St. Moritz, Switzerland – Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn torched the St. Moritz speed track on Saturday for a whopping 1.42 second margin of victory and her career 49th Audi FIS Alpine World Cup win. It was Vonn’s eighth win of the season, second in two days, and extended her World Cup overall lead to 352 points over Slovenia’s Tina Maze.
Saturday’s downhill victory was the first in St. Moritz for Vonn, of Vail, Colo.
“I’ve struggled in St. Moritz in the past and for some reason have always made major mistakes and have never won a downhill here,” Vonn admitted. “Today I just tried to stay really relaxed. I knew where I had to execute the line and I think I did that.”
The win tied her with Austrian Renate Goetschl for second on all-time downhill wins list at 24. In addition to the overall chase, Vonn also leads the downhill, super G and super combined World Cup standings.
“It feels pretty special to tie Renate [Goetschl] for downhill wins, but [Annemarie] Moser-Proell still has a lot more than I do, so I have a long ways to go,” said Vonn. “She pretty much dominated so I have my work cut out for me.”
Julia Mancuso, of Squaw Valley, Calif., was fifth and North Conway, N.H.’s Leanne Smith seventh as three Americans crowded the top 10. It was Smith’s career best World Cup finish and moved her inside the DH top 20 standings.
“It felt good to execute the line and the turns that I wanted to ski. I needed a downhill result and now I’m really looking forward to next weekend. Hopefully I can continue this little streak that I’m on,” said Smith. “The feeling on the front of the boot is something that I’ve been establishing. To be able to push on the front of the ski early, you feel way more stable and you can hold positions and be strong in the core. If you can’t tighten the line up in places where you’re not in a good position then you can’t hold and you can’t generate speed.
“I’m at a good spot right now and I just want to keep learning and figuring out where I can be faster. It’s not just understanding this course, it’s understanding how to be better on the turns and how to make up time by getting more out of the gates up ahead of you,” Smith concluded.
Laurenne Ross, of Bend, Ore. was 16th and Glenwood Springs, Colo.’s Alice McKennis 25th. U.S. women lead Austria in the nation’s standings for downhill by 344 points.
“Leanne [Smith] is skiing extremely well and I’m really happy for her and for Julia [Mancuso] and Laurenne [Ross], everyone is skiing really well,” said Vonn. “As a team, we’re on a roll and it’s fun to see all the girls so excited and skiing so well. Every day all of the girls on this team have a chance to be on the podium.”
Canada’s Kelly VanderBeek made her long-awaited return to World Cup racing when she finished 47th in Saturday’s downhill. The 29-year-old from Kitchener, Ontario, who made her last World Cup start in Lake Louise, Alberta, in December 2009, has shown great perseverance and determination to fight back from a serious knee injury. Saturday’s race represented the next step on what has been a long and challenging road to recovery.
“It’s still me pushing out of the start, and the competitive spirit lives. That’s what makes today so wonderful and so challenging,” said VanderBeek, who lives in Chilliwack, British Columbia. “It’s hard to be so far off the pace, but it’s incredible to be in the start gate again.”
VanderBeek’s time may have been well back of Vonn’s, but the result wasn’t the most important factor on a day when VanderBeek was able to celebrate her return to competitive racing.
“This took more work than I ever thought possible,” VanderBeek said of her comeback. “I’m here racing again, still standing, still passionate. Seeing all my friends on the tour cheer for me in the finish was pretty special. I didn’t think I’d race this year, and a month ago I wasn’t sure I’d even have the choice. So, today was very special.”
VanderBeek said it will take time to adjust to racing at full speed again.
“I’m really feeling strong in my skiing but still lack some confidence and trust when things get a bit bumpy or tough,” she said.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
St. Moritz, Switzerland – Jan. 28, 2012
Women’s Downhill
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 20 | VONN Lindsey | 1984 | USA | 1:43.65 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 21 | HOEFL-RIESCH Maria | 1984 | GER | 1:45.07 | 18.22 |
| 3 | 9 | WEIRATHER Tina | 1989 | LIE | 1:45.12 | 18.86 |
| 4 | 18 | MAZE Tina | 1983 | SLO | 1:45.30 | 21.17 |
| 5 | 22 | MANCUSO Julia | 1984 | USA | 1:45.51 | 23.87 |
| 5 | 15 | MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie | 1985 | FRA | 1:45.51 | 23.87 |
| 7 | 4 | SMITH Leanne | 1987 | USA | 1:45.54 | 24.25 |
| 8 | 17 | GOERGL Elisabeth | 1981 | AUT | 1:45.55 | 24.38 |
| 9 | 12 | ROLLAND Marion | 1982 | FRA | 1:45.60 | 25.02 |
| 10 | 16 | MERIGHETTI Daniela | 1981 | ITA | 1:45.61 | 25.15 |