The win, which came in a time of 1min 12.84sec, was Vonn's second in a row in the discipline and edges her closer to Swede Ingemar Stenmark's all-time male-or-female record of 86 victories.

Italy's Sofia Goggia finished just 0.02 seconds behind in the runners-up spot, while Austria's Cornelia Huetter was a further 0.11 seconds back in third.

Vonn's team-mate Breezy Johnson registered a career-best fourth-place finish.

But the day was bittersweet for the American team, and the whole circuit, as Jacqueline Wiles crashed hard after trying to recover her line in the middle of her run.

She was transported to hospital via helicopter for an evaluation of a suspected severe knee injury.

With training runs cancelled on Thursday (February 1) and yesterday, a downhill training run was held this morning from the top start and followed by a race from the reserve start.

A two-run downhill race was initially planned for today, with Vonn now boasting three consecutive wins in the discipline in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Tomorrow, the downhill race is planned to be held from the top start.

It will be the last World Cup race before the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, where Vonn and downhill World Cup leader Goggia are expected to be strong contenders for medals.

Vonn missed the Sochi 2014 Olympics with a knee injury, four years after winning downhill gold and super-G bronze in Vancouver. 

Pyeongchang 2018 opens on Friday (February 9).

Overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin of the US was not in action today.