Bansko: Fischbacher wins race; Vonn wins DH title

By Published On: February 28th, 2009Comments Off on Bansko: Fischbacher wins race; Vonn wins DH title

Andrea Fischbacher wasn’t going to lead two days of downhill training without winning a race.

The Austrian who likes to ride motorcycles in the summer and who finished second in Friday’s race at Bansko landed on the top step of the podium on Saturday while Slovenian Tina Maze claimed the second step and Friday’s winner, Fabienne Suter of Switzerland, settled for third.

Though she finished 12th Saturday after a little bobble and recovery at the top of the course, Lindsey Vonn managed to clinch the World Cup downhill title. Picabo Street (1995-96) is the only other American to do so for two straight years.

“This is a huge accomplishment. It’s never easy to win a World Cup title and it’s even harder to defend one,” Vonn said. “It’s so rewarding to join Picabo. “It was pretty cool last season when I passed her downhill win record and now, we’ve both won two titles.”
Andrea Fischbacher wasn’t going to lead two days of downhill training without winning a race.

The Austrian who likes to ride motorcycles in the summer and who finished second in Friday’s race at Bansko landed on the top step of the podium on Saturday while Slovenian Tina Maze claimed the second step and Friday’s winner, Fabienne Suter of Switzerland, settled for third.

Though she finished 12th Saturday after a little bobble and recovery at the top of the course, Lindsey Vonn managed to clinch the World Cup downhill title. Picabo Street (1995-96) is the only other American to do so for two straight years.

“This is a huge accomplishment. It’s never easy to win a World Cup title and it’s even harder to defend one,” Vonn said. “It’s so rewarding to join Picabo. “It was pretty cool last season when I passed her downhill win record and now, we’ve both won two titles.”

Vonn’s 12th put her an untouchable 111 points ahead of her closest contender, Dominique Gisin (ninth on Saturday), in the downhill standings, and thus the DH globe is hers. 

“The downhill title is a reflection of the best speed skier throughout the season and Lindsey is definitely the best and she deserves the title,” said U.S. women’s speed coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “Lindsey skis to win every race and she did that today, too. This is just such a tough course, everyone had some close calls. Lindsey had a big one at the top of the hill but pulled it back in and kept her hands forward down the entire thing. She did a great job staying with it.”

When Vonn won last year’s title, she was racing on the 2010 Olympic course in Whistler, B.C.

“I was thinking about that today, because I finished second by one-hundredth and it felt strange to win the title without winning the race, but sometimes that’s how it goes,” Vonn said.

It was Fischbacher’s fastest run yet on the course. She finished in 1 minute, 45.81 seconds (still .18 seconds slower than Suter’s winning run Friday), while Maze was .26 off the pace and Suter .39 back.

Julia Mancuso was the fastest American, taking 10th (1:47.83) while Chelsea Marshall, Stacey Cook and Keely Kelleher finished 26th, 28th and 29th, respectively.

With her top-10 finish – by far her best in downhill this season – Mancuso moved from 29th to 21st in the DH standings and secured a downhill start in the World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden.

“I’m really happy for Julia, too,” Hoedlmoser said. “It’s been a frustrating year for her, but this is a great indication of how hard she wants to work to get her skiing back.”

The victory was only the second of 23-year-old Fischbacher’s young World Cup career (the first was a super G in Sestriere last season) and only her seventh podium, though she was this year’s World Championship super G bronze medalist. After her win in St. Moritz last season, this was only the second downhill podium of Maze’s World Cup career.

If Saturday’s result doesn’t paint a picture of Vonn’s decorated World Cup career, nothing does. Though it was good enough to win the DH title, Vonn’s 12th place is her worst finish in any discipline this season and her worst in downhill since January 2006.

Vonn still leads the pack significantly on her quest to win her second straight overall Cup title, though Maria Riesch gained a little on her with an eighth-place finish on Saturday. Vonn leads with 1456 points, followed by Riesch with 1120, while Paerson, who didn’t finish the race for the second day straight in Bansko, trails in third with 960 points.

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Women’s Downhill, Bansko, Bulgaria, Feb. 28, 2009

Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Rossignol
3 Suter, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
4 Gut, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Fanchini, Dynastar/Lange/Look
6 Rolland, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
8 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
9 Gisin, Dynastar/Lange/Marker
10 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol

Women’s Downhill, Bansko, Bulgaria, Feb. 28, 2009. … It is the 27th race of the women’s 36 race 2009 World Cup schedule. … The sixth of eight originally scheduled downhills, with one cancellation. … It is the final downhill before World Cup finals. … It is the second of a three race set at Bansko.

It is the second career World Cup win for Andrea Fischbacher. … The first coming Feb. 10 2008 at Sestriere in SG. … It is her fourth Cup podium of the season, the first a third in the opening race at Soelden back in October. … It is her second podium in two days having placed second in yesterday’s downhill.

It is the 15th career World Cup podium for Tina Maze. … Her second in DH. … The other DH podium is a win at St Moritz Feb. 2, 2008. … It is her third Cup podium of the season in three disciplines having won the Maribor GS Jan. 10 and been third at Tarvisio’s SG Feb. 22.

