Lindsey Vonn Three-peats in Lake Louise, Mancuso third

The American ski racers felt right at home today (Dec. 4) just across the border in Lake Louise, AB.

Lindsey Vonn put the finishing touches on a World Cup hat trick at the opening weekend of speed racing while teammate Julia Mancuso earned her second third-place result of the young season.

After taking a pair of downhill races on Saturday and Sunday, Vonn won the opening super G today with a 0.19-second advantage on her nearest competitor.

“I wasn’t expecting this coming here, especially with everything that was going on, it’s been a tough week,” said Vonn, who announced last Sunday that she and husband Thomas Vonn will divorce after four years of marriage. “To have three wins this weekend, that’s more than I could have expected. I’m so thankful to be able to get through this and have the support of my teammates and everyone on the World Cup.”

Today’s win marked Vonn’s 10th career victory in Lake Louise and the first time she has won all three races during the annual Canadian World Cup weekend. It’s the second time she has won three races in three days, the first came in January of 2010 in Ennstal, Austria.

“When I was younger, if you would have asked me if I would have had this many wins, I would have said you were crazy,” said Vonn, who collected her 45th career World Cup win. “This is far beyond what I expected to do in my career, I feel extremely lucky to do what I love to do every day.”

Five starts into her season, Vonn already owns four wins and has a strong grasp on the overall point lead with 422 points. German Viktoria Rebensburg (25th today) stands well behind in second with 286 points.

Mancuso, who blamed her 23rd-place result in yesterday’s downhill on skis that were too stiff, was much faster today, coming in 0.71 seconds behind Vonn. She also finished third in a GS last weekend in Aspen.

“It’s a lot of fun racing super G here in Lake Louise, it’s completely different than the downhill,” said Mancuso. “I had a lot of room to improve  on my downhill results, so nothing to lose. It’s nice to have a good result. I can’t wait to rip up the Beaver Creek hill next week.”
 
Austrian super combined world champion, Anna Fenninger was sandwiched between the two Americans on the podium in second place, 0.19 seconds off the leading pace to earn her fourth career World Cup podium finish. 

After several days of overcast conditions during the training runs and downhill races, the clouds broke today and the sun came out in picturesque Lake Louise, part of Banff National Park.

Though the sun was shining bright, the tree-lined course gave the racers an additional challenges as sections of the course were through dark shade.

“I started out well and charging. In the middle I gave it too much respect where it breaks over and the course gets dark and you get a little nervous so without wanting to make any mistakes, I gave up some time there,” said Mancuso of her run. “The rest was just a lot of fun, it was a really nice set.” 

Young Swiss star Lara Gut again showed her natural talent, just missing the podium in fourth place 

Defending overall champion, German Maria Hoefl-Riesch, who won both downhill races here last year, had her best finish of the weekend today in fifth place.

Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon scored the first points of the of weekend for the home team in 26th.

The women’s World Cup tour now moves to join the men in Beaver Creek, Colo for a rescheduled super G race (Wednesday Dec. 7) that was canceled in Val d’Isere, France due to lack of snow.

“I am so excited to go to Beaver Creek, it’s going to be such an awesome race, to finally be able to race at home, five minute from where I live and to have the support of my friends and family there is going to be amazing,” said Vonn.

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee

Women’s World Cup super G, Lake Louise, Canada, Dec. 4, 2011
Equipment
skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
2 Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
3 Mancuso, Voelkl/Lange/Marker
4 Gut, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
5 Hoefl-Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
6 Schnarf, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
7 Lindell-Vikarby, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
9 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Fanchini, /Dynastar/Lange/

Women’s World Cup super G, Lake Louise, Canada, Dec. 4, 2011. … It is the sixth race of the women’s 2011-2012 World Cup schedule. … It is the first of seven women’s World Cup super G’s on the slate.
It is the third of three women’s races scheduled at Lake Louise this season and the finale of five total races hosted by the site.  … It is the 85th World Cup race hosted by Lake Louise and the 31st SG at the site.

It is the 45th career World Cup win for Lindsey Vonn, extending her US record and moving her within one of Renate Goetschl and third (among women) all time. … It is her 15th career Cup SG win moving her within one of Katja Seizinger’s all time leading total of 16 (among women). … It is her 11th win at Lake Louise, extending her record, and is the first time she has won three times at the site in a single season. … It is the 229th US victory and 27th in super G.

It is the fourth career World Cup podium result for Anna Fenninger and matches her career best, scored jan. 26, 2009 at Cortina, also in SG.

It is the 27th career Cup podium result for Julia Mancuso. … her ninth in super G and the second consecutive third place finish in SG at Lake Louise.

It is the fourth career Cup SG scoring result for Marie-Michele Gagnon and second best. … She placed 27th at Lake Louise in the discipline a season ago.

Vonn extends her lead of the World Cup overall standings 422-286 over Viktoria Rebensburg (25th in race). … Elisabeth Goergl (8th in race) is third with 243pts. … Gagnon is the top Canadian in 38th with 35pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 952-728 over the U.S. … Germany is third with 572pts and Canada 11th with 53.

Images by Gepa