St. Moritz, Switzerland – American ski racer Lindsey Vonn came within just .03 seconds of a three-race sweep in St. Moritz to finish second in Sunday’s super combined behind defending Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall champion, and Vonn’s former friend, Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany.

Sunday’s race race was a reschedule from a canceled December super combined in Val d’Isere, France. It was the first victory of the season for Hoefl-Riesch, the defending World Cup champion.

Vonn, of Vail, Colo., won the opening super combined on Friday in St. Moritz and the backed it up with a dominating downhill victory on Saturday.

“It would have been nice to have a hat trick. I’m really happy for Maria — but I’d rather she beat me by a second,” said Vonn. “Maria has been sick and it always takes a while when you have setbacks. It wasn’t really a surprise for me that she has won.

“My skiing was good, my concentration was good, but a series of small mistakes cost me much time. I caught my edges funny a couple of times. I tried as hard as I could.”

Despite missing Sunday’s top step, Vonn earned 280 World Cup points over the weekend to boost her overall point total to 1,250 for a commanding 387-point lead over Tina Maze of Slovenia. Additionally, Vonn currently leads the World Cup downhill, super G and super combined standings.

Sunday was a tough day for other American women. Laurenne Ross, of Bend, Ore.,  was 29th after finishing 23rd in the super G portion. Squaw Valley, Calif.’s Julia Mancusoand Leanne Smith, of North Conway, N.H., both skied out in the slalom. Stacey Cook, of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., went out in the super G and Glenwood Springs, Colo.’s Alice McKennis did not start the slalom.

Canada’s Marie-Michèle Gagnon laid down a lightning-fast slalom run to blast her way to a seventh-place finish. The 22-year-old from Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, was sitting 30^th after the super G, which gave her a great chance to set the pace in the slalom portion as the first racer out of the gate. Gagnon didn’t disappoint as she clocked what proved to be the second-fastest slalom run of the day to record her second top-10 result of the year.

“I’m really happy,” said Gagnon, whose previous best result this season was a ninth-place finish in slalom in Flachau, Austria, in December. “It was good to be 30^th after the super G so I had a clean course for the slalom. The slalom was a pretty hard set – it was tricky and quite tight.”

Only Austria’s Nicole Hosp had a faster slalom run.

“We knew it was a great chance. Being 30^th was a great opportunity because we knew the course setter was planning to set a tough course and the snow was going to be softer,” said Hugues Ansermoz, head coach of the Canadian ladies’ team, of Gagnon’s slalom run. “(Marie-Michèle) got going and the middle and the bottom parts of the run were really good.”

The only other Canadian to start, Marie-Pier Préfontaine, of Saint-Sauveur, Quebec, was 39th after the super G and didn’t have the advantage of starting early in the slalom portion. She finished near the back of the pack at 38^th overall.

The women’s World Cup tour now moves to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for a downhill and super G.

“I would have loved to celebrate my 50th World Cup win here in St Moritz. But victory is not as easy as it seems. I had to ski five hard-fought runs in three days and it’s exhausting,” admitted Vonn, who added, “Hopefully, I will get that 50th win in Maria’s home in Garmisch.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
St. Moritz, Switzerland – Jan. 29, 2012
Women’s Super Combined