Are, Sweden – The U.S. Ski Team’s Lindsey Vonn and recently crowned World Championship silver medalist Julia Mancuso shared the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup podium for the third time this season by finishing 2-3 Sunday in super G. Maria Riesch bumped her overall lead to 196 over Vonn with a narrow one-hundredth of a second victory, yet Vonn continues to lead the super G title chase by 131 over Riesch with two races remaining on the World Cup calendar.n”I thought I skied a good race, unfortunately I lost by one hundredth of a second, which is a snap of your finger. That’s life,” resigned Vonn, of Vail, Colo. “It’s definitely frustrating, especially at this time of the year, with the overall World Cup so tight. One hundredth is twenty points. It would have been great if we could have just tied.”
Vonn, however, refuses to give up in her fight with her friend Riesch for the overall title. “I’m not counting myself out, but it’s looking pretty good for Maria for the overall. She knows that and I know that.”
“Having Lindsey and Julia on the podium is something we know we can have pretty much at any race,” said Alex Hoedlmoser, U.S. Ski Team Women’s Head Coach. “It’s kind of expected from our side and from their side also. Obviously we always want to win but second and third are pretty good results.”
Sunday’s technical course was firm and fast, separating the podium finishers by barely three quarters of a second. “The course was technical and fast, you had to be smart in sections, but really just charge,” said Mancuso. “It’s always great to be on the podium. I missed it twice in Cortina [Italy], so it’s great to be on there.”
Americans Leanne Smith, of Conway, N.H., and Laurenne Ross of Klamath Falls, Ore., finished 12th and 29th, respectively, to finish in the super G points awarded to the top 30 finishers in each race. For the Canadian women, Whistler, British Columbia’s Britt Janyk finished 25th while Lac-Etchemin, Quebec-based Marie-Michèle Gagnon was 36th.
“Britt was expecting way more for herself today. It wasn’t a good run, from top to bottom,” said Canadian women’s team head coach Hugues Ansermoz. “As for Marie-Michèle, she did what she could in super G. The visibility was not that great, it was flat light and you needed to attack as hard as you could to score some points. She is still not there yet. She still needs experience in speed.”
The women’s Alpine World Cup tour now moves to Tarvisio, Italy for a super combined, downhill and super G set for March 4-6.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2011 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Are, Sweden – Feb. 27, 2011
Super G
1. Maria Riesch, Germany, 1:13.24
2. Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 1:13.25
3. Julia Mancuso, Squaw Valley, CA, 1:14.03