Vonn locks fourth downhill title with second place in Tarvisio, Paerson takes convincing win

By Published On: March 5th, 2011Comments Off on Vonn locks fourth downhill title with second place in Tarvisio, Paerson takes convincing win

For the second consecutive day, American Lindsey Vonn finished second in a World Cup race while securing the season title in that discipline. Yesterday it was the super combined. Today (March 5) she did it in the downhill.

With only one downhill remaining on this season’s calendar, Vonn’s current lead of 143 points on overall leader, German Maria Riesch (sixth today) is insurmountable as Vonn takes her 11th career title and climbs 40 points closer Riesch in the overall race.

With five top-five finishes, Swede veteran Anja Parson has been close to the top all season. She finally made it to the apex of the World Cup podium today in Tarvisio, Italy in convincing fashion, winning the season’s penultimate downhill by nearly a second.

Paerson shook off the knee pain that caused her to pull out of last Sunday’s super G at her home race in Are to grab her 42nd career victory and her first of the season. And she did it with 0.73 second advantage on Vonn (1:27.64), who was the only contender within a second of the 29-year-old Swede to grab her fourth straight downhill title.

“It’s been a great weekend so far, clenching the super combined title yesterday and the downhill title today,” said Vonn, who also owns a 131-point lead in the super G standings. “I also have a chance to close things up tomorrow in the super G, so things are going really well. It was definitely a really good day and I’m happy with my run.”

Brand new downhill and super G world champion, Austrian Elizabeth Goergl earned her fifth World Cup podium of the season, 1.17 seconds back in third place.

Still feeling fast after taking her first win of the season in yesterday’s super combined, Slovenian Tina Maze was 1.23 seconds back in fourth place for her seventh top-ten finish of the season.

Behind French skier Ingrid Jacquemod in fifth place, Riesch was 1.31 seconds off the pace in sixth after making a costly mistakes in the middle of the course. It was only the second time Riesch missed a downhill podium this season. Riesch’s lead on Vonn in the overall standings, which last week reached 216 points, is now down to 136 (1616-1480) with seven races still to come.

After sliding into the pad at the back of the finish area, Riesch was obviously disappointed in the outcome, shaking her head and slamming her pole on the snow.

“I just saw that I’m eight hundredths back with this mistake, so I was frustrated in the first moment, but you can’t always have runs without mistakes,” Riesch told the Associated Press. “It’s just normal that one race is not perfect. This is not my favorite downhill track, it’s really, really flat and sixth place is not a really good result but it’s still OK.”

The snow and foggy conditions that canceled Thursday’s second training run cleared up yesterday for the super combined. A morning fog today also burned off by race time though not soon enough as organizers stuck with the lowered reserve start racers trained on as the storm began on Wednesday.

With her sixth career downhill victory, Paerson became the first woman not named Vonn or Riesch to win a World Cup downhill in the previous 15 races. But the win came at a cost as Paerson’s tender knee took a beating. I the finish area Paerson’s celebration was limited to shaking her head and rubbing her sore legs.

“It’s been kind of a struggle this season and I finally picked a run where I could (be) perfect,” Paerson told the AP. “Landing that jump in the middle of the course was really painful. I was a bit lucky that we didn’t ski the top part, so I could stay fit the entire run.”

Paerson remains ranked fourth in all time World Cup wins, two ahead of Vonn with 40 of her own.

Vonn’s impressive downhill title streak began in 2008. She has now collected 21 carer  World Cup downhill victories, with three of those coming along with fourth additional podium placings this season. With one more downhill on this season’s schedule, Vonn currently holds a 600 to 457 lead on Riesch.

Though it will be an uphill battle, Vonn hasn’t  closed the door on hopes of a fourth consecutive overall title and is looking to take advantage of her reduced pressure, underdog position.

“It’s definitely a long shot at this point and it’s still Maria’s title to lose but I’m chugging away and trying to win as many races as I can. I’m skiing with nothing to lose so it makes things easier for me,” said Vonn. “I just have to go out there and ski my race and try to win.”

