Vonn returns to form with World Cup Downhill win in Are, Cook fifth

American Lindsey Vonn looked like her World Cup downhill-winning self again today (Feb. 26) in Are, Sweden, taking her seventh victory of the season following three weeks of dealing with the symptoms of a concussion.

Vonn, who won a world championship silver medal in the downhill two weeks ago, kept a tight line down the 2731-meter Olympia course in tough, flat lit conditions to finish in one minute, 40.93 seconds, 0.13 seconds ahead of Slovenian Tina Maze in second. “Today was tough, it was pretty dark and you had to be extremely clean to be fast – that’s a difficult combination,” said Vonn.

Overall leader and yesterday’s super combined winner, German Maria Riesch was 0.21 seconds back in third place to carefully stay on top of the standings by 176 points with 1416 points to Vonn’s 1240.

Vonn, the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline, maintains the downhill lead with 520 points over Riesch’s 417. The duo have combined to win the past 15 World Cup downhills. Three World Cup downhills remain on this season’s women’s calendar as Vonn battles from behind for her fourth consecutive overall title.

“We have a super G tomorrow and I’m hoping to gain some more ground back on Maria, but there’s still a lot of races left in this season and Maria is skiing incredibly well,” said Vonn. “It’s also pretty impressive to see what Tina is doing right now. She showed everyone something in Garmisch that racers already knew and she’s been able to keep that going.”

Vonn’s concussion, suffered in a training run fall on Feb. 2, threw her normal training and competition schedule out the window leading into the Garmisch-Partenkirchen World Championships. In the weeks that followed, Vonn was evaluated daily by doctors as her participation on the slopes was hit and miss depending on test results. After a sluggish, seventh-place performance in the opening super G, Vonn pulled out of the super combine between runs to continue resting. Days later she finished second in the downhill, then left the championships with the giant slalom and slalom still on the table, heading to a wellness hotel to prepare for the remainder of the World Cup season.

“After Garmisch, I needed a break both mentally and physically and that time off did exactly what I needed it to do,” said Vonn. “I’m skiing like I know I can, I’m focused and back on the top of the podium.”

After having encouraging results (second and third) in this week’s downhill training runs and taking the leading time in yesterday’s super G leg of a combined, the relief of feeling like she was back on her game was all over Vonn’s body language in the finish area.

Today’s victory takes 26-year-old Vonn’s World Cup career total to an even 40, putting her fifth in the all time rankings, just one win behind still active Swede Anja Paerson (DNF today). It was her third win in Are.

Riesch, a double bronze medalist at her home championships in Garmisch, stepped up to her 13th World Cup podium of the season. She has had at least one top-three finish in all five disciplines.

Behind Vonn’s victory, the U.S. women had a tremendous day.

Stacey Cook finished fifth after putting down an impressive run (1:41.99) in the No. 3 bib, taking the early lead and holding through the next eight racers until the top-ranked women were ushered in by Maze. It was Cook’s second-best World Cup result ever since finishing fourth at Lake Louise in 2006. Cook gave credit for her best result in four years to some western U.S. powder skiing.

“Last week I got to go home and free ski some powder in Mammoth, so I came back with just a really good feeling and really loving skiing,” said Cook, who had never been on the track before. “I just had a really positive attitude and tried to keep that freeskiing mentality that I had going in Mammoth here in Sweden.”

Recently minted world championship super G silver medalist Julia Mancuso never quite found the right line and finished 11th, 1.51 seconds off the wining time. Leanne Smith and Laurenne Ross also found the points in 18, and 25th, respectively.

“We knew Lindsey was back to full strength and the she could win this race. But you have to do it on race day and she did an excellent job,” said U.S. women’s head coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “It was really fun to see Stacey ski the training runs well. She was really fast and today she figured out how to put it down on race day.”

Britt Janyk was the only Canadian woman to compete today. She finished 22nd.

Today’s race was marred by the horrific crash of Swiss racer Nadja Kamer. High on the course, Kamer took a turn too wide and collided with the safety netting on the left side of the course, sending her somersaulting across the course, finally coming to rest in the right side fences. She was taken down in a ski patrol toboggan. The race was delayed for about 15 minutes. According to early reports, Kamer escaped with only bruising on her left wrist and hand and will be fitted with a cast.

“Everyone was sitting next to the TV at the start and was like ‘Oh no!’,” Riesch told the Associated Press. “I think the course setting was not good at this section … This was not the safest way to set (the course).”

The home team’s best hope, Anja Paerson seemed to get lost in the top part of the course, taking a left-hand turn too wide and missing a gate. Recently crowned downhill world champion, Austrian Elizabeth Goerlg was fooled in the same section and also failed to finish.

World Cup racing in Are continues tomorrow with a super G.

The SCOOP
by Hank McKee
Women’s World Cup Downhill, Are, Sweden, Feb. 26, 2011.
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
2 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
3 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
4 Gisin, Dynastar/Lange/Marker
5 Cook, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
6 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
7 Rolland, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9 Gut, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
10 Abderhalden, Head/HEad/Head

Women’s World Cup Downhill, Are, Sweden, Feb. 26, 2011. … It is the 28th race of the women’s 37 race schedule, the 23rd held, the seventh scheduled and sixth held of 10 downhills. … It is the 81st Cup race at Are. … and 17th downhill.

It is the 40th career World Cup victory for Lindsey Vonn, extending her U.S. record and placing her in a tie for ninth all-time, (both genders) with Pirmin Zurbriggen on the victory list. … It is her 21st downhill win. … She is fourth all time in DH wins behind Renate Goetschl’s 24. … It is her third win at Are having previously win the 2009 DH and SG. … It is her seventh win of the season and third in DH.

It is the 25th career World Cup podium for Tina Maze. … her third in DH, all coming in the month of February. … It is her fourth podium at Are and second straight day she has finished second. … It is her seventh podium result of the season including two World Championship medals.

It is the 56th career World Cup podium for Maria Riesch. … 16th in DH. … It is her fifth podium are Are in four different disciplines. … It is her 15th podium of the season including two World Championship medals.
 
It is the second best career result for Stacey Cook and best since placing fourth at Lake Louise (DH) Dec. 21, 2006. … Her next best this season had been 17th. … It is the fourth best result at Are for Julia Mancuso, but her best DH finish at the site. … Leanne Smith matches her fifth best career result. … and third best of season. … It is the seventh sco
ring result of the season for Britt Janyk. … It is the 11th career scoring result for Laurenne Ross (ninth third season) and her first at Are.

Riesch maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 14116-1240 over Lindsey Vonn. … Elisabeth Goergl (DNF) is third with 738pts. … Top Canadian overall is Marie-Michele Gagnon (did not race) in 29th with 181pts. … Vonn leads the downhill standings 520-417 over Riesch. … Mancuso is third with 241pts. … Janyk is top Canadian in 26th with 52pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup standings 3631-2818 over Germany. … The USA is third at 2331. … Canada is tenth with 413pts.