American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has topped the podium for the first time in 2020 claiming the top spot in the women's World Cup downhill on a technically demanding course in Bulgaria.

The 24 year-old was a third of a second off the pace at her second split but pushed on and put in a blistering lower half on the tricky Marc Grardelli course.

After the race she said: "I was really excited about this track and the challenges in it.

"It's not easy. It's a little bit scary. At the start I was like 'OK, you got to get tough now.' It's for sure a nice track for me."

Federica Brignone from Italy came through in second, 0.18 seconds behind the American, with Switzerland's Joana Haehln finishing another five hundredths back to earn her first podium finish.

This is the 65th victory of Shiffrin's glittering career and ends a drought of five races without a win, including two in her favourite discipline, the slalom.

However, it was only her second career win in the downhill, more than two years after she took top spot in Lake Louise, Alberta.

Victory rockets her to second place in the downhill standings, 37 points behind Switzerland's Corinne Suter, but the competition is still wide open, with different winners coming from the last eight races.