It is the eighth career World Cup podium for Fabienne Suter who won on the track yesterday. … Her sixth of the season. … It is the second time she has podiumed on consecutive days having been second and third in combined and SG at St Moritz in December. … She has been on the podium in each of her last three races.

It is the third best result of the season for Julia Mancuso. … Her best DH result in nearly a year. … She will qualify for World Cup finals because of the placing.… It is the only completed race for Lindsey Vonn this season that is not a top 10 placing. … It is the eighth scoring result of the season for Britt Janyk. … Her fourth best of four DH results this season. … It is the 10th scoring result of the season for Emily Brydon. … Her third completed DH race. … It is the fifth scoring result of the season for Chelsea Marshall. … Stacey Cook gets her third World Cup score of the season matching her three placings from the World Championships. … Keely Kelleher tallies her second career World Cup scoring result, the previous a 27th in SG at St Moritz in December.

Lindsey Vonn’s lead overall is tightened to 1456-1120 over Maria Riesch (eighth in race) with seven races remaining. … Anja Paerson (DNF in race) is third at 960. … Vonn cinches the DH title. … She leads 402-291 over Dominique Gisin (ninth in race) with one race remaining and cannot be caught. … It is her second consecutive DH title, matching the U.S. record established by Picabo Street in 1995 and ’96. … they are the only two Americans to win a World Cup downhill crown.


Saturday’s downhill results:

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time FIS Points
 1  19  55750 FISCHBACHER Andrea  1985  AUT   1:45.81  0.00
 2  14  565243 MAZE Tina  1983  SLO   1:46.07  3.24
 3  3  515766 SUTER Fabienne  1985  SUI   1:46.20  4.87
 4  8  516138 GUT Lara  1991  SUI   1:46.43  7.73
 5  16  296729 FANCHINI Nadia  1986  ITA   1:46.61  9.98
 6  4  195983 ROLLAND Marion  1982  FRA   1:47.07  15.72
 7  10  55576 GOERGL Elisabeth  1981  AUT   1:47.29  18.46
 8  18  206001 RIESCH Maria  1984  GER   1:47.52  21.33
 9  17  515747 GISIN Dominique  1985  SUI   1:47.73  23.95
 10  7  537545 MANCUSO Julia  1984  USA   1:47.83  25.20
 11  12  196460 MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie  1985  FRA   1:47.96  26.82
 12  22  537544 VONN Lindsey  1984  USA   1:48.00  27.32
 12  6  515573 AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi  1981  SUI   1:48.00  27.32
 12  5  515560 SCHILD Martina  1981  SUI   1:48.00  27.32
 15  21  55069 GOETSCHL Renate  1975  AUT   1:48.56  34.31
 16  35  295136 CECCARELLI Daniela  1975  ITA   1:48.88  38.30
 17  24  196573 REVILLET Aurelie  1986  FRA   1:48.91  38.67
 18  26  296008 MERIGHETTI Daniela  1981  ITA   1:49.24  42.79
 19  30  515849 DETTLING Andrea  1987  SUI   1:49.28  43.29
 20  2  515170 STYGER Nadia  1978  SUI   1:49.45  45.41
 21  15  106022 JANYK Britt  1980  CAN   1:49.54  46.53
 22  9  105997 BRYDON Emily  1980  CAN   1:49.58  47.03
 23  33  55970 SCHMIDHOFER Nicole  1989  AUT   1:49.70  48.53
 24  27  495318 RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina  1981  SPA   1:50.00  52.27
 25  43  225206 ALCOTT Chemmy  1982  GBR   1:50.18  54.52
 26  36  538038 MARSHALL Chelsea  1986  USA   1:50.34  56.51
 27  23  296473 SIORPAES Wendy  1985  ITA   1:50.39  57.14
 28  37  537582 COOK Stacey  1984  USA   1:50.43  57.64
 29  40  537565 KELLEHER Keely  1984  USA   1:50.60  59.76
 30  31  106849 YURKIW Larisa  1988  CAN   1:50.74  61.50
 31  38  55818 KOEHLE Stefanie  1986  AUT   1:51.02  65.00
 32  28  55588 RUMPFHUBER Ingrid  1981  AUT   1:51.16  66.74
 33  41  296427 SCHNARF Johanna  1984  ITA   1:51.27  68.11
 34  42  297153 CIPRIANI Enrica  1988  ITA   1:51.76  74.23
 35  25  296431 STUFFER Verena  1984  ITA   1:52.37  81.84
 36  34  505449 BENT Nike  1981  SWE   1:52.50  83.46
 37  32  537626 RICHARDSON Kaylin  1984  USA   1:52.52  83.71
 38  45  95050 KIRKOVA Maria  1986  BUL   1:56.98  139.35
Did not start 1st run
   29  195671 JACQUEMOD Ingrid  1978  FRA     
   1  515806 KAMER Nadja  1986  SUI     
Did not finish 1st run
   44  505886 KLING Kajsa  1988  SWE     
   39  55766 MADER Regina  1985  AUT     
   20  505483 PAERSON Anja  1981  SWE     
   13  106402 VANDERBEEK Kelly  1983  CAN     
   11  206175 STECHERT Gina  1987  GER   


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