last season
Hütter’s decision gives the Austrian team one more season alongside a proven leader, but it also sets a clear tone.
She is not returning to wind things down.
There is still something to chase.
One season remains. One final objective.
A world title in Crans-Montana.
And for now, that is enough to keep one of the sport’s top speed skiers at the start.
About the Author: Matt Garcka