Canadian Britt Janyk was the second fastest North American in ninth place, 1.74 seconds back to achieve her season high for the third time. U.S. skiers Julia Mancuso and Leanne Smith were right behind in 10h and 11th, respectively. It was Smith’s sixth career top-15 result. Laurenne Ross (23rd) and Stacey Cook (24th) also made the points as all five U.S. starters hit the top 25.

Though today’s pain-filled victory puts some sugar on top, Paerson is still undecided if she will return for a 14th season of World Cup racing next year. “Of course when you win you feel positive and everything is going your way, but it’s still a big decision,” she said. “If you race, you have to be dedicated every hour every day and I have to see if I still have the motivation.”

World Cup racing in Tarvisio concludes tomorrow with a super G.


The SCOOP
by Hank McKee
Women’s World Cup Downhill, Tarvisio, Italy, March 5, 2011
Equipment

Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Paerson, Head/Head/Head
2 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
3 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
4 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
5 Jacquemod, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
6 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
7 Fanchini, Dynastar/Lange/Look
8 Abderhalden, Head/Nordica/Head
9 Janyk, Volkl/Lange/Marker
10 Mancuso, Volkl/Lange/Marker

Women’s World Cup Downhill, Tarvisio, Italy, March 5, 2011
. … It is the 31st race on the women’s 2011 38 race schedule. … the 29th held. … It is the eighth of nine DH’s on the women’s schedule. … the seventh held with one cancellation. … seven races remain on the schedule. … It is the eighth Cup race to be held at Tarvisio. … the third DH.

It is the 42nd career World Cup win for Anja Paerson. … She ranks fourth all-time among women for Cup victories. … It is her sixth Cup DH win. … It is her first win at Tarvisio. … She has not finished worse than fifth in her five Cup races completed at Tarvisio. … It is her first win of the season.

It is the 78th career World Cup podium for Lindsey Vonn. … the 38th in DH. … Her fifth podium at Tarvisio having won the 2009 super G and placed second four times in five races. … It is her third consecutive second place finish. … It is her 15th podium of the season including a silver medal at Worlds.

It is the 28th career World Cup podium for Elisabeth Goergl. … her fifth in DH. … her first at Tarvisio. … It is her seventh podium placing of the season including two gold medals at Worlds.

It is the 28th career top 10 for Britt Janyk. … the 13th in DH. … and third at Tarvisio in two disciplines. … It is her third top 10 of the season, all of them ninth place finishes. …
It is the 89th career World Cup top 10 for Julia Mancuso. … the 28th in DH. … Her fifth at Tarvisio. … It is her 18th top 10 of the season including three World Championship results. … It is the third best career Cup result for Leanne Smith, all three from this season and one other from yesterday. … Laurenne Ross matches her ninth best career result. … fourth best in DH. … It matches her 10th best res
ult of the season including two World Championship finishes. … Stacey Cook matches her 31st best of 53 World Cup scoring finishes. … It is her sixth best result of the season and third best of the season in DH.

With seven races remaining Maria Riesch (6th in race) holds the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1616-1480 (136pts) over Vonn. … Tina Maze is third overall with 857 and cannot win the overall title. … Vonn leads – and cannot be overtaken – the downhill standings 600-457 for Riesch. … Goergl is third with 273pts. … Janyk is the top Canadian in 20th place with 81pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup standings 3989-3054 over Germany. … The U.S. is third with 2812pts and Canada 10th with 462pts.

