Cortina: Gisin wins downhill, Vonn second

World Cup leader American Lindsey Vonn finished second at today’s World Cup downhill in Cortina, Italy, just .15 seconds behind Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin. The win marked the 23-year-old’s second career World Cup victory, the first coming Jan. 18 at Zauchensee. Swede Anja Paerson finished third.World Cup leader American Lindsey Vonn finished second at today’s World Cup downhill in Cortina, Italy, just .15 seconds behind Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin. The win marked the 23-year-old’s second career World Cup victory, the first coming last weekend at Zauchensee, when she tied with today’s third-place finisher Swede Anja Paerson.

Overall contender German Maria Riesch was .31 seconds off the lead to finish fifth.

“I’m a little disappointed. I really wanted to win in Cortina. I’ve had good results here, but things don’t always go your way,” Vonn told the AP’s Andrew Dampf. “I still got good points for the overall, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Both Vonn and Paerson took a step down on the podium, after finishing one and two on the same hill last year. Vonn notched her first World Cup podium in Cortina five years ago. She has since added five more podiums and 12 top-10 finishes on the Olympia delle Tofane course.

A costly mistake in the middle of the shortened course was enough to give Vonn the runner-up spot. “We’re happy with Lindsey’s finish but she made a mistake in the middle of the course that cost her the win for sure,” said U.S. Ski Team women’s coach Jim Tracy. “She’s happy with the way she skied, except for that section and so are we. It’s too bad, 15 hundredths is nothing, she certainly could have won the race.”

Today’s race was originally supposed to be the second of two downhills in Cortina, but more than two feet of new snow earlier in the week had organizers scrambling the weekend’s scheduled like a Rubik’s cube to allow both downhills, a super G and a GS. Race officials ended up cancelling Friday’s downhill, a race that was meant to replace the lost Lake Louise contest.

Following the heavy snowfall race organizers cut 15 to 20 seconds of the top of today’s course, putting even more of a microscope on every turn. “You have to minimize mistakes especially on a shortened course like this. We knew it was going to be pretty tight,” said Tracy.

“It would have been nice to run the whole downhill but it was the right decision with the avalanche risk,” Vonn said. “When it’s shorter you have to make fewer mistakes. It’s actually a little more challenging when it’s shorter.”

American Julia Mancuso finished 30th followed by teammate Stacey Cook in 34th. “We’re not happy with the way the rest of the team skied today,” said Tracy. “As a team we didn’t step up today, and I’m disappointed in that because we can definitely ski better than what we showed today.”

Gisin is closing the gap between herself and downhill points leader Vonn, who now leads by a narrow 14-point margin. Gisin is now 17th in the overall standings. Vonn retains the overall lead as well, 46 points ahead of her good friend Riesch.

The action rolls on in Cortina tomorrow with a giant slalom. Watch it live on universalsports.com at 3:05 AM EST. A super G will be held Monday, though results won’t count towards the World Championships, that qualification period ends Sunday.

Check out the video of Gisin’s win on our home page.

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women’s downhill, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 24, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Gisin, Dynastar/Lange/Marker
2 Vonn, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3 Paerson, Head/Head/Head
4 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Rossignol
5 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
6 Siorpaes, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
7 Styger, Volkl/Lange/Marker
7 Ruiz Castillo, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
9 VanderBeek, Volkl/Lange/Marker
10 Merighetti, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Women’s downhill, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 24, 2009. … It is the 18th race of the women’s 36 race 2009 World Cup schedule. … It is the third of eight scheduled downhills with one cancellation. … It is the 76th World Cup race held at Cortina. … The 31st downhill. … 28th women’s downhill.

It is the second career win for Dominique Gisin, the first coming Jan. 18 at Zauchensee DH. … She is 23 from Engelberg. … It is her third scoring result at Cortina. … It is the first Swiss win of a Cortina DH since Heidi Zurbriggen Jan. 24, 1997.

It is the 38th career World Cup podium for Lindsey Vonn. … Her seventh of the season. … And third in three downhills held. … It is her sixth career podium at Cortina and fourth in DH at Cortina. … She won last season.

It is the 83rd career World Cup podium for Anja Paerson. … Her ninth in DH. … It is her fourth podium of the season and second in DH having finished in a tie for the Zauchensee win with Gisin Jan. 18.

It is the best DH result and second best of the season in any discipline for Kelly VanderBeek. … It is her 19th career top 10 placing. …  It is her second best of 12 career results at Cortina, the best a fourth in DH last season. … It is the fifth scoring result of the season for Britt Janyk. … It is her fifth best of six career Cortina scoring results. … It is the 11th scoring result of the season for Julia Mancuso.

Vonn continues to lead the World Cup overall standings 856-810 over Maria Riesch (fifth in race). … Anja Paerson holds third at 762. … Vonn leads the DH standings 240-226 over Gisin. … Paerson is third at 160.

Did not finish 1st run: SMITH Leanne (USA), GOETSCHL Renate (AUT), JACQUEMOD Ingrid (FRA)