Lake Louise (AB), Canada – Continuing her recovery from a knee injury, four-time World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn skied confidently into the top five in the Lake Louise super G on Sunday in a race won by Switzerland’s Lara Gut.

With Gut’s third World Cup victory this season, she vaulted back into first place in the overall World Cup standings after losing that position to Germany’s Maria Hoefl-Riesch only a day earlier. The 22-year-old was just 0.03 seconds ahead of Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather, who took second for the second time in a row. Austria’s Anna Fenninger earned third and landed her second podium in two days, just 0.33 seconds off the pace.

“I knew that coming to Lake Louise was not going to be easy for me,” said Gut. “Finding the right line and pace on the downhill course is still a big mystery to me. I was hoping that with the way I have been skiing this season, things would go better. But going into the super G today was something different. I knew what to do to ski fast and it worked out.

“Being in the top three in the overall standings is something new to me. I don’t focus on that for now,” she added. “If I start thinking about the overall title, I will for sure be nervous on my skis. What matters is the way I ski and how I can improve.”

Vonn on Sunday showed her strength and ability to mount a podium challenge for the first time since her return to the World Cup circuit on Friday.

“This is exactly what I wanted to take away from this weekend – to know that I could ski for the win,” Vonn said, clearly pleased with Sunday’s results. “I’m happy with today. I scrubbed some speed in a few spots but it still showed me that I can ski for the podium.”

Vonn’s teammate Leanne Smith, of North Conway, N.H., finished just behind Vonn in sixth, finding the familiar form that exemplifies the U.S. Ski Team’s speed squad but has thus far eluded the team this season. Olympic gold medalist Julia Mancuso finished 17^th while veteran Stacey Cook finished 18^th, her best World Cup super G result since 2008.

“This is the first time I haven’t finished between 25^th and 30^th in super G in like two years, so I’m happy to make a little step forward and get some confidence and keep trying to move up,” Cook said before adding, “Getting an early start position would be nice one of these days.”

U.S. coaches were clearly pleased to see their athletes return to the form to which they had become accustomed last season.

“I’m really pleased. I think we’re just starting to move in a positive direction,” said a relieved Chip White, Women’s U.S. Alpine Ski Team Head Coach. “I knew this would be the case. I think everybody is in a positive light and we are moving forward. It was a good super G day for us. It was great to see Lindsey back in there in the top five. Leanne did a great performance running early when she did and sent a message to the rest of our team that the line that we were on was correct and that they knew that they could charge. So I think that that helped with Lindsey.”

The Audi FIS Alpine World Cup women’s circuit now heads to St. Moritz for a super G and giant slalom Dec. 14-15. Vonn, who on Saturday hinted that she may skip some upcoming World Cup stops in favor of preparing herself for the Olympics, will make a decision this week concerning her status in the next World Cup races.

“I’m going to be selective in my races this season, and I’ll take a few days home, talk to the coaches and determine a plan,” she said.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Lake Louise (AB), Canada – Dec. 8, 2013
Women’s Super G