Tarvisio, Italy – American Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn locked the fourth consecutive Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill title of her career Saturday by finishing second in sun soaked Tarvisio. Vonn carried a 103 point cushion over German Maria Riesch into the race and built that lead to 143 to mathematically seal the title with only the World Cup Finals downhill remaining.nRiesch finished sixth on the day with Swede Anja Paerson taking the 42nd World Cup win of her career. Vonn, of Vail, Colo., who secured the 2011 super combined title Friday, has now trimmed Riesch’s lead in the overall standings to 136 with seven races remaining.

“Four years ago, there’s no way I could see myself in this position,” Vonn admitted. “Downhill is my favorite discipline and I just love going fast so I’m really happy to get my fourth consecutive downhill globe – it’s amazing and it means the world to me.”

Vonn refuses to surrender the overall World Cup title to her friend Riesch, and by closing Riesch’s margin on Saturday, Vonn has signaled that she’s in the hunt to surpass the German ski racer.

“I made some good points toward the overall title today too, but it’s still Maria’s title to lose,” Vonn said. “It’s still a long shot at this point, but I’m chugging away and skiing with nothing to lose. It makes things easier for me. All I have to do is try and win each day and keep that mentality going.”

“Securing the downhill title early is absolutely impressive,” U.S. Ski Team women’s Head Coach, Alex Hoedlmoser, said of Vonn’s achievement. “It shows how good she has been the last couple of years in downhill and she moved closer in the overall points – exactly what she wanted to do.

“Obviously she wanted to win,” Hoedlmoser added, “but Paerson was pretty much untouchable today. Everything came in place for her and those are her conditions – that’s the type of course she likes.”

All five U.S. racers ended up in the top 30 on Saturday, thus earning World Cup points. Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancuso finished tenth, followed immediately by Leanne Smith of Conway, N.H. in 11th. Oregon’s Laurenne Ross crossed the finish line in 23rd, followed by Stacey Cook, of Mammoth Mountain, Calif., in 24th.

“Leanne Smith was very impressive, she put one down again and is continuing to ski very well,” Hoedlmoser said. “Julia also did a good job today, she was in the top five range after the first split then made a little mistake.”

Using the downhill leg of Friday’s super combined for training paid off for Whistler, British Columbia’s Britt Janyk, for she finished ninth in today’s race after starting with bib number 5. Janyk was the only entry in Saturday’s race for the injury plagued Canadian team.

Anna Goodman, of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, is Canada’s latest casualty — she has suffered a season-ending hip injury that will require arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damaged in a World Cup race in Courchevel, France, earlier this season, the Canadian Alpine Ski Team announced on Friday.

“I fell in Courchevel at a World Cup race and hurt my hip,” said Goodman. “I was hoping it wasn’t too bad so I kept going. As the season went on the pain got worse and I had trouble skiing. After the World Championships I decided to come to Calgary and have the medical team check it out.”

“She will be assessed by a hip arthroscopy surgeon early next week to determine if there is any surgical intervention required,” said Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) co-medical director Dr. Stephen French. “For the time being, her ski racing season is over and at this point we are not able to determine if she will be able to participate in the summer training schedule.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Tarvisio, Italy – March 5, 2011
Downhill

1. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 1:26.91
2. Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 1:27.64
3. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 1:28.08