Italy's Sofia Goggia ensured that Lindsey Vonn's Olympic career would end without another downhill gold medal when she carved up the Jeongseon slope to win a thrilling race on Wednesday.

The bubbly 25-year-old from Bergamo clocked one minute, 39.22 seconds to claim gold nine hundredths of a second ahead of Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel, who clocked 1:39.31 and added a second silver to the one she won in giant slalom last week .

Mowinckel's late run meant 33-year-old Vonn had to settle for bronze in 1.39.69, her third Olympic podium making her the oldest female medallist in Alpine skiing at the Winter Games, a record previously held by Michaela Dorfmeister.

Goggia, who led the World Cup downhill standings but finished second behind Vonn in their two most recent meetings, set out to be aggressive and really hit her straps with some big air off the jumps in the mid-section of the run.

She gave a shrug after crossing the line knowing that Vonn, the most decorated female skier of all time, was going to be going out two spots behind her.

Vonn won downhill gold in Vancouver eight years ago and, after missing the chance to defend it in Sochi because of injury, had hoped to reclaim the title in Pyeongyang.

The 33-year-old made a strong start on the icy slope but went wide on one turn and was four tenths of a second off the pace after the first four sections, leaving herself too much to do in the bottom part of the mountain.

The American four-times overall World Cup champion still looked destined for a silver medal until flying Viking Mowinckel, who has never even graced the podium in a World Cup downhill, threw caution to the wind to claim a surprise silver.

Her thrilling run in bib 19 knocked Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein out of the medals and deprived her of a second bronze to add to the one she won behind Ester Ledecka in the super-G last Saturday.

Weirather was fourth in 1:39.85 ahead of American Alice McKennis, who along with seventh placed team mate Breezy Johnson will give the American team hopes of a strong future in Olympic speed racing once Vonn has hung up her skis.

Sochi bronze medallist Lara Gut, who was pushed off the podium by Ledecka's sensational run in the super-G, had another disappointing day and failed to finish after coming wide off a jump and missing a gate.

Austria's Stephanie Venier also had a race to forget, losing control of her skis as she pushed to shave vital hundredths of a second off and tumbled down the slope, a fate that also befell Italians Nadia Fanchini and Federica Brignone.

Bronze medallist Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. waves during the flower ceremony.