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time FIS Points
 1  19  505483 PAERSON Anja  1981  SWE   1:26.91  0.00
 2  21  537544 VONN Lindsey  1984  USA   1:27.64  11.17
 3  18  55576 GOERGL Elisabeth  1981  AUT   1:28.08  17.90
 4  14  565243 MAZE Tina  1983  SLO   1:28.14  18.82
 5  9  195671 JACQUEMOD Ingrid  1978  FRA   1:28.20  19.74
 6  16  206001 RIESCH Maria  1984  GER   1:28.22  20.05
 7  11  296472 FANCHINI Elena  1985  ITA   1:28.30  21.27
 8  23  515782 ABDERHALDEN Marianne  1986  SUI   1:28.56  25.25
 9  5  106022 JANYK Britt  1980  CAN   1:28.65  26.63
 10  17  537545 MANCUSO Julia  1984  USA   1:28.75  28.16
 11  25  538305 SMITH Leanne  1987  USA   1:28.84  29.54
 12  4  515573 AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi  1981  SUI   1:28.88  30.15
 13  29  196573 REVILLET Aurelie  1986  FRA   1:28.92  30.76
 14  13  515747 GISIN Dominique  1985  SUI   1:28.96  31.37
 15  10  195983 ROLLAND Marion  1982  FRA   1:28.98  31.68
 16  7  495318 RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina  1981  SPA   1:29.08  33.21
 17  20  516138 GUT Lara  1991  SUI   1:29.11  33.67
 18  32  55913 MOSER Stefanie  1988  AUT   1:29.18  34.74
 19  1  196460 MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie  1985  FRA   1:29.20  35.04
 20  8  515766 SUTER Fabienne  1985  SUI   1:29.24  35.66
 21  34  55978 VOGLREITER Mariella  1989  AUT   1:29.25  35.81
 22  15  55947 FENNINGER Anna  1989  AUT   1:29.27  36.12
 23  27  538573 ROSS Laurenne  1988  USA   1:29.31  36.73
 24  2  537582 COOK Stacey  1984  USA   1:29.32  36.88
 25  30  55766 MADER Regina  1985  AUT   1:29.43  38.56
 26  28  515560 SCHILD Martina  1981  SUI   1:29.50  39.64
 27  12  55750 FISCHBACHER Andrea  1985  AUT   1:29.71  42.85
 28  35  55882 STAUDINGER Christina  1987  AUT   1:29.81  44.38
 29  39  55759 KIRCHGASSER Michaela  1985  AUT   1:29.91  45.91
 30  37  196812 PELLISSIER Marion  1988  FRA   1:29.99  47.13
 30  3  565320 FERK Marusa  1988  SLO   1:29.99  47.13
 32  24  205218 REBENSBURG Viktoria  1989  GER   1:30.00  47.29
 32  6  296427 SCHNARF Johanna  1984  ITA   1:30.00  47.29
 34  31  296623 MAZZOTTI Lucia  1985  ITA   1:30.08  48.51
 35  38  206323 STIEPEL Isabelle  1990  GER   1:30.23  50.81
 35  22  296008 MERIGHETTI Daniela  1981  ITA   1:30.23  50.81
 37  36  505632 LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica  1984  SWE   1:30.24  50.96
 38  26  296431 STUFFER Verena  1984  ITA   1:30.25  51.11
 39  47  516145 KUENG Mirena  1988  SUI   1:30.27  51.42
 40  43  297153 CIPRIANI Enrica  1988  ITA   1:30.33  52.34
 41  33  55970 SCHMIDHOFER Nicole  1989  AUT   1:30.37  52.95
 42  41  425880 SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth  1991  NOR   1:30.52  55.24
 43  45  297134 BORSOTTI Camilla  1988  ITA   1:30.59  56.32
 44  46  297702 MARSAGLIA Francesca  1990  ITA   1:30.63  56.93
 45  49  297910 CURTONI Elena  1991  ITA   1:30.83  59.99
 46  50  375018 COLETTI Alexandra  1983  MON   1:30.90  61.06
 47  51  565369 KOBAL Ana  1991  SLO   1:31.48  69.94
 48  48  55806 ALTACHER Margret  1986  AUT   1:31.55  71.01
 49  44  515997 FEIERABEND Denise  1989  SUI   1:31.91  76.52
 50  54  245066 MIKLOS Edit  1988  HUN   1:33.15  95.49
 51  52  35089 SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena  1984  ARG   1:34.15  110.80
 52  53  35079 SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen  1982  ARG   1:34.75  119.98
Did not start 1st run
   40  197006 GAUTHIER Marine  1990  FRA     
Did not finish 1st run
   42  196968 BAILET Margot  1990  FRA     

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About the Author: Eric Williams