Are, Sweden – Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn extended her American record for Audi FIS Alpine World Cup wins to 40 Saturday with a downhill victory in Are.nVonn, the three-time World Cup downhill champion from Vail, Colo., now leads the discipline standings by 103 points over Maria Riesch of Germany with two downhill races remaining on the calendar. Vonn also gained back 40 points in the overall chase as Riesch finished third behind Tina Maze of Slovenia.
Stacey Cook, of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., posted her best result since Dec. 2006 with fifth and Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancuso was 11th as all U.S. starters finished in the top 25.
“It was really fun to see Stacey ski the training runs well, said Alex Hoedlmoser, U.S. Ski Team women’s Head Coach. “She was really fast and today she figured out how to put it down on race day.”
Saturday’s results appeared to indicate that Vonn has now fully recovered from a concussion sustained during training last month that cast a shadow on her performance at this month’s World Championships.
“We knew Lindsey was back to full strength and the she could win this race,” said Hoedlmoser. “But you have to do it on race day and she did an excellent job. The light changed and there was a big crash with a long hold right before Julia and Lindsey ran. It was pretty flat light at that point, but Lindsey had a good run, she put it all out there.”
“After Garmisch, I needed a break both mentally and physically and that time off did exactly what I needed it to do,” Vonn acknowledged. “I’m skiing like I know I can, I’m focused and back on the top of the podium.”
Canada’s Britt Janyk raced in the super G portion of Friday’s super combined in an attempt to gain valuable training, but the Whistler, British Columbia resident only came across the finish line in 22nd.
“My race was alright. It wasn’t great and it wasn’t horrible,” said the 30-year-old, one of 49 ladies from 12 different nations competing on Saturday but the only one racing for the injury-plagued Canadian squad. “I feel like my skiing is quite strong but I’m missing a little bit of speed. I had some good sections but it was obviously a little slow and I can’t say that I’m really happy with 22nd but I’m just going to try and forget about today.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2011 Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Are, Sweden – Feb. 26, 2011
Downhill
1. Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 1:40.93
2. Tina Maze, Slovenia, 1:41.06
3. Maria Riesch, Germany, 1:41.14