Italy's Sofia Goggia triumphed by just 0.04sec at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Lake Louise ©Getty Images

Olympic silver medallist Sofia Goggia began her search for three consecutive crystal globes in the downhill discipline with victory in Lake Louise on the International Ski and Snowboard Federation Alpine Ski World Cup.

The Italian's time of 1min 47.81sec staved off a strong challenge from Swiss skier Corinne Suter, who beat her to gold at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games earlier in the year.

Suter finished just 0.04sec behind Goggia, and Austria's Cornelia Hütter also pushed hard for a first downhill World Cup win since 2018, but had to settle for third with a time of 1:47.87, also narrowly missing gold.

Goggia's victory was her 18th on the World Cup circuit and 12th in the downhill discipline, and she was pleased with the result if not her performance in the Canadian resort.

"I am super happy with the result today but being sincere, I am not that happy with my performance," she said.

"It was not that clear and not so perfect.

"I was really dirty in many turns.

"I am excited for tomorrow because today I was not so perfect actually."

Goggia won both downhill events as well as the super-G in Lake Louise last year, and has the chance to complete another treble in 2022 with further racing to come tomorrow and on Sunday (December 4).

Hütter's compatriot Mirjam Puchner and Slovenian Ilka Štuhec completed the top five.