Altenmarkt, Austria – A re-energized Lindsey Vonn left Altenmarkt/Zauchensee this weekend with two more World Cup victories, numbers 72 and 73 of the American ski racing sensation’s career and tying the World Cup Downhill win record.
“I had a lot of confidence after Lake Louise and then in Val d’Isere I felt like I lost my confidence a little bit after going out in the downhill,” Vonn said. “I went home, I had a good break and I feel energized again. I feel really good mentally and physically, and I think that showed in this weekend’s racing.
“It’s a perfect start to the New Year,” she added. “Hopefully I can just continue on in this direction and hopefully just keep winning.”
Vonn, of Vail, Colo., made history on Saturday by tying Annemarie Moser-Proell’s World Cup downhill victory record with win number 36 in a two-run Audi FIS World Cup sprint downhill. Canada’s Larisa Yurkiw was second, followed by Austria’s Cornelia Huetter in third.
“I’m really happy to tie Annemarie’s record with 36 wins,” Vonn said after the two-run event, the first two-run downhill since 2002 in Åre, Sweden that Vonn also skied when she was 17 years old.
Yurkiw confirmed she was comfortable on the Kälberloch course as she skied to her career first top-six result two years ago in Zauchensee and won the downhill run of the super combined the next day.
“I think it was a bit of a redemption day,” Yurkiw confessed. “When I was standing in the start, I realized, however many years ago, I won this downhill run in the combined, and I had so much pressure and I totally choked. And I was too young for that, so now I felt like I have the skills to handle myself and I thought I should make sure I come down with a big lead then it’ll be okay.”
For other Americans on Saturday, Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) grabbed a top-10 spot, finishing eighth, while Laurenne Ross (Bend, Ore.) was 18th and Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) was 26th. Breezy Johnson (Salt Lake City, Utah), Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.) and Alice Merryweather (Hingham, Mass.) – who was skiing her first World Cup – did not qualify for the second run.
The sprint downhill format featured two runs on the same 25-gate course, with a flip of the top 30 for the second run. The format not only offered a change of pace, but a change of tactics as well.
“I like the two-run downhill – it’s nice to do something different,” said Vonn, who was the only athlete on the start list to have ever competed in a sprint downhill race. “I think the classic format is the best, but it’s nice to do something different. It’s nice to challenge yourself and there’s definitely a lot more pressure when you’re leading the first run.”
Vonn won the first run by 0.91, and extended her winning margin to a full second despite skiing a bit more conservatively in the second run.
“I definitely didn’t expect such a big advantage going into the second run. I skied a little more conservatively in the second run,” she said. “It was bumpy and a lot of girls were having trouble.”
Many racers struggled in the “Panorama-Kurve” section, which saw current World Cup overall leader, Switzerland’s Lara Gut ski out in the first run. Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather, who was among the favorites, failed to complete the second run after skiing out in the same portion.
Then on Sunday, Vonn extended her super G win streak to four with a commanding victory over her top rival in the hunt for the overall World Cup title. Despite some initial doubt, Vonn absolutely crushed the course for her 73rd overall World Cup victory and her It was 26th in the discipline, which was already a record across men and women. Switzerland’s Lara Gut, the current overall World Cup leader, redeemed herself after skiing out in Saturday’s downhill to finish second. Austria’s Cornelia Huetter finished in third for the second day in a row.
“I don’t think that was good enough,” Vonn said after coming out of the 16th start position to best then-current leader Francesca Marsaglia of Italy by a whopping 1.34 seconds. But indeed it was good enough as Gut, wearing bib 17, didn’t carry enough speed into the bottom section of the course and settled into second place, .70 off Vonn’s winning time.
“The bottom part of this course … was the most important part of the course,” Vonn said. “I think I was smart with my tactics and I felt like I was going pretty fast. But, you never know until you get to the finish.”
“I am happy to be skiing well again in super G,” Gut said in the finish area. “In Lake Louise, the only super G we had, the way I skied it was terrible, so I’m happy to be back and do what I can. Sure I made a big mistake and I lost a lot of time in from the last split to the finish, but that’s skiing and it’s better to be second with a mistake than trying to win, but you have no idea what happened. I can work on that.”
Vonn led another solid American team effort as Laurenne Ross finished 12th, Stacey Cook 28th, Jackie Wiles 30th, Breezy Johnson 39th, Alice McKennis 40th and Abby Ghent 41st. Anna Marno DNFed.
With Sunday’s victory, Vonn closed to within 38 points of Gut’s overall World Cup lead.
“I’m not focused on the overall right now. It’s too early in the season. I’m just focused on winning,” Vonn asserted. “I want to win as many races as I can, and I think if I can do that it’ll put me in a good position for the overall title.”
Up next, the women’s tech teams head to Flachau, Austria for slalom Tuesday.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Altenmarkt, Austria
Jan. 9, 2016 – Women’s Sprint Downhill
| Rank | Name | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total | Diff. |
| 1 | VONN Lindsey | USA | 1:04.94 | 1:06.23 | 2:11.17 | |
| 2 | YURKIW Larisa | CAN | 1:05.85 | 1:06.32 | 2:12.17 | +1.00 |
| 3 | HUETTER Cornelia | AUT | 1:05.92 | 1:06.91 | 2:12.83 | +1.66 |
| 4 | KLING Kajsa | SWE | 1:06.17 | 1:07.05 | 2:13.22 | +2.05 |
| 5 | SCHMIDHOFER Nicole | AUT | 1:06.20 | 1:07.08 | 2:13.28 | +2.11 |
| 6 | REBENSBURG Viktoria | GER | 1:06.44 | 1:07.26 | 2:13.70 | +2.53 |
| 7 | BAILET Margot | FRA | 1:06.62 | 1:07.10 | 2:13.72 | +2.55 |
| 8 | COOK Stacey | USA | 1:06.21 | 1:07.61 | 2:13.82 | +2.65 |
| 9 | GOERGL Elisabeth | AUT | 1:06.71 | 1:07.31 | 2:14.02 | +2.85 |
| 10 | MARSAGLIA Francesca | ITA | 1:06.79 | 1:07.37 | 2:14.16 | +2.99 |
Jan. 10, 2016 – Women’s Super G
| Rank | Name | Nation | Time | Diff. |
| 1 | VONN Lindsey | USA | 1:12.75 | |
| 2 | GUT Lara | SUI | 1:13.45 | +0.70 |
| 3 | HUETTER Cornelia | AUT | 1:14.00 | +1.25 |
| 4 | FANCHINI Nadia | ITA | 1:14.01 | +1.26 |
| 5 | GOERGL Elisabeth | AUT | 1:14.05 | +1.30 |
| 6 | MARSAGLIA Francesca | ITA | 1:14.09 | +1.34 |
| 7 | SCHMIDHOFER Nicole | AUT | 1:14.21 | +1.46 |
| 8 | KLING Kajsa | SWE | 1:14.32 | +1.57 |
| 9 | SCHNARF Johanna | ITA | 1:14.33 | +1.58 |
| 10 | BRIGNONE Federica | ITA | 1:14.54 | +1.79 |