Val d’Isere, France – Vail, Colo.’s Lindsey Vonn regained the overall Audi FIS Alpine World Cup lead over German Maria Riesch by winning Sunday’s super combined to sweep the weekend in Val d’Isere.nSunday marked the second day this year for a USA double victory with Park City, Utah’s Ted Ligety on top in the Alta Badia, Italy giant slalom for his third straight GS win this season.
“I watched Ted’s run before I raced and it definitely motivated me,” Vonn said. “He skied amazingly well. He’s on an incredible roll right now and I’m really excited for him. It’s a great day for the U.S. Ski Team.”
Saturday, Vonn received one of the highest honors in global sport. The Associated Press, the world’s largest news agency, announced her as its Female Athlete of the Year – the first time a skier has received the honor.
Soft snow and flat light did not stop Vonn from charging, crossing the super G finish line in 1:18.66 with a three-tenths cushion over Austria’s Nicole Hosp heading into the slalom portion.
“It’s really challenging, but the organizers did a great job with the hill. We got so much snow on Friday so it was still really soft conditions and really flat light. It was hard to see where the snow was good and where it was a little bit bumpy,” said Vonn. “It definitely was worse for later numbers, but I made the best of it.”
In the slalom run, times were tight making an exciting finish for the cheering crowd, where they witnessed four Americans land inside the top 30. Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, Calif.) was 15th, followed by World Cup rookie Laurenne Ross (Klamath Falls, Ore.) in 16th and Leanne Smith (Conway, N.H.) in 26th.
“There was a pretty good crowd for the second part of the combined for slalom,” said U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “The energy was good.”
Vonn posted the fifth fastest slalom run, for a combined time of 2:07.80, building her lead on Hosp and the field to clinch her fourth super combined and 36th career World Cup win. Hosp finished third with Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl second.
“It was a good race, she had a good super G portion and then it got a little exciting in the middle of the slalom run,” said Hoedlmoser in reference to Vonn’s winning performance. “But at the bottom of the slalom she picked up some speed and skied really well.”
“It was an awesome weekend. I’m really happy,” said Vonn, who was flown to Courchevel by helicopter after the race for a live interview with France’s top sports network. “It’s always great to have a weekend like this, especially before Christmas. It gives me a lot of confidence going into the New Year.”
Canada’s Marie-Michèle Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Quebec, has scored World Cup points in four discipline already this season, the latest after a 12th place finish Sunday for the best Canadian result. Gagnon finished just her second career World Cup super combined in a two-run combined time of 2:09.95, which included the second fastest slalom run of the day. Gagnon said she also used Saturday’s downhill and snowfall that fell overnight to her advantage in Sunday’s opening super G run.
“I was able to attack more and charge the super G because the speed was not as intimidating,” said Gagnon. “I feel like being on the downhill course and feeling the speed really helped.”
The World Cup women race slalom in Courchevel on Tuesday before a short holiday break.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Val d’Isere, France – Dec. 18, 2010
Super Combined (super G/slalom)
1. Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 2:07.80
2. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 2:08.26
3. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 2:08.49
4. Anna Fenninger, Austria, 2:08.57
5. Maria Riesch, Germany, 2:09.05