Lindsey Vonn celebrates on the podium on Saturday. Pic/AFP

US skier Lindsey Vonn made history on Saturday by becoming the oldest winner of a women's World Cup downhill race in Cortina d'Ampezzo, racking up her 79th World Cup career victory aged 33.

Vonn, who came second in Friday's first run, blazed down her favourite Olympia delle Tofane course in 1min 36.48sec to beat Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather by 0.92sec with another American, Jacqueline Wiles third at 0.98. It was Vonn's 12th World Cup win in the Italian dolomites — six in downhill and six in Super-G — and 40th of her career in downhill.