Imlig, a World Cup rookie who had never finished better than 20th in a downhill, delighted the home fans as she charged across the finish line in a winning time of one minute, 48.66 seconds to claim her first career victory.

The 20-year-old Swiss was joined on the podium by another unknown, Germany's Petra Haltmayer, whose previous best result was a 13th place. She finished today's race in second in 1:48.69.

The only familiar face among the top seven finishers was Austria's Renate Goetschl, who held on to take third.

But the overall World Cup leader was forced to share her spot with Russia's Olesja Alieva, the sixth-to-last skier onto the Scalottas course, capping the day of surprises by recording an identical time of 1:48.99.