Wānaka’s Corey Peters has won the FIS Para Alpine Downhill World Cup in Italy overnight (Thursday December 18), backing up his silver medal performance from the previous day at the high-speed double-header World Cup event. 

The result marks Corey’s third Downhill World Cup win, his sixth Downhill World Cup podium and his 21st World Cup podium of his decorated career. 

“It feels absolutely amazing,” Corey said following the win.

“All the hard work and dedication from myself and the rest of the team is paying off.

“Conditions weren't the greatest for downhill with snow and rain making visibility and snowpack far from ideal, but I had a good plan tactically and mentally and stuck to the process.”

Conditions on course were challenging and varied from the previous day, requiring a different approach from Corey and his team. Snow overnight meant extensive course slipping, and even the use of a groomer on a section of the course was required to get the slope race ready. 

Due to the length of a downhill course, the snow surface changed from the top of the course where it was colder to the bottom of course where the warmer conditions resulted in the snow much softer. 

It was a tightly-fought race, just three-hundredths of a second separating Corey from Dutch skier Jeroen Kamperschreur who finished in second place. Andrew Kurka (USA) rounded out the podium in third. 

“These World Cup wins are getting harder every year I compete; it's just such small margins between the competition,” Corey said. 

“My confidence is growing but I'll continue to take it one day at a time and not get ahead of myself. 

“The season has just begun so there's still a lot of racing between now and Cortina.”

Corey is the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games Champion in this discipline, and the double-header event marks his return to the Downhill start gate as he prepares for his fourth Paralympics in Milano Cortina in March next year. 

 PHOTO: Alexandra Blum