Competing under sunny skies at her sixth World Championships, Small was the 23rd skier on the start list, and tweaked her knee one third of the way down the course. Fortunately Small was able to come to stop and avoided crashing.
American Breezy Johnson won the downhill event ahead of Austrian Mirjam Puchner in second and two-sport 2018 Olympic Alpine Skiing and Snowboard PGS gold medallist Ester Ledecka in third.
Earlier in Saalbach, Small also competed in the super-g, but was disqualified after missing the last gate.
Victory in the super-g went to Austrian Stephanie Venier, Italian Federica Brignone was second and American Lauren Macuga was third.
Small will now return home for further evaluation to assess her knee, but looks set for a long stint on the sidelines.
Still to compete later this week for Australia at the World Championships will be
Giant Slalom: Louis Muhlen-Schulte, Hugh McAdam, Phoebe Heaydon
Slalom: Louis Muhlen-Schulte, Hugh McAdam, Connor Leggett, Henry Heaydon, Phoebe Heaydon, Sophie Mahon
For the schedule and to watch the Aussies live in action, visit the Snow Live Page here